Because of Don Holguin’s persistence and dedication to bicyclists and pedestrians, our region has an updated bike map that will help more people move naturally and explore the Walla Walla Valley. Holguin coordinated with funders, city governments, and other partners to get the map updated, redesigned, ordered and distributed across our community.
“I have been disabled for almost 20 years and have had a lot of health problems, in 2010 I became homebound and needed a caregiver. When I became healthy again, I found love, got married, and wanted to give back because I had received so much,” said Holguin.
The City of Walla Walla was advertising that they needed volunteers for some committees and Holguin volunteered for the Bicycle and Pedestrian advisory committee (BPAC) which he started in 2019. “The chairperson of the committee said, ‘Hey the bike map needs to be updated who wants to do it?’, and I accepted the challenge.” But the following week everything shut down due to COVID19.
Holguin had never done anything like updating a map. “I went out to meet people at the first farmer’s market we could go to during the pandemic. I showed up and started talking to some vendors. When we got home, my wife said I needed cards. She ordered me cards and I started handing out cards to business owners and random people I met.”
The planning was going slow, then Holguin found out The City of Walla Walla had a Geographical Information Services (GIS) department, “I didn’t know we had one. So, I went downtown for the initial First Street Plaza opening and I talked to all the engineers, the city manager, and I handed my card to the Executive Director of Blue Zones Project (BZP), Meghan DeBolt.” DeBolt gave Holguin’s card to BZP team member, Emily Brown, who works on built environment initiatives, and she reached out to Don about the bike map. Emily and Don combined forces and got some traction. “We got folks to help us update information on the bike map.”
Holguin is very proud of the map and discovered a joy for volunteering. “I highly recommend doing volunteer work and doing volunteerism for the city; but I wouldn’t recommend doing it during a pandemic because no one returns phone calls,” he laughed.
The map was ready in June of 2023. People can find it at Allegro Cyclery, The Bicycle Barn, Walla Walla and College Place City Halls, The Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce, and the Visit Walla Walla kiosk on Main St. You can also find it online on the City of Walla Walla website.
Holguin also shared that after the maps were printed, Whitman College called and said they were excited to know there was a bike map of the community and wanted to give one to each incoming student. He guided them to Lane Printing where they received 1,000 copies to give to students.
When asked about future plans for the bike map Holguin said, “I would like to see it updated in three to four years because of all the changes that happen around town. It is way better than the last map from 2016 because we were able to use QR codes that lead people to the most up-to-date information. I can’t wait to make the map even better next time!”
