It was a simple slip of the tongue – or typing finger – that led Marianne Garrah to coming up with a fun, silly idea that grew into the Silly Walk in Jasper on May 10. 

Garrah, while typing out an email about Brewster’s proposed Glacier Discovery Walk, called it the Brewster silly walk. With a little Googling, it was discovered that May 10 was International Monty Python Day – which would be a perfect chance to have a little bit of silliness parade through Jasper, all the while raising awareness of the proposed Glacier Discovery Walk project that has been panned by local environmental activists and concerned residents as detrimental to the park’s ecological integrity. 

Kim Wallace, a Jasper resident who is concerned about Brewster’s proposal, said it’s nice to have a little fun while raising awareness. 

“I think fun is a really powerful way to get people involved,” she said. 

Monty Python’s famous silly walk sketch opens to the legendary John Cleese silly-walking to work at the Ministry of Silly Walks. There he meets Mr. Putey (Michael Palin) who is looking for government support to develop his own silly walk. 

“With government backing, I could make it very silly,” says Mr. Putey, before Cleese’s Minister of Silly Walks character demonstrates his own outrageous walk and shows a clip of famous silly walks. 

“It’s pretty powerful,” Wallace said, adding that the character’s request for government backing for a silly walk was oddly familiar to the issue many citizens are trying to express to Brewster. “It was like it was meant to happen.”

The Silly Walk was quickly organized following Garrah’s idea, and a group turned out to the Habitat for the Arts at lunchtime on May 10, to start a walk that went down Patricia Street, and ended at the Info Centre.

Jasper bylaw officers helped control traffic as the group silly-walked down the street – many in full Monty Python get ups. As the group continued down Patricia Street, they were greeted with applause and cheers from passers-by.

Wallace was happy to have the support of Jasper residents as the walk went along. She said that sometimes in small towns, people are unable to directly get involved in causes due to other commitments, but are happy to support from the sidelines. 

“It was nice to know that the support was there,” she said. 

Once the silly walkers reached the Info Centre, they were greeted by B. Rooster, who was presented with the Silly Walk of the Century Award by Lukas Emrich. Information was also available on the Info Centre lawn, where tourists and those who joined the silly walk were able to obtain some information on the proposed Glacier Discovery Walk. 

The group of silly walkers may have looked, well, silly, but Wallace said the group was happy to sacrifice a bit of their own integrity for the park they live in and love. 

Wallace said the Silly Walk is following the trend of social media created “flash mobs”, that inspire spontaneous groups to get together in the name of a cause. An example is a carrot mob (www.carrotmob.org), which encourages businesses to get on board, change something to become more environmentally friendly, or to help the world in some way. Consumers then flock to that business and spend money to support their initiative. Carrot mobs are being hailed as the opposite of a boycott. 

The Silly Walk was filmed, and has been posted on YouTube by David Barker. The video can be viewed at Barker’s YouTube channel, DavidStanCameraman.

The Silly Walk is just the first idea the group of concerned citizens have come up with, and Wallace said there will be more forthcoming as the discovery walk’s environmental assessment is expected to be back in Parks Canada’s hands this month. 

“I’m sure there will be other silly ideas that come up,” she said. 

Anyone attending the event may have noticed that Garrah herself was not in attendance; but in the name of sacrificing integrity for the park, Garrah volunteered to wear the chicken costume.