Nebraska Trailblazers

What to do if there isn’t a walk scheduled? Walk, of course!

We don’t have regular walks scheduled this next weekend, so why not take advantage of one of our year round walks? Also, two workers’ walks are coming up (remember to show up early to take care of all the paperwork and that restrooms may not be available):

1) Sat. 10/24 at 9 a.m. for the Pie Walk at Morning Star Lutheran Church, 331 S. 85th Ave, Omaha , NE 68114. Date of the actual walk is November 7th starting at 9 a.m.

2) Sun. 10/25 at 3 p.m. for the Lincoln Volkssport Club’s Wyuka Cemetery Walk. The Lincoln club reports that they are very short on volunteers for the walk on Halloween. Email us and we’ll get the word to our neighbor club! The actual event is scheduled for October 31st, starting at the Wyuka Cemetery Stables, 3600 ‘O’ Street, Lincoln, NE, registration from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m., off the trail by 12:15 p.m. due to a limited rental agreement. And yes, the Huskers play at 11 a.m. but in West Lafayette, Indiana, so traffic won’t be a problem!

Two things to do for October!

First – come to the South Omaha Walk being held October 3rd at El Museo Latino. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please register from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. If you can’t be back to the museum by 1, the folks at our THIRD checkpoint will be happy to take your Start Cards for you. Lots to see, plenty to eat and 130 years of history await you! Oh – and for you folks doing Border Crossings, here’s a sun-washed photo of the sign welcoming you to Iowa on the 10k route. Got to walk to get a better look!

The other thing you have to do in October is to take AVA’s Individual Stakeholder Survey. Click here to take the AVA Individual Stakeholder Survey. Your opinions and input will shape the future of the American Volkssport Association!

On Walks and Walkers

We had a great turnout at our September 12th Breakfast Walk at Zorinsky Lake. The weather was perfect, the route was great and the food was plentiful. Special thanks go to Lee Frantz and Donna Campbell for sponsoring this walk and sharing it with 69 people.

Sandy Spaulding has laid out a great route for our Magic City Walk (aka South Omaha) on October 3rd, starting at El Museo Latino at 9 a.m. Workers are needed to staff the Start Point, the 3 Check Points and to greet folks and/or to walk with them. If you’d like to volunteer, don’t worry about getting to do the walk. The Workers’ Walk will be Saturday, September 26th at 9 a.m. Come a little early to do paperwork, but remember that the museum will not be open early that morning and bathrooms will not be available there or generally on the route that day. To volunteer, let Butch or Sandy Spaulding know via email.

Speaking of volunteers, it’s time to nominate our 2015 “Walker of the Year”. Any club member can be nominated. Submit your nominations with a brief write-up to Butch Spaulding by October 15th, so that the nominations can be published in our Nov-Dec newsletter. We’ll be trying out a new system for voting this year, so that all club members can participate, even if they can’t make the December club meeting.

Coming up in September

The ever-popular Breakfast Walk will take place at Zorinsky Lake, near 156th and F Streets, on Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on September 12th. Walkers should be off the 5k or 10k trails by 2 p.m. Those coming later in the morning should count on eating before they head out on the trail. Please bring a ready-to-eat breakfast item to share – no cooking facilities are available. Fun walkers pay $1.50, while those wanting AVA/IVV Credit pay $3.

The club’s September meeting will take place on Monday, September 14th, a week later than our usual 1st Monday, due to the Labor Day Holiday. We’ll have speakers from Restoration Exchange of Omaha to give us some South Omaha history in preparation for our October walk. These speakers are fantastic and are a must-hear! Meetings take place at 7 p.m. at Morning Star Lutheran Church at 311 S. 85th St. (near Methodist Hospital). Our speakers will talk during the first portion of the meeting for 15 – 30 minutes, followed by a brief business meeting and will close with refreshments.

July and August Activities

A capacity crowd of 20 showed up at Ted and Wally’s in Omaha’s Old Market on Monday, July 13th. Participants report that it was a “tasteful” experience.

Club members Butch and Sandy Spaulding organized a spontaneous group walk of the Bennington Lakes Year Round walk on Saturday, July 18th. A total of 7 folks enjoyed the gardens at the Start Point, and beat most of the day’s heat by walking early in the day. Want a walking partner for any of our year rounds? Send us an email at netrailblazers@gmail.com and we’ll put the word out!

Our next scheduled club activity is a group walk of the Ashland Year Round on Saturday, August 15th at 8:30 a.m. Save some time in your schedule to have lunch at Cheri O’s and/or a visit to the SAC Museum nearby! The organizer for this event is club president Mel Bohn, who can be reached by personal email or by the club email at netrailblazers@gmail.com.

Our regular season of Traditional or Regular Events begins in September. If you didn’t get flyers for our first 4 walks of the season, let us know! More information to be posted in September.

How To Conduct A Successful Border-Crossing Volksmarch

Our Grand Island correspondent, Jim McGahan, tells us in words and pictures how to put on a successful traditional event that will pull in walkers from across the country. This event was held July 11th. This was a 9 hour round-trip drive for most of the walkers from our club, and the event pulled in folks from much farther away!

Hope you will enjoy reading all about Big Stone City! We loved one of the photos so much, that we added it to our list of header images that appear on each of the pages in this website.

And even more news!

Our hard-working Regional Director Phyllis Olson is handing over the reins to Jerry Wilson as of July 1st, but not before sending us lots and lots of news! Club President Mel sent all of this via email, so it may be old news to you. Do take a look at the other walks in our region, so that if your travels take you nearby, you can add a walk to your itinerary.

Executive Director’s Report

Regional Director’s Report June 2015

List of Regional Events for remainder of 2015

Too hot? Too cold? Try walking INDOORS!

Our newest Year Round Event opened today at 7 a.m. at the Westroads Mall, thanks to Point-of-Contact (POC) Sandy Spaulding and the AmericInn, which is graciously serving as our Start Point. The AmericInn is located at 9720 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68114, which is just east of the Westroads Mall in Omaha, The entrance to the mall is from the parking area between JCPenney’s and Dick’s, which is on the NE side of the mall, along N. 98th Street, just north of Dodge Streets. For those unfamiliar with the area, the roads around the mall do circle around, so if you miss an entrance, you can drive to the next entrance and make your way back.

See AVA website Event Details for this walk for better directions on how to reach the Start Point.

Once inside, see if you can find Snow White’s mirror or check out where the new food court will be. The mall opens at 7 a.m. so that walkers can avoid the shopping crowds.