Our club slows down in the summer, with July and August events directed at club members. Our next scheduled walking event is August 23rd, in Des Moines, Iowa. We’ll have more details and a carpooling sign-up for you later.
In the meantime, here’s our latest newsletter: July – August 2025 newsletter where you can see lots of pictures from the biennial convention held by America’s Walking Club in Las Cruces, NM and from our recent walking weekend, with Iowa’s Walking Club, in central-western Iowa. Oh, and some dates you’ll want to save! Plus some hints on how to keep walking even during hot, humid weather.
Our planning committee is still putting together some fun events for July and August. In the meantime, be sure to put these on your calendar!
June 7th at 10 a.m. Mandan Park, 6215 S 13th St, Omaha, NE 68107. Meet at the picnic shelter near the newly opened nature center to sign the waiver and walk the trails.
This hidden park is impossible to see into from 13th Street, which runs along its western edge. Its seclusion made it a great place to escape the city and experience nature. The park has been extensively renovated over the last couple of years. The trail we will walk follows the park’s level contour along the now closed road that used to run through the park.
*The trail rating for the route is 1B *Strollers will be able to handle the route. *Leashed dogs are welcome on the trail. *$4.00 per walker (exact change appreciated); children under 12 free
Glenwood Walk
June 27 – 28, starting at 2 p.m. in Corning, Iowa (plus 3 more walks). Four group walks in central Western Iowa: Corning, Shenandoah, Glenwood and Stanton, in partnership with Iowa’s Walking Club. Our club sponsors the Glenwood seasonal walk, so we’re very excited about this opportunity to show off this gem of a walk! Glenwood offers a 7 km and a 10 km option, while the other group walks are 5 km (10 km option available in Stanton). Please see our printable flyer* for all of the details about each of the walks, as well as the buffet dinner and hotel reservations in Shenandoah on Friday and the pancake feed on Saturday morning in Glenwood: Four County walking weekend
*The trail rating for the routes are either 1A or 2B *Strollers are okay on some routes *Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails *$4.00 per walker for each walk (exact change appreciated)
*If your printer will print duplex (2 sided), then choose “Flip on short edge” for the best results.
It’s hard to believe that there was snow on the ground just a month ago! Enjoy the latest newsletter, with plenty of news and pictures for you to enjoy. You can download it using the little icon, second from the right at the very bottom of the page.
Bad news – we had to break that crowd into two visits – one at the original 10 a.m. and the other at 1 p.m. Sandy, our organizer for this event, reached out to everyone that was signed up to make that work.
More bad news – Sandy didn’t hear back from 30 people – either the registration had a bad email address or Sandy’s email went to Spam or the registrants chose not to respond. **Those 30 people have had their registrations canceled.**
Good news for everyone else – Sandy and the Joslyn have made arrangements to add 30 more people at 10 a.m. and 30 more people at 1 p.m. First 30 people to respond for each time get in.
Be sure to bring 2 cans of soup – one for the pot and another for the New Hope Pantry. We’ll have a big pot of chicken soup and another big pot of beef soup, PLUS cornbread, made by some of the people welcoming you to the historical Florence neighborhood of Omaha.
All of the walks that we have planned so far are listed on our Walk and Event Listing page, also accessible through our Walks and Events menu. Each event has a handy link at the bottom of the page to add it to your Google, iCalendar or Outlook calendars. You can even subscribe to our entire event calendar by using the “Subscribe to Calendar” button in the bottom right side of any Walk and Event Listing page.
We’ve even created a booklet, suitable for printing, at our 2025 Walk Booklet page. Please note that the booklet will not be updated during the year; you’ll have to grab a pencil and mark up any printed copy as things change. And we already have a couple of changes in the works!
Our first walk of the year will be our traditional Soup Walk, to be held in the hills of Florence, one of Nebraska’s oldest cities and now part of Omaha. All of the details are available at https://nebraskatrailblazers.com/event/annual-soup-walk-5k-and-10k/ Grab a couple of cans of soup, your walking shoes and we’ll see you there!
