Club activities – Page 5 – Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers

February 2018 updates

Well, the groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter – but we’re predicting some walking weather in February!

Our Year Round Event in Shelby, Iowa, takes place in part on the Old Stone Arch Nature Trail. Our club supports the annual “Soup Off” which raises funds to maintain and improve the trail. This year’s Soup Off is taking place on Saturday, February 10th from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cardinal Lofts, 304 Western Avenue, Shelby, IA. Carpooling arrangements are in place – contact Butch Spaulding soon if you will drive or need a ride. $6 gets you all the soup that you want to sample. Vote for your favorite soup using pennies, take part in the raffle or the pie auction, enjoy yourself!

The following weekend, we’re off to downtown Des Moines to do the annual Skywalk. This year, the Start Point has been moved to Wellmark Downtown YMCA, 501 Grand Avenue, and begins between 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday, February 17th. To get there, From I-235, take Exit 8A (downtown) and go south on 5th Street to Grand. Street parking is free on weekends. Some streets may be closed due to construction.. Carpooling is again available from Council Bluffs – contact Butch Spaulding for a ride.

The Worker’s Walk for the March 3rd Soup Walk is coming up on Saturday, February 24th at 9 a.m. at First Lutheran Church in Papillion, 420 N Washington St. We need lots of volunteers to make a Soup Walk a fun event for our members and guests; a worker’s walk allows volunteers to walk the trail, too! Those not volunteering are welcome to come, but be aware that we take the opportunity to test and tweak the walk that morning, so it may not be quite ready for “prime time”.

Finally, at our club meeting on Monday, February 5th, we got a group photo of those from our club who received Commendable and Meritorious Service Awards at our January dinner from the American Volkssport Association for their work on the Eclipse Events this past August. These are the people that make our events and walks great!

Pictured Left to Right, Commendable (C) and Meritorious (M).

Back Row: Jeanne Miller (M), Diane Fenlon (C), Butch Spaulding (M), Sandy Spaulding (M)

Front Row: Karen Dix-Johnson (C), Jill Champley (C), Sheila Goeltz (C), Julie Brown (M)

Not Pictured: Martha McGahan (M), Jim McGahan (M)

For a look at the McGahans, check out them out in this composite picture, saved in PDF format: Annual Dinner 2018 Awards Collage

Happy New Year! 2018 walking opportunities

Happy New Year! Was one of your resolutions to do more walking? Our national organization, AVA: America’s Walking Club, has been promoting an online challenge called. “Invest in Your Health: 401k”. Look for more details at AVA.

Locally, you can join one of our Meet and Eats in January indoors at the Westroads Mall at 8 a.m. on January 20th. Walk 5k or 10k – then join the group for a Food Court late breakfast, early lunch or brunch!

Later that day, the NWFT holds its Annual Meeting and Dinner at 5:30 p.m. (social time for the first 1/2 hour – don’t miss it!) at Valentino’s Pizza at 5022 S 108th St, Omaha, NE 68137. Members pay only $12, non-members pay $17. Reservations are due to Butch Spaulding by January 12th, so make your reservation today! Enjoy a lovely evening with friends, celebrate with our 2017 Walker of the Year and close out last year’s business with the installation of our slate of club officers for 2018.

Members should be looking in the mail for their 20 page booklet full of walks and activities for 2018. What’s a non-member to do? Wait for an email – or better yet, join today! A membership form is available here.

#OptOutside Walk coming soon!

Reminder of our November 24th #OptOutside walk:

#OptOutside is the hashtag, or identifier, used on Twitter to make a term searchable by other social media users. This one refers specifically to the idea of walking, hiking or enjoying the great outdoors on the Friday after Thanksgiving, rather than giving the day over to shopping. Our club and other walking clubs across the U.S. are organizing to offer #OptOutside events.

