Events – Page 4 – Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers

Announcing our 2019 Walker Incentive Program

When you do our walks, do you stamp your book(s) for credit? If you do, you’re going to LOVE our 2019 Walker Incentive Program. Details below:

Request a card at any club meeting or traditional walk event. The card can be carried with your AVA book. You can earn up to four free walks per year. Walk nine unique walks, either traditional events or year round events for CREDIT (do not repeat any of the walks) in your home club-NWFT or Greater Des Moines Volkssport Association (GDMVA). Mark off the nine events you have done and you will get the 10^th walk free. The walk must be redeemed at a traditional event or bring the card to a club meeting to redeem for a YRE. After you redeem your first walk, you can walk nine more unique events (not repeating any of the walks). You can now get credit for any events that are sanctioned by NWFT, GDMVA or the Lincoln Volkssport Club. Bonus credit for walking Ogallala or North Platte-these two walks count as two walks each. Drive a little and get double credit! You can receive another free walk from NWFT or GDMVA by showing your card with the walks crossed off as you do them. The card can be used four times. If you walk any qualifying walks prior to receiving a card, you can cross them off of the card after you receive it by showing your AVA book entry. If you do an event at one of the other clubs prior to completing your first 9 walks, you can cross them off your card when you do them but cannot redeem them until you complete the first 9 events at your home club.

Not a book stamper? Consider our New Walker Program. For only $5, you get a Distance and an Event Book, coupons for 3 free walks, a patch and an issue of The American Wanderer, our national organization’s bi-monthly publication – all included! Keep a record of all the great walks you’ve been on and log those kilometers as you walk them.

Upcoming walks

The Lincoln Volkssport Club’s annual Wyuka Walk is still scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, October 27th. Registration takes place at the City Impact Building, 1035 N 33rd St, Lincoln, NE 68503, from 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. Fun Walkers are FREE; Credit Walkers (people who get their books stamped) pay $3. The LVC asks walkers to be off the trail by 1 p.m., so arrive early enough to enjoy this annual stroll through peaceful Wyuka Cemetery and surrounding neighborhoods.

The Workers’ Walk for the Rita Eldrige Memorial Pie Walk will be held on Sunday at 3 p.m. Walkers should be advised that the restrooms will not be available before the walk and to arrive early enough to complete the registration process by 3 p.m. Two 5k loops will be featured.

The Blair Pie Walk on Saturday, November 3rd will honor the memory of Rita Eldrige, longtime Volkssporter and an integral member of the Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers nearly since its beginning almost 40 years ago. Bring a pie to share and registration fees and enjoy walking in Blair, Nebraska! The registration point will be the Blair Police Department’s Training Center, right next to the police station at 1730 Lincoln Street. Registration will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., off the trail by 3 (but if you come that late, the pies will be gone!) Registration is $1.50 for Fun Walkers and $3.00 for Credit Walkers. We donate leftover pie to the New Visions Homeless Shelter in Council Bluffs.

Those wishing to walk as a group should plan to set out at 9:30 a.m. for one or both 5 kilometer loops.

Malvern Art Tour Walk

Our next 5k/10k walk will be on Saturday, September 15th in Malvern, Iowa. The Start Point will be the Classic Cafe at 315 Main Street. Registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The walk is self-paced and takes you through town and points along the Southwest Iowa Art Tour, before heading out for a while on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. Please return by 1 p.m. The cost is $1.50 for Fun Walkers and $3.00 for those who want to get their books stamped for AVA/IVV credit.

Meetup people: we’re planning on a group walk of the 5k/10k routes starting at 8:30 a.m. The walk is composed of two 5k loops, so walk one or both! Plan on a pace of 3 to 3.5 miles per hour – faster than a stroll, slower than a brisk pace. The trail is well marked and printed directions are available for those who want to walk either faster or slower than the group.

Here’s one of the sights along the trail – another cafe. Rumor has it that there’s a THIRD food stop along the way!

Summertime 2018 happenings

Between our club outings and Meet and Eats, we’ve got a full line-up of summertime activities and walks planned. Come join us!

