Click here for this week’s European Volksmarch schedule.
This weekend is the big Marche de L’Armee in Diekirch, Luxembourg. There will be numerous military and other contingents there as they use this walk as a training session for the four-day walks in Nijme- gen in the Netherlands. We did not get a flier for the event, so all of the information is from the Web site www.marche.lu.
We have done this walk and the routes are through the beautiful Luxembourg countryside. It is a great chance to visit the excellent military museum in Diekirch and the nearby castle in Vianden.
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The four-day walks at Rodenbach, Germany, continue through Saturday. You can walk five or 10 kilometers Thursday and Friday starting at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the walks start at 5 p.m. and a 20k trail has been added. The finish time is 10 p.m. each day. Don’t get back too late, because the Dutch food and souvenirs might be gone.
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Following their very successful walk last year, which offered a nice World Cup mug, the Tuefelskopf-Wanderers of Reichweiler, Germany, are offering a beer mug with the Saarland seal. The walk is close to the Kaiserslautern military community, and the opportunities to get a pretty beer mug are becoming more scarce.
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Monday is the beginning of the 21st International Summer Evening Walk Series at St. Odiliënberg, Netherlands. The hosts, W.V. Roerdal ’87, will provide different 10k routes every Monday evening through the end of August.
If you have ever been part of sponsoring a walk, you can appreciate the amount of work required. These folks are providing a different walk every week for 13 weeks! Our hats are off to them because this is a tremendous amount of work. The walks start between 4:30 and 7 p.m. There is a new start hall this year at Den Zwarten Berg.
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High fives to the following for their contributions to the column: Mary Campbell; Manfred Dahl; Theresia Fontaine; Michael Gdowski; Lew Harrison; Egon Hatfield; Wayne Henry; Jan and John Jensen; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; David Kuik; Tim and Luchi Lynch; John and Patty Marsh; Pat Patterson; Dawn St. John; Nancy Shawley; Jose Valdez; and Ed Whitworth.
A fond farewell to Jan and John Jensen. They have been regular contributors to the column since before our time and will be sorely missed as they seek greener pastures for their Volksmarches. We wish them the best of luck and downhill trails.
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Notes about this week’s events:
• What appears to be a ceramic jar with lid is the prize at Schwarzenfeld, Germany. If that’s not enough, according to Ramona Kechelen, the crystal shopping is very good in the nearby town of Weiden. The three courses at Schwarzenfeld (5k, 10k and 20k) begin between 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday and 6 and 11 a.m. Sunday.
• A wind chime is the award at the Windsbach, Germany, walking events. The 5-, 10- and 20 kilometer marches start Saturday between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Sunday between 6 a.m. and noon.
• Name shortcuts this week include the Italian walk listed as “Salizzole.” The full name is “Valmorsel di Salizzole.”
Clark Soeldner’s Italian walking notes:
• Breganze hosts a 4k walk for the handicapped. The longer routes will take you through the hills southwest of Marostica, a very pretty area.
• The walk in Sempeter, Slovenia, is just across the border.
• In Baruchella, the first 700 participants will receive a basket of kiwi fruit.
• The start location for the event at Castelnovo del Friuli is at the Localita “Ai Pioppi” in the Paludea area. This is a really great mountain walk followed by lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail them to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09703-0278.
