Our hard-working Regional Director Phyllis Olson is handing over the reins to Jerry Wilson as of July 1st, but not before sending us lots and lots of news! Club President Mel sent all of this via email, so it may be old news to you. Do take a look at the other walks in our region, so that if your travels take you nearby, you can add a walk to your itinerary.
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Late February News
February must be Soup News Month! We had 20 walkers attend the Shelby Old Stone Arch Nature Trail Soup Off on February 7th. Here are just a few photos from that event – lots more photos are available in the NWFT Mar-Apr 2015 newsletter and on Facebook.
The Workers’ Walk for the March 7th Soup Walk will take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 28th, at St. Barnabas Church in Omaha. Please arrive 15 minutes early to take care of paperwork and to bundle yourself up for a rather chilly walk. Too bad that there won’t be any soup at the workers’ walk!
The Soup Walk itself will take place the following Saturday, March 7th, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. to start walking and be off the trail by 3 p.m. St. Barnabas Church is located just north of 40th and Dodge. Club President Mel Bohn promises that there will be more parking available this year. Please bring 2 cans of soup – one for the pots of chicken or vegetable beef soups and one for the food pantry.
Shelby Old Stone Arch Soup-Off, plus Trailblazers in the news!
Butch Spaulding sent out an email to all members for whom we have an email about the Shelby Old Stone Arch Nature Trail Soup-Off, to be held February 7th at Cardinal Lofts, 304 Western Avenue, to be held February 7th, from 5 to 7 p.m. sharp. The cost is $10.00 for all the soup you care to eat. Raffle tickets are available to purchase. Butch says:
One of the ways they raise money for the trail is by having a peoples choice award – this is determined by the number of votes the soup receives – 1 cent equals one vote so you can bring change or folding money if you want to vote for your favorite soup. As with most voting in the USA one is not required to vote.
They also auction off home made pies during the event. Last year a few pies were sold for over $100.00 each.
For the last few years we have car pooled from Mall of the Bluffs – off Madison Ave (exit 5) – Council Bluffs. For those wanting to car pool we will be leaving between 4:15 PM and 4:30 PM.
To get to the meeting area – take exit 5 off I-80 and head north away from Village Inn. Take the drive between Buckey’s and Hy Vee. Drive through the intersection – there is no stop sign for your direction – the other three directions have stop signs. Take the first right – just before the mall building starts. Park in this area.
If you are interested in either driving or riding please let me know so that I can start a list. (Use the Contact Us Form if you need to get in touch with Butch.)
In other news, The American Wanderer (the official publication of the AVA) published a nice article by our very own Jim Goeltz in the February – March 2015 edition. The article is attached here as a legal-sized PDF. AVA members receive a complimentary subscription to the The American Wanderer, and editions contain dozens of articles and inserts about walks and walking programs around the US and sometimes abroad. Membership is only $25/year for an individual and $30/year for a family. You don’t have to be an AVA member to walk an AVA walk, but memberships do help the national organization to stay viable.
December Walks – 1 down, 1 to go!
Our 2014 Lights Walk had wonderful weather, wonderful workers and wonderful walkers! 89 of them to be exact. Folks from Grand Island, Nebraska, Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City and of course lots of folks closer to home. Thank you to our Checkpoint business, Delice in Midtown Crossing. The folks there, staff and patrons, certainly got into the fun of walking!
Be sure to close out the walking year with “Time to Walk! 10-11-12-13-14” at the Fremont Hy-Vee. Registration is from 9 to 9:30, group photo at 9:30 and then off to hit the 5K and 10K trails so that we’re all walking at 10:11 12/13/14. (Please note that participants will have to drive to the 5K start point from Hy-Vee.) The folks at Hy-Vee are providing coffee and doughnuts to registrants, so be sure to tell them “Thank you!”
Ready for our last two walks of 2014?
We’re busy gearing up for our next two walks, both coming up in December.
Our annual Lights Walk will be held December 6th, starting at 4 p.m. from the Landmark Building at 12th and Farnam in downtown Omaha.
Our once-in-a-lifetime (well, this author’s lifetime) Time to Walk! event will take place December 13th, with registration between 9 and 9:30 a.m. at the Fremont Hy-Vee and everyone should be walking by 10:11 a.m. on 12/13/14.A special thank you to Hy-Vee for providing coffee and donuts for registered walkers!
