The "do" campaign — those signs and billboards encouraging you to "groove your body" daily — might be coming soon to Rochester parks.
The city Park and Recreation Department was selected as one of six local partners to expand the campaign.
"We want to get people to get out and be active," said department director Ron Bastian, "and this is just a very recognizable brand to help us do that."
For starters, Bastian said, the department will just add the "do" logo to its Web site and some printed materials.
"I think this thing will slowly grow," he said. "By summer, we'll have a pretty good plan."
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Later on, the campaign might include signs at parks and recreational areas, suggesting certain kinds of activities there, such as bicycling, climbing stairs or doing hopscotch.
The campaign, part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, is funded by the 1998 tobacco settlement. It is meant to promote a physically active lifestyle as one way to reduce Minnesota's 60 percent overweight and obesity rate.
Rochester was the only city outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area selected as a partner. Bastian said the selection might have been tied to his interest in the Step Up To Health initiative of the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association , and to Mayo Clinic's and Olmsted County Public Health's work regarding obesity.