Our event will be a group walk of the Hanscom Park/Ford Birthsite Year Round Walk, either the 5k or the 10k. Folks will meet at the Hanscom Park Pavilion at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, November 24^th to sign paperwork and pay fees. ($1.50 Fun Walkers, $3.00 AVA/IVV credit, exact change much appreciated.) Groups will set out at 10 a.m. to work off some of that Thanksgiving turkey. Lunch together is a possibility – the Greek Islands or the 11-Worth Café are both nearby and local favorites.

Can’t make it to our event because you will be out of town? Try locating a walk near where you will be by searching the AVA’s website for walks all across the United States: OptOutside – AVA website link There are some fabulous walks out there. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to #OptOutside with the Trailblazers or with the AVA!

Upcoming Events – late August, early September

Our ~~Breakfast~~ Walk is coming up on September 9th in Plattsmouth’s Memorial Park. The Harvest Festival will be happening at the same time, so an exciting atmosphere will surround our walkers on that day. Remember that it starts at 8 a.m., registration runs until 11 a.m. ~~and to bring a pre-cooked breakfast item to share,~~ plus $3 for Credit Walkers, $1.50 for Fun Walkers. Breakfast available at the Volunteer Fire Department Pancake Feed from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. plus many food vendors.

What if you’ve volunteered to work the walk on September 9th or can’t make it that day? Well, the Workers’ Walk on Saturday, August 26th at 9 a.m. is for you! Leave the breakfast items at home, but come 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork and to pay.

Mary Ptacek of Tater Tours is bring 51 walkers to walk the Downtown Omaha walk on Monday, September 11th, scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. Would you be willing to walk with these out-of-towners that day and give them a warm welcome to Omaha? 5k and 10k walkers are both welcome. Like being an ambassador? Tater Tours will be in Lincoln the next day (Tuesday, Sept. 12th) to start the walk around 8 to 8:15 a.m. and off the trail by 11 a.m.

Speaking of September 11th, that’s the date that club meetings resume. 84th Street is STILL not open from Methodist Hospital south to Pacific Street, so plan your route in advance to arrive by 7 p.m. at Morning Star Lutheran Church at 331 S 85th Ave, Omaha, NE 68114.

Eclipse Events updates

Package registrations are closed. Any remaining t-shirts and patches will be available on a first-come-first-served basis at the Raffle/Sales Table at the walks. The brochure and registration form on the website has been updated. Supplies for walks are limited – reserve your eclipse glasses, glowsticks, etc. by mailing in your registrations so that they are RECEIVED by August 8th. Walk-ins after that date are welcome to walk (or swim), but are not guaranteed eclipse glasses, etc.
The Meet and Greet on Friday, August 18th, has been moved to St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish Hall, 112 S. Cedar St. Grand Island, NE 68801. The event is open ONLY to those pre-registered by August 8th (see above).
Meet and Greet registrants have been asked how they want their first name to appear on the name tag and for an interesting fact or tidbit about themselves for a mixer at the Meet and Greet. Prizes for the top 3 winners will be available!
NEW WALK ADDED! After the Meet and Greet ends at 7 p.m., we’ll be walking Historic Downtown Grand Island in 5k and 10k small groups. Bring your books to be stamped. Information on Special Programs available has been included in the updated brochure.
The Sunflower Sod Stompers have sanctioned 3 additional swim events during the 4-day weekend – and have scheduled them so that you can walk, then cool off by swimming. What a great way to multitask during a multi-event weekend! The location of those events is the pool at the Candlewood Suites. All the information on the Sunflower Sod Stompers’ Eclipse Swim Events is contained in this printable flyer. Be sure to bring your own towel and to observe all motel guidelines; swimming is at your own risk.
Getting confused with everything that you need to know? Don’t worry – we’ll have “Need to Know” sheets for each day. Here’s Friday’s “Need to Know” sheet. Let us know if you have any questions.

June is busting out all over!

Club Logo – 2nd place award

First there was the 2017 Biennial Convention to follow, as maybe a dozen club members headed west to Billings, Montana via the Crazy Horse Monument Walk on June 3rd and then headed back via Cody, Wyoming on the 10th and 11th. Our club website was voted #1 and our club logo #2 at the convention. Thanks to everyone who keeps our club out there in the public eye!

