Group Walks – Page 5 – Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers

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.

Club Events emails

Our club has added a biweekly email “Nebraska Trailblazers Club News” to remind you of upcoming events. Did you get yours yesterday? You can email us at netrailblazers@gmail.com to be added to the list. If you’re not on the list, the current email is available at our hosting service, MailChimp: https://mailchi.mp/8603d4208fac/upcoming-events?e=ea1bca85fb

We don’t want you to miss out on the upcoming great opportunities to walk – tomorrow’s Meet and Eat, Saturday, April 21st in Shelby, Iowa or the regular walk on Saturday, May 12th in far southwest Omaha. Subscribe today – and never miss a walk with the Trailblazers!

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.

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!

Traditions – Old and New

Our club is fast approaching its 39^th birthday in March 2018 and has established traditions over the years. For example, there’s the March Soup Walk, the September Breakfast Walk, going to Lincoln for their annual Wyuka Walk, the November Pie Walk* and the December Lights Walk. There’s the annual “Walker of the Year” award, voted on by club members as having made a significant difference in the club’s operations that year. (Hey, have you sent your nomination to club president Lee Frantz yet?)

(If you know of or have access to a location that would be a great place to hold our Soup or Pie Walks, please let Sandy Spaulding know right away. The Committee is planning the club’s roster of 2018 walks and those are the 2 hardest walks to schedule, due to needing a kitchen and/or sinks and tables.)

New traditions respond to new trends in communication, walking, and enjoying the outdoors. For example, the National Trails Day Walk, the first Saturday in June, is a national walking and hiking day, which the club has put on a few times. There are our somewhat monthly “Meet and Eats”, promoting an extra walk in a month of one of our year-round walks or that of a neighboring club. And we’re rolling out a new “tradition”, that of #OptOutside.

*Reminder: Our annual Pie Walk is coming up on Saturday, November 4^th at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, 15005 Q Street, Omaha, NE from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Off the trail by 3 p.m., but those pies will be packed up around 1, so if you’re planning to come later, plan to eat pie before you hit the trail. Where do all the pies come from? From walkers like you! Leftover pie is taken to a local homeless shelter, so non-cream pies travel best. Or eat the cream pies first!

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.