May 4th Club Meeting: CANCELLED
May 9th Walk: CANCELLED
Follow all health directives, so that we can see you once again in June!
Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers
Walk for Fun, Fitness and Friendship in the Omaha and Council Bluffs metro area
Please note that the following events have been changed (updated May 21, 2020):
Any questions, please let us know at netrailblazers@gmail.com.
At our Annual Dinner and Meeting this past Saturday, January 18th, our club installed its 2020 Officers and recognized some special volunteers in our club. Volunteers are the heart and soul of our club!
Karen Dix-Johnson was recognized as our 2019 Walker of the Year. Karen is our smiling ambassador when she’s not busy leading walks or helping wherever she’s needed.
Ann has lined up speakers for our club’s monthly meetings for over 20 years! Her AVA Meritorious Service Award is richly deserved.
We say “thank you” to Tricia Abel as our club’s secretary, as she hands over the club minutes to Dave Brown, our secretary for 2020.
Happy New Year of Walking! Get your calendar out – besides a great slate of regular walks this year, our club is involved in two very special events:
We’ve got LOTS of information about these two events on our website, so be sure to click on the links to learn more.
Our news-packed newsletter for January and February 2020, in stunning color, is available here: Jan/Feb 2020 Newsletter But you won’t see the name of our 2019 “Walker of the Year” in it – you’ll have to attend our Annual Dinner and Meeting to find out!
First – did you get our most recent newsletter by email? Club members get the full newsletter emailed directly to them, hot off the press, errr, computer desktop! See it here: November – December 2019 Newsletter
Our annual Pie Walk is coming up this Saturday, November 9th, from 9 a.m. to noon (off the trail by 3 p.m.) at Countryside Community Church at 13130 Faith Plaza, Omaha, NE (132nd and Pacific). $2 for Fun Walkers, $3 for book stampers. Oh – and be sure to bring a pie to share! Extra pies donated go to New Visions, a homeless shelter in Council Bluffs. (Hint: refrigerated pies don’t transport well after the walk, but we love to sample them after walking!).
Later this month, club members will have the opportunity to vote for our 2019 “Walker of the Year”, for our 2020 slate of officers and for an amendment to our bylaws. “WOTY” nominees are listed in the newsletter and Club President Lee sent out an email this morning about officers and the proposed amendment. Voting will be by electronic ballot, mail (for those without email access) and by paper ballot at our December 2nd meeting for those who have not already voted.
Our club is still planning to make an outing of the Le Mars, Iowa Seasonal Walk – see the Le Mars, Iowa December 7th outing announcement for all of the details. Thank you to club members Denene Turner and Sandy Spaulding for putting this together! Maybe they deserve an extra scoop of that great Blue Bunny Ice Cream while on the 5k/10k walk?
After a nice 2 hour drive, meet at the walk start point at Holiday Inn Express, to register for the walk. Carpool to enjoy lunch at Pizza Ranch then start your walk, stopping at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Shop and Ice Cream Museum. Visit the Plymouth County Museum to see over 400 manger scenes and 100 Christmas village scenes. After your walk visit Christmas Village at the County Fairgrounds with old time stores, great entertainment, sandwiches and roasted marshmallows, beautiful Christmas trees, horse drawn sleigh rides and a round barn decorated in a Christmas scene. All free! Then back to the downtown area to enjoy the lighted, animated floats in the Christmas Parade. Continue in the Christmas spirit by visiting Christmas Acres 7 miles from Le Mars where there are 1200 displays and inflatables and an estimated 100,000 lights. This huge display is hosted by the Scheitler family at no charge. Monetary donations are accepted for the Christian Needs Center Food Bank in Le Mars.
Carpool Details
Saturday, December 7th at 10 a.m. – Meet @ Council Bluffs Walmart, 3201 Manawa Centre. Email Sandy care of netrailblazers@gmail.com if interested in riding or driving in carpool either for the day and returning that evening or staying overnight. If you plan to spend the night special rate good till Nov. 6:
Reservations on your own — Holiday Inn Express, $129 AVA rate, 712-546-1700.
Return to Council Bluffs about 1 p.m. Sunday or drive back Saturday night.
Walk Registration
December 7th at noon – Meet at Holiday Inn Express, 1285 Sleepy Eye Dr., Le Mars, Iowa to register for walk and stamp books. $3 Walk fee.
Lunch
12:30 p.m. -Pizza Ranch, 22 Central Ave. SW in Le Mars. Let Sandy know if you plan to eat lunch so she can notify Pizza Ranch of numbers.
Walk
1:30 p.m. -5:30 p.m. – Seasonal Walk from Pizza Ranch 5 or 10k Rated 1A – route has been reconfigured to take us from Pizza Ranch to Plymouth County Museum for Christmas Manger display. Take your time and enjoy all four floors of this great museum. (Distance included in IVV walk)
Christmas Village-at Plymouth County Fairgrounds – within walking distance of downtown (.7 miles). (Distance included in IVV walk. Open 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Parade
6 p.m. Lighted parade downtown along Central Avenue
Christmas Acres
If you still have energy after this fun day, visit Christmas Acres, 18481 Impala Ave, Struble, IA, about 7 miles from Le Mars. To get there, take U.S. Hwy. 75 in Le Mars southwest to IA Hwy. 3, west to Impala Ave, left to Christmas Acres on the right. Open 5-10 p.m. There is another lights display along IA Hwy. 3 before you get to Christmas Acres that you can park and walk through.
We had a very busy club meeting on Monday night!
Upcoming Walks and Meetings:
Other Business:
The hosting business for our Year Round Event in Shelby, Iowa is closing its doors in August. The Corn Crib was a good host and served some great food!
Our club will say farewell to this walk on the morning of Saturday, August 3rd. At 8 a.m., we’ll hold a Meet and Eat. Groups of 5k and 10k walkers will head out and return for a late breakfast or early lunch together. $2 for Fun Walkers, $3 for AVA/IVV credit (book stampers). Exact change is always appreciated!
After the walk, the Walk Box will be removed from the premises. So if you’ve been planning to walk this beautiful walk, take advantage of the group walk on August 3rd or during the promised break in hot weather coming up soon.
Our July – August 2019 newsletter (website edition) is available here: NWFT Jul-Aug 2019 newsletter Remember that club members receive the full newsletter directly, hot-off-the-presses!
Updates on summer activities:
July 28th baseball outing is SOLD OUT!
August 3rd – just added! 8 a.m. group walk of the Shelby, Iowa YRE, with a late breakfast or early lunch scheduled for afterwards at the starting point, The Corn Crib, right off I-80 on the NW corner of the intersection. (Look for the red silo.)
August 10th – Melodrama at Mahoney Park. Only 4 tickets left! Meet at Cheri O’s in Ashland at 3 p.m. for ice cream and to car pool to the State Park for the 5 p.m. show. Tickets are $7, plus the cost of sharing in the $6 per Nebraska resident daily park pass ($8 for out-of-staters). Email us at netrailblazers@gmail.com for more info.