Our club meeting on June 5th will have to last us until the next meeting on Monday, September 11th, where a great program speaker is on deck. (More details when the speaker is confirmed!).

Then 19 members and Meetup friends ventured out onto the trail at Wehrspann Lake the day after hurricane force winds and two tornadoes knocked trees onto the trail and onto our members’ yards and houses! Wow – they must really love to walk! Or maybe it was the Cracker Barrel brunch that followed?

Our Eclipse Committee has been working, working, working! Over 100 people have signed up for events on each of Saturday, Sunday and Monday. More information to come in a separate post about changes to our planned events and places – plus a brand, new event! Also, one of our neighboring clubs to the south, the Sunflower Sod Stompers, are reserving use of a hotel swimming pool so that they can offer Swim Events in between our walking events. Keep an eye out for more information, to be posted here and on Facebook.

Our next club event will take place July 8th at the Mallory Kountze Planetarium inside of the Durham Science Building on the UNO Campus. The program “What’s Up” will feature summer skies and what we might see at the Star Party in August. The program starts at 6:30 p.m., lasts for about an hour, and costs only $4. That leaves you with enough money for ice cream after the show!

May 2017 news

Our NWFT May-June 2017 Newsletter is available now. If you want the full version, consider becoming a club member. Club members get reminder emails of upcoming events, discounts and more. Check out these 26 people having a great time at our April “Meet and Eat” in Ashland, Nebraska.

Page 7 of the newsletter lists a lot of area walks from SD, MN, NE, KS and MO, hosted by our club and a number of other great clubs. Did you know that every single one of those walks qualifies for the “Doin’ the Louisiana Purchase” program, even if that special program isn’t specifically listed?

Our regular club meeting on May 1st at 7 p.m. in the lower level of Morning Star Lutheran Church, 331 S 85th Ave, Omaha, NE 68114, will feature a talk on keeping seniors moving. Don’t forget that if you’re coming from the south on 84th Street, that 84th is closed from Pacific north to Methodist Hospital (Dodge Street) and you can NOT get to the church that way! Use an alternate route.

Our Workers’ Walk for the May 13th “Florence Days Walk” in the Omaha neighborhood of Florence will take place on Sunday, May 7th at 2 p.m.

Finally, remember that Eclipse package registrations, as well as t-shirt and patch orders, close on May 25th. If you’re just coming out on Monday, August 21st, please go ahead and register for just that walk. We’d hate to run out of eclipse-viewing glasses!

Late March/early April 2017 Updates

What a busy month! It’s hard to keep up with all our club members – they’re always on the move!

Saturday, March 25th is our next “Meet and Eat” for either a 5k walk or a 10k walk. Meet at the north end of the Gallup Parking lot (off Ferer Plaza) by 10 a.m. – be ready to walk by 10:15. Lunch this time will be at the Old Mattress Factory, at 13th and Cass Streets.

The next day, Sunday March 26th, the Workers’ Walk for the April 1st “I Spy Walk” will start at Madonna Rehab Hospital near the unnamed outdoor shopping mall, 17500 Burke Street. Walkers will start promptly at 2 p.m., so arrive early with exact change in hand to sign the paperwork and pay. $1.50 for fun walkers, $3.00 for credit walkers.

The formal “I Spy Walk” will be held the next Saturday, April 1st, from 9 to 12, off the trail by 3 p.m. Same prices as above. If you’re able to walk with new walkers at 9:30, great! We’d love to have you come set the pace and offer some words of friendship.

The regular monthly meeting at Morningstar Lutheran Church on Monday, April 3rd, will feature a presentation on the summer sky. If the sky is clear, we’ll go out and look up. The meeting starts promptly at 7.

For those of you looking at our Eclipse Events August 18 – 21, good news! The Stuhr Museum has worked out a deal with us, so we’re passing on the savings. The package cost is now $25, rather than $30, and the actual Eclipse Walk is now $5, rather than $10. Those who have already pre-registered and paid will be offered a refund onsite. We’ve found a couple of rooms, so let us know if you’re interested – first come, first served!