Walk – Page 2 – Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers

Late January 2021 updates

We’re getting out to stretch our legs on Friday, January 29th at Prairie Queen Recreation Area by Werner Park! This is a FREE walk and is not eligible for AVV/IVV Credit, so leave your books and your money at home! Online registration is REQUIRED at https://forms.gle/ekcFfZxMcsaP8fAVA We’ll start walking promptly at 2 p.m. on a 5k group walk around the lake, so arrive a bit earlier to check-in. COVID-19 protocols are in effect: masks must be worn while gathering and whenever within 6′ of someone outside your household. Take Hwy 370 to S. 126th Street, go past Werner Park to the Lincoln Road roundabout and then use the 3rd exit to go west one block to the parking lot from where we’ll be starting. Please dress for the weather. Don’t count on the sidewalk around the lake being shoveled!
We will NOT have our regular monthly club meeting on February 1st. No in-person club meetings have been scheduled at this time.
We’ve had to make a change to our March 6th Soup Walk this year – it’s more like a “No Soup for You!” Walk. We won’t be able to share soup with each other, but that just means more for those people depending on local food banks for a meal, right? We’ve asked for chicken- or beef-based soups in the past, but we’re asking for 2 cans of hearty soups – think of meal substitutes – of any flavor. The local food banks that we’re supporting are the St. Columbkille/Tri-City Food Pantry and the New Visions Men’s Shelter in Council Bluffs. Start Point and times have not changed. See our 2021 Walk Calendar page for details.

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. ?

Change of Venue for September Walk!

You know how there are only two real seasons in the Midwest: Winter and Construction Season? Well, our scheduled walk for September will not take place at Standing Bear Lake because they have closed the trails just west of our Start Point. We’ll have to reschedule this walk for another year.

Our September 19th walk will start at the Subby Anzaldo/Columbus Park at 1329 S. 24th Street. Registration and walk from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m, please be off the trail by 2 p.m. From the Subby Anzaldo Columbus Park, this trail leads through the historic Field Club neighborhood, President Gerald Ford birthsite and Hanscom Park, Omaha’s first public park. The 10k trail extends this walk along a portion of the Field Club Trail. Bring a mask and maintain social distancing guidelines as you complete your registration. Fun Walkers pay $2 and Credit Walkers (book stampers) $3 – please use exact change or write a check to “NWFT” and have the payment sealed in an envelope. Dogs on leashes and strollers welcome; the trail to/from Columbus Park and through Hanscom Park is hilly.

eRegistration below:

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May Events Cancelled

May 4th Club Meeting: CANCELLED

May 9th Walk: CANCELLED

Follow all health directives, so that we can see you once again in June!

UPDATES TO OUR YEAR ROUND WALKS

Updated May 4, 2020, 3 p.m.

Just added: a new Seasonal Walk May 1 – Sept. 30th in southeastern rural Council Bluffs! It even has a Little Free Library. See details here: Country Knolls – Council Bluffs

Our club hosts 8 different year round walks (YREs) that you can do on your own, at any time that the hosting business for our walk box is open. Of those 8 YREs, one has been closed and one has had some changes to their accessibility.

The Hanscom Park Walk, sanction #114315, registers at the Comfort Inn at the Zoo, and starts within Hanscom Park. The City of Omaha has reopened all city parks, so this walk has re-opened.

The Westroads Mall Walk, sanction #115089, registers at the AmericInn at 9720 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68114, just across the street from the Westroads Mall. The AmericInn is closed and the Walk Box is not available. The Mall ~~itself has shortened its hours of operation, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Most stores in the mall are closed, as is the Food Court.~~ is closed to shoppers and walkers.

Across the Missouri River, the Council Bluffs (Iowa) Black Squirrel Walk, sanction #114319, registers at Lansky’s at 1131 N Broadway, Council Bluffs, IA 51503. Lansky’s is closing earlier and is offering takeout food only, with no access to bathrooms. Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Management has asked walkers to take the Walk Box outside to complete paperwork and then to return it.