A resource for renters in the Lincoln area, Rent., asked about our Lincoln walk, available year-round to any walker that would like to see Lincoln on foot. Here’s their article 4 Unique Things to Do in Lincoln, NE | Rent. For those visiting Lincoln, there are a lot of other things to do, so check out the article!
Our club meetings feature a speaker and social time, as well as a short business meeting. The December 2nd meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the basement of the Maple Ridge Retirement Community at 3525 N 167th Cir, Omaha, NE (SE corner of 168th & Maple area). Our Annual Dinner meeting will be on January 18th and begin at 1:30 p.m. at Legends in Aksarben, 6920 Pacific and run until 4 p.m. Reserve your space now by sending in $10 per member or $15 per nonmember by December 31st, to P.O. Box 8147, Omaha, NE 68108. OR – just bring it to the club meeting on December 2nd!
Key dates:
Monday, December 2nd – 7 p.m. club meeting at Maple Ridge Retirement, 168th & Maple area
Saturday, December 14th – 4 – 6 p.m. Lights Walk at KANEKO – 12th & Jones St. entrance
Tuesday, December 31st – paid reservations for the Annual Dinner meeting must be received
Saturday, January 18th – 1:30 – 4 p.m. Annual Dinner meeting at Legends in Aksarben
Our Annual Lights Walk on December 14th coincides with the Holiday Market at The RiverFront’s Heartland of America Park area. The Market closes at 5 p.m., so you’ll want to come right at 4 p.m. to the west doors of KANEKO, at 12th & Jones Street. There’s no charge to walk, thanks to The RiverFront. We are collecting hats, gloves and warm socks for a local agency serving the homeless. You’ll want to linger a little after the walk and check out our assortment of door prizes and cookies.
On Wednesday, November 13th, the RiverFront will be hosting the nation’s Christmas tree as it travels across the nation to Washington, D.C. The Trailblazers will be part of the fun from 5 – 7 p.m. Come and see us!
On Saturday, December 14th, we will be hosting our annual Lights Walk. Head to the west doors of KANEKO on 12th & Farnam between 4 and 6 p.m. Courtesy of The RiverFront, everyone walks for free! We are collecting hats, mittens, gloves and warm socks for the homeless.
Club members are asked to help with the many volunteer positions available and to bring cookies, treats and items for the dozens of door prizes available to our walking friends.
Mark your calendars for the Saturday, January 18th Annual Dinner meeting, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at Legends Patio and Grill in Aksarben.
Here’s the September – October 2024 newsletter Sept – Oct 2024 newsletter (yes, it’s a bit late, but there’s still lots you want to read!) Nominations for the 2025 club officers are being taken, as well as for the 2024 Walker of the Year.
Upcoming events:
Saturday, October 12th, 10 a.m. – Group walk at the Bellevue Lions Club’s Spaghetti Feed. $4 for the walk, $12 for the spaghetti dinner. This is taking place at St. James Methodist Church,, 4343 Capehart Road, Bellevue, NE. Meet around 9:45 a.m. to start walking by 10 a.m. Dinner starts at 11 a.m.
Saturday, November 2nd, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Our traditional November “Pie Walk” is being replaced with a ‘Giving Walk (as in Thanksgiving), where walkers bring the makings for a pie. Walk fee is $2 if an item is brought; $4 if no item, but the $2 will go either to the food pantry behind the Thanksgiving dinner food drive or to our host church. The location is First Covenant Church, 201 N 90th St, Omaha, NE. Specific items requested are: canned fruit (low or no sugar added), pie fillings, 5# sacks of flour, 4# sacks of sugar. Other nonperishable pantry items are also gratefully accepted. This walk is in an area of town where sidewalks are scarce and there are some hills.
Saturday, December 14th, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Our annual Lights Walk! The RiverFront is generously sponsoring this event, so all walkers walk for free. We’re collecting gloves, mittens, hats and socks (especially warm socks) for the homeless. The RiverFront will be hosting a Holiday Market as part of the seasonal festivities, and one 5k loop will pass right by/through it. The other is quieter and heads up to see the Joslyn Art Museum at night and the lights on the Creighton campus.
Send questions to us at netrailblazers@gmail.com. See you on the trail!
