A small group of long-time Kennydale residents paced up a hill once called Benson for its only residents.

Though the current Benson Hill is miles away, it was one of Pauline Kirkman’s countless memories about Renton.

“I drive by here all the time, and I don’t half notice it,” she said, pointing out changes to a house.

It was the beginning of Kennydale’s walkabouts, a program designed to introduce neighbors and explore communities, but it also comes with an education about Kennydale’s past.

“We used to be tight,” Kirkman said, explaining how the neighborhood has changed with new generations.

The group takes a different route each week. This time we visited Kennydale Memorial Hall, which sits on top of a ravine that runs into a stream and a deteriorating road called the Devil’s Elbow.

Taking the “school kids” route, we wandered through a patch of woods and along a few backyards before passing through cul–de–sacs and under power lines.

“There’s a lot that goes on here that people don’t seem to know about,” said Renton’s Shirley Smith, mentioning the rugby and fishing groups that meet in Memorial Hall.

The program is a way to connect to the community.

“It was to inspire people to accomplish two things: get to know the people in their neighborhood…and exercise,” said neighborhoods director Norma McQuiller.

Though there’s a debate over where the idea originated, it wouldn’t have happened without support from Kennydale United Methodist Church (KUMC) and the Kennydale Neighborhood Association.

“It was something we were offering to the neighborhoods, but we didn’t get any response,” McQuiller said. “I think we will probably do it again next year. I don’t think we allowed enough time to get the word out.”

Kennydale was the only group that signed up.

For KUMC the walks are about “getting out into the community, just to make ourselves available,” Smith said.