Doug Bohlman walks with Rotary President Karyn Finkelson, right, at the start of the Walk a Mile in Their Shoes event on Main Street in Concord on Wednesday.
Doug Bohlman walks with Rotary President Karyn Finkelson, right, at the start of the Walk a Mile in Their Shoes event on Main Street in Concord on Wednesday. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER photos / Monitor staff

The mood was festive as hundreds made their way down Main Street in Concord on Wednesday afternoon wearing eye-catching footwear, but the purpose of the annual gathering couldn’t have been more serious. The Walk a Mile in Their Shoes fundraiser is timed to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month to bring attention event to the very serious issues of domestic, sexual and gender violence. Each year, the Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire used the proceeds from the walk to help victims and survivors of abuse in Merrimack County.