- 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.
Category: Eclipse
June is busting out all over!
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’ th
e 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!
Annual Meeting and Dinner – 2017
31 people attended the January 21, 2017 Annual Meeting and Dinner at Valentino’s (108th & Q area). Incoming president Lee Frantz and wife Donna Campbell decorated the tables with a star theme in anticipation of our August 18 – 21 Total Solar Eclipse events, with Milky Way candy bars, Starbursts and Sunshine butterscotch candies.
A highlight of every Annual Meeting is the presentation of the Walker of the Year award. 2015 Walkers Jim and Martha McGahan presented the 2016 award to Ann Drebot. Ann arranges for speakers at our monthly club meetings and has done so for many, many years.
Wild Eclipse T-shirts for Sale!
SORRY – ALL SOLD OUT AS OF 4/11/17
The printer goofed when printing up our latest batch of club t-shirts – all those wild colors, sizes and styles got ECLIPSE logos printed on them instead (see example on the left). Here’s YOUR chance to own a one-of-a-kind t-shirt.
When you adopt a shirt, the proceeds will go toward our Eclipse events in August (food for meet & greet, drawstring bags, eclipse glasses, etc.) Let Sandy Spaulding know if you might be interested. This is what we have left:
1 M Short Sleeve Tee – Maroon2 M Sweatshirts – Maroon1 L Long sleeve Tee – Charisma Coral1 L Long Sleeve Tee – Maroon4 L Sweatshirts – Maroon1 L Short Sleeve Wicking Tee – White1 XL Short Sleeve Tee – Maroon1 XL Short sleeve wicking shirt – Pink1 XXL Short Sleeve Tee – Maroon1 XXL Sweatshirt – Maroon1 XXL V-Neck Short Sleeve Tee – Forest Green1 XXXL Long Sleeve Tee – Light Blue