Category: Newsletter

May 2021 newsletter and updates

Here’s the May-June 2021 club newsletter, edited for the web. Club members receive the full newsletter immediately upon publication. Membership for the remainder of 2021 is FREE, so download the application and mail it to the Post Office box or email it to netrailblazers@gmail.com.

Sandy has a lot to say in this newsletter, such as having more spur-of-the-moment walks, like the one she’s leading next week on Thursday, May 13th at 10 a.m. on one of our new Seasonal Walks – the Wabash Trace.  Meet 15 minutes early in the parking lot of the Iowa West Foundation Trailhead just down the street from the Tastee Treet at 13996 Wabash Ave in Council Bluffs. The parking lot is at the intersection of South Omaha Bridge Road and Harry Langdon Avenue. The Wabash Trace does ask for a $2 fee to be deposited into the fee box for each walker using the Trace.

Sandy isn’t collecting any money for this walk – if you’re a Credit Walker, be sure to stop in at the Tastee Treet after the walk to pay your $3 and get your book(s) stamped.

Or, register via the Online Start Box! Directions on how to use the Online Start Box are now on our website.  The Online Start Box is really handy when you want to do the Omaha Downtown and Hanscom Park walks – no more driving down to the physical start box and then driving back to the places where the walks start! And of course, the only way you can register for the Veterans and Libraries Walk is via the Online Start Box. 

Finally, club president Steve wants everyone to know that the Free Park Day Walk at Mahoney State Park on Saturday, May 15th is now offering 5k and 6k loops, an increase of 1 kilometer of walking. Also, the club will be collecting cash donations for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s Walk, Run and Roll event. There will be a donations box at the Start Table. Remember – if you register online, you’ll just check in, deposit your payment and take a map – in and out in 3 minutes or less!

Mid-March 2021 Updates

Our March-April 2021 Newsletter went out to members last week. What’s that, you say? How do I become a member and get all the news as it happens? Well, fear no more: until December 31, 2021, membership in the club is FREE! Fill out and send in this form without attaching a check and you’re all set.

The newsletter talks about “National Walking Week” which takes place from April 1st through April 7th, with April 7th being “National Walking Day”. We’ve got six, count them, 6 free walks for you! Since April 4th falls on Easter Sunday, we won’t be meeting to walk, but be sure to post any pictures of you (and family) walking that day on a special post on our Facebook page.  (It’s not up yet, but you’ll know it when you see it.)

Free walks means no AVA/IVV Credit, so leave your books at home. Two of the walks have fees imposed by the locale, so be aware of those fees before you come. Also, COVID-19 protocols are still in place – that means masks while registering and when within 6′ of someone outside of your household. Arrive 15 minutes early to take care of paperwork.

All of these are 5k walks, except Downtown Omaha, which is a 6k. Families and leashed dogs welcome and all trails are stroller friendly.

  • Thursday, April 1st, 5 p.m.  – Prairie Queen Recreation Area – meet in the SE parking lot closest to Werner Park on Lincoln Avenue.
  • Friday, April 2nd, 1 p.m. – Wabash Trace Trailhead at 4102 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs, IA 51503. $2 per walker fee to Southwest Iowa Nature Trails Project, Inc.  Out-and-back walk.
  • Saturday, April 3rd, 10 a.m. – Downtown Omaha – meet at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, in the Discovery Garden area.
  • Monday, April 5th, 5 p.m. – Walnut Creek Recreation Area – meet in the parking area near the playground.
  • Tuesday, April 6th, 4 p.m. – Lake Manawa Dream Playground – meet in the parking area. $5 vehicle entrance fee for out-of-state plates.
  • Wednesday, April 7th, 1 p.m. – Chalco Hills Recreation Area – meet in the south parking lot (Highway 370 Access).

With all this walking, you’ll be ready for our regular April 10th Bockfest 5k and 10k Walk, right? Details on our 2021 Walk Calendar page.

Welcome to 2021!

Our New Year’s resolution for 2021? To offer great walks and to make new friends! Club membership in 2021 is FREE! Download the form and either email the completed form to netrailblazers@gmail.com or print it and send it to the address on the form.  

Our latest club newsletter can be downloaded here.  As always, club members get the full newsletter emailed directly to them.  This introduces our new club president, the implementation of our calendar year club dues structure and offers the chance for one lucky person to win a FREE registration to the AVA’s 2021 Biennial Convention, to be held in Madison, Wisconsin.

We’ll be announcing the 2020 Walker of the Year at our January 11th Zoom meeting (link sent to club members by hard-working past president Lee). In-person club meetings are still on hold at this time.

You did see our 2021 Walk Booklet, didn’t you? We’ve got 8 Traditional Events scheduled, starting in March. We have 10 Year Round Walks that you can do (almost) every day of the year and 3 Seasonal Walks starting April 1st (information on this page). One of them is only available via the Online Start Box, so if you don’t have an online account, now is the perfect time to create one and get familiar with the process. A tutorial is in the works to supplement the great “Help” sections available with each step of the process.  

We’re sending out a big THANK YOU! to the folks with the Lincoln Volkssport Club, which closed at the end of 2020. Their passion and commitment to great walks continues.  Our club has picked up the Lincoln Capital and Seward Year Round Walks, with the help of former LVC members. The Nebraska City walk has been turned into one of our new Seasonal Walks, but don’t worry – it closes after the Apple Jack Festival.  