CALENDAR UPDATE

Please note that the following events have been changed (updated May 21, 2020):

June 6th Group Walk at Lewis and Clark State Park, Iowa – CANCELED
June 6th Group Walk at Stone State Park, Iowa – CANCELED
June 20th Group Walk hosted by Iowa’s Walking Club at Mines of Spain State Park – CANCELED

Any questions, please let us know at netrailblazers@gmail.com.

2020 Walk Booklet – just published!

Our 2020 Walk Booklet is just filled with so many walks and activities that you’re going to need to pull out your calendars NOW and mark them all!

Just check out the new weblink here to see it and the instructions for printing 28 pages bursting with information on just 7 sheets of paper!

Our first regular walking event is Saturday, March 7th – our annual Soup Walk, complete with Raffle. Our booklet editor, Julie, calls it our “Winter-Be-Gone” Soup Walk. Hope so! – there’s an Ice Cream Parlor on the route (one of three Special Programs available on this walk).

What time? Where? Registration? It’s all in the booklet! But we’ll be posting later this month to remind you. 🙂

SUMMER FUN!

Saturday, June 22nd, 9:45 a.m. – Giving Walk

Meet in the Gallup parking lot off of Aaron Ferer Plaza (see map). 5 km walk starts at 10:00 a.m. Cost: $2.00 for Fun Walkers. $3.00 for Credit Walkers (book stampers).

Why is this a “Giving Walk”? Because it’s the club’s 40th birthday – and we’re giving the presents! We will be walking through the downtown area during the time of the College World Series. Bring one or more small wrapped gifts to hand out. Some ideas are sample or personal sizes of suntan lotion, baseball related items, hand lotion or any other small item you think people would be happy to receive. We will have lots of extras if you don’t have one to bring.

Sunday, July 28th, 2:05 p.m. – Omaha Storm Chasers Outing

Only three tickets are left for the Sunday, July 28th 2:05 p.m. Omaha Storm Chasers baseball game against the San Antonio Missions! We’re reserving VIP Club Seats behind home plate – in the shade! – with in-seat wait service and access to the VIP Club itself. Cost is $11 for club members and $16 for non-club members.

Email us right away at netrailblazers@gmail.com to see if those tickets are still available!

Saturday, August 10th, 5 p.m. – Mahoney State Park Melodrama Outing

The intrepid Trailblazers will traverse the trails to Mahoney State Park on Saturday, August 10th for a 5 p.m. showing of the melodrama “The Rose of Dismal Flats”. Tickets for the show are just $7. Mahoney State Park charges $6 per carload for a daily pass ($8 for non-Nebraska residents), so we’ll meet at Cheri O’s in Ashland for ice cream at 3 p.m. before the show and then carpool to the theater. Doors open at 4:30; seating is general admission. The theater sells popcorn, which you can either eat or throw at the actors.

Payment is due by June 28th. Please make checks payable to:

NWFT
P.O. Box 8147
Omaha, NE 68108

Bellevue Walk – this coming Saturday, May 11th

Our next event will offer both a 5k and a 10k walk starting from the Sarpy County Museum at 2402 Clay Street in Bellevue, Nebraska. Register any time between 9 a.m. and noon and walk at your own pace. Please be sure to be back by 3 p.m. We’ll have a Group Walk starting at 9:30, for those of you who like a little more social time while walking.
Children in strollers are free. Dogs on leashes are free. For everyone else: Fun Walkers pay $2, and Credit Walkers (book stampers) pay $3.

A heads up on parking: parking at the Sarpy County Museum itself is very limited. Our workers setting up and taking down equipment will probably take up most of the parking. Consider parking at St. Mary’s Church, just a block and half away. See the map, below.

More parking is available just a block and a half away!

Wildlife alert! Be on the lookout for this ferocious beast: