By his own description he’s old — just a couple of months shy of his 70th birthday. And he’s walking, day after day after day, with the ulterior motive of raising the last $700,000 for the Whitefish Performing Arts Center.

Put it all together and you have Richard Atkinson’s entertaining “Old Man Walking” campaign, a last-ditch fundraising effort for the performance hall that doubles as the Whitefish Middle School auditorium.

Atkinson took to the streets Sept. 29, on his and wife Carol’s 30th wedding anniversary, and vowed to walk six kilometers (almost four miles) for 151 consecutive days, ending on his 70th birthday Feb. 26.

He leaves the house each morning at 8 a.m. sporting a bright green T-shirt that announces he’s the “Old Man Walking,” and walks through downtown and neighborhoods around the Whitefish Middle School. If Atkinson is out of town, he walks regardless of the location.

And he’s tweeting on the social networking Web site Twitter. His tweets can be read at www.twitter.com/oldmanwalking70.

“I figured out it’s already well over a million steps,” Atkinson said last week after he had completed his 49th day. To put it in perspective, he has calculated that by the end of 151 days he will have walked the equivalent of Whitefish to Williston, N.D., to the east, Seattle/Tacoma to the west, across the Utah border to the south and to remote Athabasca, Alberta, to the north.

So far he has collected roughly $30,000 in pledges; donors pledge a certain amount per kilometer. And he’s raised about $122,000 from other donations. That puts the amount still needed at just under $550,000.

“We’ve been raising money [for the auditorium] for five years. We’re very tired,” Carol Atkinson said. “We want to finish this by the end of the year. I’m feeling pretty good about it.”

The Atkinsons and fellow fundraiser John Kramer — key players on Whitefish’s philanthropic dream team — have a personal stake in this campaign. The Atkinsons have a $1.2 million lien on their home and Kramer has a $1.2 million lien on his business as loan collateral for the performing-arts center.

Fundraising was on track with just $300,000 left to raise when the recession took a $700,000 bite out of pledges for the new facility. That spurred the team — the Atkinsons, Kramer, Robert Chambers and David Pickeral — into a full-court press to finish the job.

The performance hall, considered to be one of the finest in the Northwest, opened in October 2007 to valleywide accolades. The $4.7 million project involved gutting the 1938 Central School auditorium and creating a 16,000-square-foot facility with seating for 490.

The fundraising team raised and paid off just over $3.2 million and had $1.8 million pledged for a total of $5 million. With projected interest, the overall cost was pegged at $5.3 million.

An added challenge to the fundraising is that people think the facility is paid for since it’s been open for two years.

Atkinson is encouraging civic organizations, youth groups and school students to get involved in the “Old Man” campaign. Pledges will be billed on March 1, 2010, after he has completed the final walk.

The Alpine Theatre Project is raising money by charging a $1 facility fee on every ticket sold for productions at the performing-arts center.

“We are honored to have use of this amazing facility,” Alpine Theatre Project Artistic Director Betsi Morrison said in a prepared statement. “John Kramer and Richard and Carol Atkinson have put in herculean efforts to create something the community can be proud of. We are grateful for their dedication to the arts and want to help in any way we can.”

Despite the oncoming winter and blisters from new shoes, Atkinson is taking his campaign in stride and with good humor.

“After six weeks, I’ve lost 13 ounces,” he said with a laugh.

Donations, made payable to Whitefish Middle School Auditorium Project, and pledges can be sent by mail to P.O. Box 4225, Whitefish, MT 59937-4224. Other donation options are available at www.whitefishpac.org.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.