“But it’s cold!” you’re saying to yourself. Well, here’s a link to one of many articles out there about how to dress for cold weather walking: How to Dress for Cold Weather Walking
Want to read more about the events themselves? Check out our Events page and a nice article about the excitement being generated by the Time to Walk! event. here: 10-11-12-13-14 – Time to Walk
November – December Club Newsletter
Just a little late being posted here, but here is the November – December 2014 Newsletter!
Some of the information on the Time to Walk! event has been updated from the time the newsletter was being edited – please refer to this site and to our Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.
Walks from Around the Area
Just a reminder for those of you with a little wanderlust in your hearts and some gas in your tanks – other clubs offer great Volksmarches (and swimming, and bicycling, and skiing) as one day and multiple day events. Four club members made the trek to the Black Hills Volkssport Association’s 2-day Fall Volksmarch at the Crazy Horse Memorial in (where else?) the Black Hills outside of Custer and Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota. Our new club t-shirts sure stand out from the rest of the crowd, don’t they?
Our newsletters try to include other events within a reasonable driving distance of the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro, so be sure to look there for other great walking opportunities. Bi-monthly newsletters are posted on this website, so if you’re not getting the newsletter emailed to you, look there, and/or send us a note via the “Contact Us” page to be added to our newsletter distribution list. If you’re into Facebook, members of the American Volkssport Association’s Group page on Facebook like to promote events there, for trips just a little further abroad. 
51 Capital Volksmarches in 51 Days in Lincoln, NE
A family of 4 volkswalkers, Mom Alisa, Sons Tristan and Nicholas, and Aunt Dina, plan to walk all 51 U.S. Capitals in 51 days. Day 38 (Monday, August 4th) is Lincoln, Nebraska! Let’s show our support by walking the Historic Lincoln Walk with them. We will meet at the actual Start Point for the walk at 8:45 a.m., the Office Max and 23rd and O Streets in Lincoln. Sandy Spielman will have 5K and 10K maps for all participants, and have the waiver sign-in sheets available, rather than individual start cards. Books can be stamped at the Registration Point, which is the Kwik Shop at 1441 N. Cotner Blvd. either before or after the walk.
The Capitol offers free guided tours on the hour, so we’re planning on getting to the Capitol by 11 a.m. On the 10K route, this about 6K into the walk, which gives us plenty of time to sightsee and navigate congested areas. On the 5K route, this is almost 4K into the route. It’s a little under 1.5K from the Capitol back to where we started, if that helps you plan time-wise. Or, we could walk “backwards” on our chosen route, and meet up at the Capitol at 10 a.m. We’ll decide when we gather, based on weather and how perky we’re all feeling.
Sandy has put together a welcome basket for the family. Please bring $3 (exact change or a check to the Lincoln Volksssport Club) to cover the cost of AVA/IVV Credit, plus a little something towards the welcome basket. Any questions, ask Jeanne Miller via the “Contact Us” page.
Want to more about this family and their adventure? Check out 51in51.com to see an itinerary, map, and some posts about where they’ve been and where they’re going.
Grand Re-Opening of Fremont Walks!
Our Fremont Walk Start Point started remodeling in mid-January of this year, and didn’t re-open as originally scheduled. So . . . we went looking for a suitable Start Point for our 10K Historic Fremont walk and registration point for the 5K Historic Fremont and the 5K and 10K Fremont Lakes SRA walks. Where to find a place willing to take the box, welcome walkers/potential customers with a friendly smile, a place with restrooms and tables and chairs and a commitment to fitness? Hmmm – what about Hy-Vee, which provided the club with a speaker in May?
Effective Wednesday, July 16th, the Fremont Walks have been re-opened at the Hy-Vee at 840 E. 23rd St. (Business 30) in Fremont, on the west end of the Fremont Mall. The walk box will be available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day that the store is open, which means no Thanksgiving and no Christmas. The store itself is open 24 hours and has a nice restaurant that opens at 6:30, so think about stopping there for a cup of coffee, a meal, some gas or some groceries when you come to visit.
Driving directions to the 5K Historic Fremont and 5K and 10K Fremont Lakes SRA walks have been updated and avoid construction on W. Military Avenue.
We’re in the process of updating the AVA site and all links on the website, and the entire walk box thing is new to the folks at Hy-Vee, so a little more of your patience is requested.