If your 2021 resolution is to be more active, we want to be your partner.  And you can always do those Year Rounds in snowshoes.  ?

 

 

November Updates

There’s a newsletter, of course, but there are some important things you need to know about November.

  • The November 7th Pie Walk in Ashland is CANCELLED.
  • The December 5th Lights Walk in downtown Omaha has been MOVED to Nebraska’s Christmas City: Seward, Nebraska.  Register online at Christmas City eRegistration and arrive at Living Word Lutheran Church, 1300 West Hillcrest Drive, Seward, NE 68434 between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.  The cost is $2 for Fun Walkers and $3 for Credit Walkers (book stampers) payable by exact change or a check (made out to NWFT) placed in an envelope when you check in.  After your 5k or 10k walk, stay for a tour of Nebraska’s largest Christmas lights display. Starting at 6 p.m. you can drive through the Magical Christmas Lights of Seward at the fairgrounds. Cost is $20 per vehicle (not payable to us). See https://magicallightsofseward.com/ for all the details.
  • Voting for Club Officers and 2020’s Walker of the Year will take place during November.  Details are in the newsletter, although the start of voting may be delayed because of some technical difficulties.
  • The December 7th club meeting is CANCELLED.  
  • Finally, membership during 2021 is FREE!  Club membership allows you to get all this news delivered to your inbox as it happens, receive the full newsletter as soon as it comes out, and the opportunity to vote for club officers and Walker of the Year.  Here’s a link to the membership form, so that you can take advantage of this great opportunity.  The full details on how the free membership works are . . . you guessed it! . . . in the newsletter.

 

September Walk, latest Newsletter

Walk has moved!  See latest post (September 9, 2020).  Our next walk will be September 19th at Omaha’s Standing Bear Lake, Entrance 4 (N. 132nd Street, between Fort and Military – closer to Military) from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.  We’ll be offering a 6k around the lake and a 10k that adds some hills in the Saddlebrook neighborhood to the west of the lake.  Please register online at: eRegistration Link .  Pay when you arrive: $2 for Fun Walkers, $3 for Credit Walkers (book stampers).  Group Walk at 8:30 a.m.  We will be observing COVID-19 protocols, so bring your mask and pen and an envelope containing payment (exact change or check made out to “NWFT”).

Our latest newsletter, containing 2021’s tentative schedule and plenty of insights from President Lee and Coordinating Committee Chair Sandy, is available here:  September – October 2020 newsletter  As always, club members get the full newsletter directly in their inboxes, hot off the press!  Be sure to send in your “Walker of the Year” nominations to newsletter editor Julie, whose email address is listed in the full newsletter.  

Lots of News! and a Newsletter

It’s hard to keep track of everything that’s changing, isn’t it! Our crack reporter and newsletter editor Julie put together another great newsletter – and in the last couple of days, we’ve got more news and updates to pass along to you.

First, the newsletter:

You can download it here: NWFT May – June 2020 newsletter

Now for the updates:

  • Our May 9th Traditional Walk, rescheduled from April, is CANCELED.
  • No decision has been made at this time about our June 1st Club Meeting.
  • 20 Iowa Parks in 2020 seasonal walking program has OPENED as of May 1st.  All facilities are not open at the parks until at least May 15th, although one or two toilets may be available.  Try to be flexible if you want to walk before the 15th and do follow all Iowa social distancing guidelines.
  • Speaking of the Iowa Parks program, Lake Anita State Park’s POC Jill reports that the Start Box is temporarily located inside the Park Office, until the campgrounds open on May 15th.
  • Still speaking of the Iowa Parks program, the June 6th Group Walks at Lewis and Clark and Stone State Parks have been CANCELED.  These are fantastic walks that you can do on your own, but not with a group at this time. Maybe in the fall?
  • Omaha Hanscom Park YRE has REOPENED.
  • Omaha Westroads Mall YRE is still CLOSED.
  • A New Seasonal Walk, with Little Free Library!,  has been ADDED in Southeastern Council Bluffs, courtesy of Sandy Spaulding.  Info at: AVA website listing

News 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:

  1. The “20 Iowa Parks in 2020” walking program, which runs from May 1st – October 15th of this year; and
  2. “Blazin’ Trails and Tellin’ Tales”, the North Central Regional Roundup, to be hosted by our club from October 2 – 4, 2020.

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!

Club News from November Meeting

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?  

Walking Season Returns!

Now that the weather is starting to turn, it’s time to give those walking shoes a check-up.   Are they ready for another great set of walks this fall?

Our latest newsletter is full of information about upcoming meetings and walks – check it out here:  NWFT Sept – Oct 2019 Newsletter.

Our next club meeting is Monday night, September 9th at 7 p.m. at Morning Star Lutheran Church at 331 S. 85th Avenue. Our speaker will have you on your feet!

Our next walk is Saturday morning, September 21st, at the American Legion at 330 W. Lincoln in Papillion, NE. The 10k route takes you to Walnut Creek Lake. Start times are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Fees are $2 for Fun Walkers and $3 for AVA/IVV credit walkers.

And of course, we’ve got a number of Year Round Events  waiting for you anytime – year round!

See you on the trail!

July – August 2019 Newsletter & Activities

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.