walking – Nebraska Wander Freunde Trailblazers

September – October 2023 newsletter, plus a month’s worth of events

Our latest newsletter can be found here: September/October 2023 newsletter

And here’s a quick look at upcoming events for the next month:

Friday, September 15 starting from the Plymouth County Historical Museum in LeMars, Iowa, 10 a.m. to noon start times, 5k and 10k routes available, $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
Wednesday, September 20 starting from the Leahy Mall, 6 p.m. start of “How Sweet It is!” walking tour. Registrations have closed for this event, but email netrailblazers@gmail.com to be put on the wait list. No fee to attend. Dogs not allowed. Not suitable for strollers.
Thursday, September 28 starting from Tom Hanafan Park in Council Bluffs. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome.
Saturday, September 30 starting from Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
Saturday, October 7 starting from Peak Performance in Omaha, 9 a.m. to noon start times, 5k and 10k routes available, $3 fee. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
Saturday, October 14 starting from St. James Methodist Church in Bellevue, NE, 10 a.m. start time for 5k or 10k group walk. . $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.

Now, for the fine print:

You must come 15 minutes early for all group walks to fill out paperwork and pay required fees.
Details, such as starting point addresses and walk ratings can be found on our website at: 2023 Walk Calendar

May-June newsletter, June Walks and looking ahead to September!

Our May-June newsletter is available here: May-June Newsletter Remember, only club members receive the full newsletter shortly after publication. Want to become a club member? Print out this application and mail it in with your payment.

If you get our “Trail Mail” e-newsletter, all of the following information will sound familiar. “Trail Mail” is open to anyone who wants to receive our irregular e-newsletter with updates on walks and upcoming events. Sign up via the website pop-up or send an email to netrailblazers@gmail.com.

Saturday, June 3rd, 9:30 a.m. start time for 5k and 11k Group Walk for National Trails Day. Seymour Smith Park, 6802 Harrison Street, Omaha, NE 68127
$3 fee to walk. Leashed dogs are welcome. Seymour Smith Park at 72nd and Harrison Streets in Omaha will be the starting point of our exploration of the Keystone and Papio Trails. We’ll start walking as a group at 9:30 a.m. Your choice to walk 5 km or 11 km on flat, paved trails, suitable for strollers and great for leashed dogs. Meet in the southeast corner of the big parking lot (the northern one) a few minutes early to sign the waiver and pay the $3 fee. This qualifies as a Volksmarch for AVA/IVV credit.

Saturday, June 24th, 10:00 a.m. start time for 5k Group Walk to honor Bonnie Christensen during Chuck Wagon Days. Adair City Park, 401 – 449 4th St, Adair, IA 50002

Join Iowa’s Walking Club in Adair, Iowa, for a 5K group walk and a chance to remember charter club member Bonnie Christensen. $3 fee for all walkers; this qualifies as a Volksmarch for AVA/IVV credit. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Adair City Park. The walk is being held in conjunction with Adair’s annual Chuck Wagon Days, and the park will be hosting multiple events.

The walk will begin promptly at 10:00 to avoid conflict with the Chuck Wagon Days Parade that begins at 10:30 and passes by the park. The walk will pass by an honor roll of Adair veterans who served in WWII, through residential areas, venturing briefly into Guthrie County and through downtown, past City Hall, and past the Methodist Church where Bonnie was a member and sang in the choir.

The park’s main entrance will be closed. From I-80 Exit 76, head north on 5th Street (White Pole Road) past the main park entrance. Continue north on 5th Street and take the next right (Stuart Street), then turn right at 4th Street to enter the park. Look for the blue and white Iowa’s Walking Club banner. Restrooms and parking are available in the park.

Monday, September 4, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pleasant Valley Rock School House – 150 Year Celebration Walk, 3.7 miles SE of Table Rock, Nebraska on Railroad Drive/628th Ave

Help celebrate this one-room schoolhouse’s 150th anniversary by walking the route many children walked to and from school on the day before the traditional school year started. Lunch will be available with beer and brats, water, and polka music in beer tent. Walking sticks and bug spray strongly recommended due to the terrain. $3 fee for all walkers; this qualifies as a Volksmarch for AVA/IVV credit.

Take NE-50 S to Vine St in Table Rock, then take Railroad Drive for 3.7 miles to 628 Avenue. School will be on the right. More complete driving directions at https://my.ava.org/event-view.php?sn=124361

Regional Roundup September 15 – 17, 2023, hosted by GDMVA: Iowa’s Walking Club. See the flyer posted on our website for all details and walks and to sign up for meals and t-shirts by August 18th. Preregistration for the walks is NOT necessary. The host hotel for this weekend is Grand Stay Hotel & Suites, 2679 Rock Ridge Drive, Rock Valley, IA.

Friday, September 15, 10 a.m. to noon, Plymouth County Historical Museum
335 1st Ave SW, Le Mars, IA 51031 (part of the Regional Roundup)

The Trailblazers will host the walk in Le Mars, Iowa, the Ice Cream Capital of the World! You can walk this walk at any time during the Roundup, by going to the host hotel and registering, but we will be staffing the walk in person on Friday, September 15th from 10 a.m. to noon. Please finish by 3. The museum is open for visitors from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

January-February 2022 Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is now available here: Jan – Feb 2022 newsletter Our club members get the full newsletter, delivered right off the presses directly to their email inboxes. Just a reminder: membership dues for 2022 are due right now. Mail a check for $10 for a single membership or $15 for a family membership to: NWFT, P.O. Box 8147, Omaha, NE 68108

Our Annual Dinner meeting will be held on January 15th – reservations were due before the publication of this notice. Our 2022 Officers will be installed and the 2021 Walker of the Year award will be awarded.

