Coalbie’s Warrior Walk reaches Greene County

Colbie\\\'s Warrior Walk nears halfway mark

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During a break on the first day of Coalbie's Warrior Walk, Coalbie sits in front of the hill she and Aaron Houser climbed. [Courtesy of Aaron Houser]

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Courtesy of Aaron Houser Aaron Houser and Coalbie of Growing Up Greene spotted a stone boundary marker while crossing into Pennsylvania from West Virginia on Coalbie's Warrior Walk Wednesday. "Colby was the first to cross into Pennsylvania, and she goes first everywhere," Houser said. [Courtesy of Aaron Houser]

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Growing Up Greene Executive Director Aaron Houser, center, and child therapy dog Coalbie kicked off their fundraiser walk along the Warrior Trail Monday with a prayer circle including Jared Edgreen, minister at the Paisley Baptist Church, and Andrew Gump, minister of Carmichaels Methodist Church. [Courtesy of Aaron Houser]

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Growing Up Greene Executive Director Aaron Houser and Coalbie, Growing Up Greene's child therapy dog, grab a photo outside the Over Yonder general store in West Virginia during their walk along the Warrior Trail. [Courtesy of Aaron Houser]

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Coalbie’s Warrior Walk is back in Pennsylvania.

Early Wednesday afternoon, Growing Up Greene executive director Aaron Houser and Coalbie, Growing Up Greene’s therapy dog, crossed into southern Greene County, where they were about 28 miles into their walk along the 67-mile Warrior Trail.

They’re close to their original schedule, which puts them at about 10 miles a day of walking before reaching the Monongahela River in Greensboro.

“We’re really happy to be back in Greene County, and we’re looking forward to the next five days of trekking toward the Mon River,” Houser said.

The weeklong trek is both a way to spotlight the needs of the child welfare system in Greene County and a fundraiser for the new facility Growing Up Greene is planning in Waynesburg.

Growing Up Greene launched a GoFundMe to cover the costs to remediating the new building, which was donated by the Observer-Reporter. Houser said it will cost an estimated $1 million for the first phase of work, which includes roof repairs and a complete remediation of the building’s interior.

Houser and Coalbie set off Monday morning from the Ohio River at Fish Creek, south of Moundsville, W.Va.

By Wednesday afternoon, they were about five miles outside of Aleppo in southern Greene County.

In West Virginia, the trail mostly ran along roads; once in Pennsylvania, Houser and Coalbie began going through the woods, fields and coal mine areas.

Response has been overwhelmingly positive, both online and from the people they meet along the way, Houser said.

On Monday, they passed women having cinnamon rolls at a picnic table at lunch. They offered a roll, which Houser respectfully declined.

“I thought I would probably have to take a nap after looking at the size of that cinnamon roll,” he said.

During Tuesday’s walk, they encountered a farmer driving up the road in his skid steer, who stopped to see if they needed any help.

When Houser told the farmer about the walk and the reason behind it, he loved the idea. And to prove their bona fides, Houser gave him a Coalbie sticker.

The farmer was moved enough by the project to give back.

“Here’s a farmer in his work clothes, and he’s obviously got stuff that he’s busy with and doing, and after talking to us for a few minutes, he reached in his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and gave us a $10 bill and wished us well,” Houser said.

Donations are still ramping up as people learn about the project, Houser said. Thanks to private donations ahead of the fundraiser’s launch, the first $135,000 will be matched.

People can follow along with the trip on Growing up Greene’s Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as Coalbie’s TikTok page.

To donate to the project, go to give.gofundme.com/warriorwalk.