Engler joins thousands for 41st annual walk across Mackinac Bridge

Engler chose not to use the event to stump for his reelection, only waving and smiling as admirers honked their horns and crowded around him on the bridge.

"We're voting for you, man," shouted one carload.

Still, the walk wasn't without political significance. Walking beside Engler in a show of reconciliation was Republican attorney general candidate John Smietanka. Smietanka was nominated at last week's Republican convention in a surprise upset of Engler favorite Scott Romney.

"The walk was lovely, just lovely," said Smietanka as he reached the end of the five-mile span. He woke at 3 a.m. to participate in it and said it was the first time he had walked the bridge. Smietanka planned to join Engler later yesterday for a parade in Hamtramck and a peach festival in Romeo. Smietanka said he was driving, while Engler took a state plane.

Engler, who was making his eighth walk as governor, strolled two of his triplet daughters while his wife, Michelle, strolled the third. The girls, who turn 4 in November, alternately slept and sucked on lollipops.

At the end of the walk, Engler promised a crowd in Mackinaw City that he would help them build a lighthouse museum - a reference to the town's loss to Staten Island, N.Y., in a bidding war for a national lighthouse museum.

"I'm still very committed to seeing the best lighthouse museum built here, an international museum," Engler said as he accepted a box full of fudge from some locals.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoffrey Fieger skipped the bridge walk in favor of a Labor Day union rally in Detroit.

Workers with the Mackinac Bridge Authority said they were expecting 60,000 people for this year's walk, a herd whose enthusiasm wasn't dampened by mid-morning rain.

Well before sunrise, hundreds of walkers - from grandparents to exchange students to Canadians - were lining up for bus rides to the north end of the bridge. Traffic closed on the bridge's right side as the walkers made their way from north to south.

For Brian and Kate Robideau of Allen Park, the walk has special significance. In 1996, it was their first date. Last year, Brian proposed to Kate in the middle of the walk. They returned this year, a month after their August wedding.

"We'll always come. We love it," said Brian, whose flowered hat and Mackinac Bridge Walk T-shirt matched his wife's.

Also joining in this year's walk was Don Stevenson, who trekked across the bridge as part of his walk across America to raise money for Alzheimer's research.

Stevenson left his home near Seattle on June 22. Walking about 36 miles a day, he plans to reach Portland, Maine by Oct. 25.

"I heard about this and wanted to join in to help the local Alzheimer's chapter," he said. "I'm glad it worked out."

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