June 23rd – Meet and Eat – “5k Giving Walk”: Meet at the Gallup Parking Lot at 10 a.m. for a 5k walk celebrating our club’s 39th birthday. The twist? We’re giving the presents! Extras to give will be available. Lunch afterwards TBD. Fun Walkers pay $1.50; Credit Walkers pay $3.00.

July 4th Club Outing – Nebraska’s 4th of July City – Seward, NE 5k/10k: Meet at Seward’s Civic Center, 616 Bradford St, Seward, NE 68434 at 9 a.m. to walk the 10k, 9:30 a.m. to walk the 5k. Lunch afterwards at 11 a.m. at the Civic Center. Stay for a day of parades and fireworks! Fun Walkers pay $1.50; Credit Walkers pay $3.00.

August 25th Club Outing – Ashland, NE Art Walk: Meet at Cheri O’s, 1404 Silver St, Ashland, NE 68003, at 4 p.m. for an early supper, then stroll the streets of downtown Ashland as part of their Art Walk. No fee to participate; you are responsible for your own meal and any purchases you make.

September 7 – 9 Regional Roundup – North Central Region’s 6 walks and evening socials near Minneapolis, MN: Our club’s Butch Spaulding will be speaking in his role as the AVA’s Deputy Regional Director for the states of ND, SD, MN, WI, IA and NE during the Saturday evening social. Brochure available here: NC Regional Roundup – 2018

September 10th Club Meeting – Morning Star Lutheran Church: 7 p.m. club meeting starts with a speaker, is followed by club business and concludes with treats and social time. Lower level of the church at 331 S 85th Ave, Omaha, NE 68114. No fee.

September 15th – Malvern, IA Art Walk 5k/10k: Register between 8 and 11 a.m. at Classic Café, 315 Main St, Malvern IA to do either route. Stroll through a charming small town (Malvern) and open countryside (Wabash Trace Nature Trail). Walk past artist venues participating in the Southwest Iowa Art Tour, through the restored historic downtown and see many beautiful historic homes. Trail has both paved and crushed rock sections. Fun Walkers pay $1.50; Credit Walkers pay $3.00.

WHOOPS! Correction to directions to Bird Seeds to Trails Walk

VERY IMPORTANT – Earlier information about construction on Harrison Street was incorrect. Use 168th Street from north or south, or come from the WEST on Harrison, as it is closed between 144th and 156th Streets. 156th Street is closed between Harrison and Giles, too.

Another route available, other than the screenshot shown from Google Maps: Q Street is a good east-west alternative route and is about a mile north of Harrison. Drive on Q St to 168th St, then south to Audrey St. just south of Harrison St. (on right).

Welcome to Nebraska’s unofficial 5th season: Road Construction Season.

Harrison St. is closed between 144th and 156th Streets, east of the walk.

April Club Meeting notes and news

Our April club meeting featured an engaging speaker on the topic of blacksmithing, club business and tasty treats. Our next club meeting is May 7th at 7 p.m. at Morning Star Lutheran Church, in the preschool room at 331 S 85th Ave, Omaha, NE 68114.

The April 7th Pete Dowling Memorial “Spyngo” Walk features two 5k loops, one of which overlaps with a run that morning, so folks are being asked not to use that loop until 10 a.m. Luckily, Claudia Dowling and friends will have treats for walkers and a display showing Pete’s contributions to the club over his nearly 35 years of association.

Plans for the 4 County Walks the first weekend of October are in place. We’ve decided to call it “Discover Small Town Nebraska 2018” and you can read all about it here. Sandy Spaulding and the Coordinating Committee have put together 4 walks, 2 dinners, wine tastings and entertainment over 3 days and 2 nights.

Looking for a walking partner to do our club’s Year Round Events? Contact Sandy (or send us an email at netrailblazers@gmail.com) and she will put you on the list of walking partners. A Year Round Event (YRE) is a self-registered walk that you can do any day of the year. It is not staffed and the trail is not marked, but good maps and directions are included in every Walk Box that contains all the info you need to walk a YRE.

Our next club event is the April 21st “Meet and Eat” in Shelby, Iowa. Meet at The Corn Crib (right off I-80, on the northwest side of the off-ramp) at 9:15 to do paperwork and use bathrooms. After the walk at 9:30, come back for lunch with the group at The Corn Crib.

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