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Blue Zones Albert Lea invites families to take a Sunday stroll

City News July 14, 2025
An image shows an adult and a young child walking away from the camera, their legs and feet visible. The adult is on the right, wearing dark pants and white sneakers with blue accents. The child is on the left, wearing light-colored pants with patterns and pink shoes. The ground is a light-colored asphalt or paved surface, with sunlight creating shadows. Below them, a dark blue banner reads

For immediate release
July 11, 2025
Media contact: Cathy Malakowsky, Blue Zones Albert Lea project lead, at 507-377-4316 or cmalakowsky@ci.albertlea.mn.us

Blue Zones Albert Lea invites families to take a Sunday stroll

Connecting people and reinforcing healthy habits are two goals of joining a moai, which is a Japanese word for a group that provides a sense of belonging, purpose and assistance. Blue Zones Albert Lea invites families to join a moai that will meet Sundays, starting July 13, at 6:30 p.m. at United Preschool, 702 U.S. Highway 69. Children can hit the playground or join their families walking laps in the parking lot.

Adult participants will be eligible for prizes if taking a short survey before and after their experience.

The “Sunday stroll” will run through Aug. 31, and residents may join anytime over the next 8 weeks. Annie Olson, a local fitness enthusiast and preschool teacher, is coordinating moais for Blue Zones Albert Lea and will lead the weekly Sunday stroll.

This program is part of an effort to establish more moais, which were popular during the local pilot project that helped launch Blue Zones as an international health initiative. About 800 adults joined neighborhood moais during the 2009 experiment.

Albert Lea then became the first certified Blue Zones community in the United States in 2016.

“I hear from many people that they are still walking with a friend they met in 2009. We wanted to revive this concept, especially with people feeling more isolated in the years after the pandemic. Our goal is to offer more opportunities to get social and get active. Stay tuned as we gear up for our tenth year in 2026 of being a Blue Zones community,” said Cathy Malakowsky, Blue Zones Albert Lea project lead and engagement/enrichment director for the City of Albert Lea.

For more information, email bluezones@ci.albertlea.mn.us or follow “Blue Zones Project Albert Lea” on Facebook.

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