Our next regular club meeting will be held at Morning Star Lutheran Church, 331 S. 85th Avenue, Omaha, NE in the upstairs chapel area at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 7th. If you read the newsletter, you’d know that our scheduled speaker for February is on “Ollie the Trolley”! Be sure to bring a mask to wear while at the meeting, as requested by our host.

Our next scheduled group walk will be an indoors walk at the Westroads Mall on Saturday, January 22nd at 9 a.m. Cost is $3 per walker; come 15 minutes early to pay (exact change!) and sign the waiver. We’ll meet on the 2nd floor at the play area by Penney’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods. There’s a entrance door tucked away by Penney’s – you can use that to come inside.

Everyone who has lived in these parts for a while knows that Nebraska winters are very unpredictable. What do you do if there’s a 40F degree day and you want to walk and we don’t have anything scheduled? Well, we’ve got 11 Year Round Walks just for you – some right close and some a bit further away. Check out all of our Year Round Events and start planning on those 4 Seasonal Walks at this page on our website: Seasonal and Year Round Events Invite a friend, take the family or walk on your own – they’re all great walks that you can do anytime you feel the urge to walk!

2022 Walk Calendar now published!

We have a lot of great walks planned for you in 2022 – take a look at them at the 2022 Walk Calendar page on our website. More walks are in the planning stages, so you’re going to want to bookmark this page and come back to it often. Our Year Round and Seasonal Walk page will be updated on January 1st to add Chadron, NE and drop Ogallala, NE as walk opportunities.

New this year: an option to print a brochure for certain walks so you can stick it to your refrigerator door or have it in another handy place. All brochures are current as of this date (December 17, 2021). If something changes and we have enough lead time, we’ll post an updated edition of the brochure.

Remember that club dues now run on a calendar year basis, so that means you have until December 31, 2021 to get them in. Want to join? See Become a Club Member for details.

Our Annual Dinner Meeting is Saturday, January 15, 2022 at Legends Patio Grill and Bar in Aksarben – 6920 Pacific St, Omaha, NE, starting at 5:30 p.m. The Italian Buffet is available for $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Save yourself a stamp and mail in your club dues and Annual Dinner reservation at the same time! Our mailing address: NWFT, P.O. Box 8147, Omaha, NE 68108

Our regular club meetings resume on Monday, February 7th at 7 p.m. at Morning Star Lutheran Church, 331 S. 85th Ave in Omaha, in the upstairs Chapel.

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. ?

Your Vote Counts!

Relax – it’s almost time to vote for our 2020 Walker of the Year and our 2021 Club Officers. A proposed set of amendments to the bylaws concerning club dues is also on the ballot. Because our bylaws require us to give 14 days’ notice to club members before voting on an amendment, voting won’t begin until November 25th. Our club president emailed the details to all current club members this morning, which are also attached here for your review.

Club members will be sent an email with a link to vote online for all three items: 2021 Club Officers; 2020 Walker of the Year; Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws. (Club members with another adult in the household will be sent a second email.) If you don’t vote online, the club will have to mail you a ballot, to conform with our bylaws stating that a majority of club members have to approve an amendment to the bylaws. That costs money (and a bunch of time) to do, so remember: Your Vote Counts!

October Walks

The long-term weather forecast for October is warmer and drier than normal, so that means a great walking forecast. Here’s a rundown (or should that be walkdown?) of October walking events.

Sunday, October 4th – Hitchcock Nature Center, 27792 Ski Hill Loop, Honey Creek, IA 51542. Check in is from 9 a.m. to noon. The trail is rated 3B (pretty hilly and dirt under your feet), so be sure to come early enough to be off the trail by 3 p.m. Hiking sticks are strongly recommended. In addition to the $3 walk fee (exact change or check made out to NWFT), each vehicle load of people needs to bring $3 in exact change to feed the kiosk as an entry fee to the Nature Center. eRegister by 9 p.m. Saturday or fill out a Start Card at the check in table. COVID-19 protocols are in place and must be followed.
Monday, October 5th – NO CLUB MEETING.
Thursday, October 15th – End date of 20 Iowa Parks in 2020 program. Flat, hilly or in-between, there’s a walk waiting for you! Early October is the perfect time to enjoy these parks, with no crowds, few bugs and the best weather for getting in a quick 5k or 10k.
Saturday, October 17th – Walk for Wildlife (sponsored by Iowa’s Walking Club). Jester Park Nature Center, 12130 NW 128th St, Granger, IA 50109. Register at the Outdoor Recreation Center building between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. (Since they can’t get into the building to set up before 10:30 a.m., give them a few minutes to set up, please!)
Saturday, October 24th – Wyuka Cemetery Walk (sponsored by Lincoln Volkssport Club). City Impact Building, 1035 N 33rd St, Lincoln, NE 68503. Register between 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., be off the trail by 1 p.m. Historically, this is a pretty flat trail, so you should be able to make good time on the trail. This walk is FREE to all walkers. This is the final walk for the Lincoln Volkssport Club and this walk is their gift to the walking community. Let’s show them some love and come out in droves!