With Christmas sweaters and cheer, the Mercer Island Solemates celebrated one of their last walks of 2015 on Dec. 16.

The Solemates, a walking group for seniors age 55 and up, were founded by Islander and former middle school teacher Fran Call 17 years ago.

They meet “rain or shine” every Wednesday and walk three to four miles, then head to a coffee shop. Last Wednesday, they gathered at a neighbor’s house instead, eating cookies, drinking cocoa and singing carols. One tune tallied the “12 Days of Solemates.”

“17 years and counting, 12 octogenarians, 11 diehards planning … three bulging vans, two coffee shops and a ‘Call’ girl who leads us all.”

About a dozen people went to the first walk in 1998. Now, Call leads 40-60 walkers each week, with an email list of over 100. They meet at the Community and Event Center at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, piling into vans to explore different areas of Seattle on their walks, from Queen Anne Hill to Pioneer Park.

Call takes summers off and hands the organizing of walks over to the “diehards.” Call has formed a community that comes for the walking but stays for the talking.

Some of the Solemates said that the group caused them to see age completely differently. Members range from their 50s to 90s, and those who can’t walk anymore are still invited to the social events.

Seniors who attend more than half of the walks every year get a hat, onto which Call sews buttons each subsequent year with different meanings, many related to aging in a humorous way: marbles to encourage members not to lose them, eyes to make sure they watch out for cracks in the sidewalk or other hazards or buckets to remind them to check things off their lists.

Call also leads the Trailmates hiking group every other week to trails like Cougar Mountain and Squak Mountain, and organizes a yearly trip to Leavenworth where group members go hiking, tubing down the river and even zip-lining.

Before she retired and started the walking group with the help of Mercer Island Parks and Recreation, Call taught an outdoor fitness class and led several Cyclemates bicycling trips with students, including to New York and Washington D.C.

They had local adventures too, walking 55 miles around Lake Washington in one day and canoeing around Mercer Island.

Her Solemates say she is “one of a kind,” “uniquely unique,” “a strong woman” and “definitely our leader.” One referred to “Fran’s miracle:” whenever the group starts walking, the sun happens to come out.

Call said she couldn’t pick out a favorite memory from 17 years of walking.

“Every Wednesday I have a new favorite memory, when I see their bright and shining faces,” she said.

The Solemates took a brisk walk through Pioneer Park, then some south-end neighborhoods, on their way to a holiday party on Dec. 16 (Katie Metzger/Mercer Island Reporter).