See this week's volksmarch events.
With May rapidly approaching, we have a longer list of walks to choose from this weekend. Next week’s list looks even longer, so it appears that walking season has officially opened. The weather is getting warmer, so let’s get out there and see more of Europe.
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Cleebronn, Germany, appears to be the place to walk this weekend. This is a “Stammtisch” walk for the Stuttgart German American Wandering Club. That means its blue club flag will be flying at one of the tables in the start hall as an invitation to other walkers to stop by and visit. The club will probably get a lot of traffic at its table because the Ramstein Road Runners will be attending the walk on Saturday afternoon after visiting the Sensheim Auto and Technik Museum in the morning. Gene Behrends of the Road Runners says the walk is “… on the edge of the Black Forest and passes through some lovely vineyards.” We read that as meaning there will probably be hills and not much shade. But that’s OK because there might be some beautiful views from the hilltops.
This Saturday is the Kiddies Volksmarch at Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg. Sponsored by the Heidelberg International Wandering Club, the event is geared toward kids 12 and younger. There is no entrance fee, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. The route is five kilometers long and each child will receive a medal and certificate upon completion. The start is at the library parking lot between 9 a.m. and noon. For more information contact Rob Floyd at hiwc@yahoo.com.
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It is time to mark your calendars for two big upcoming walks. The first is the 34th “Madonna del Monte” volksmarch in Aviano, Italy. Sponsored by the Aviano Road Runners, it will take place May 23. The routes will be five, 10, 15 and 21 kilometers, with the two shorter ones being stroller-friendly.
The second walk is the 35th International Volksmarch sponsored by the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club July 31 and Aug. 1. It will have routes of seven, 12 and 22 kilometers.
Both events will need volunteers to help make the events run smoothly. To help at the Aviano walk, e-mail Sandra.Buna@aviano.af.mil or Chuck.Soeldner@globalcu.org. For the Stuttgart walk, contact Thomas.Numberger@web.de. There are no particular skills needed to volunteer, just the willingness to contribute to a successful volksmarch.
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Edinburgh, Scotland, update: We received our page inserts with the IVV event and kilometer stamps at our home address. It took one week for them to arrive, which is very fast in our opinion. Our thanks go to Wendy Meredith in London for the speedy service.
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Even though there is no Volksmarch in the area, we will be doing a lot of walking at the Ciney, Belgium, military show Sunday. There are some towns that have smaller military flea markets every month. This one is so large, it is only twice a year. There will be more than 400 vendors and four kilometers of tables of every kind of military equipment imaginable. No matter what era of military history grabs your interest, there will be something there for you. Bob usually manages to find at least one interesting item to buy. We plan on being there when it opens and then maybe hit the walk in Maastricht/Heer, Netherlands, on the way home.
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Thanks this week go out to: Cath and Rob Floyd; John and Evelyn Golembe; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; John, Mary and Tess Laub; “Pat” and Cheryl Patterson; and Bob Gambert, Lew Harrison, Wayne Henry and Nancy Shawley. We are always pleased to see a new name in the return address on a big envelope of fliers. This week’s new name is Nora Hernandez. Thanks, Nora, for you contributions to the column.
We also received a nice message from John Plomteaux who states he enjoyed the Volksmarch at Rodenbach, Germany. We agree with his assessment that the best walks get you out of the cities as quickly as possible and “provide the walker with trails and paths through Germany’s wonderful scenic beauty where true nature abounds.”
If you have enjoyed a particularly beautiful walk recently, or even a walk you did not enjoy, please send us a message at two.walkers@yahoo.com so we can share the good, or bad, news with other readers.
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Miscellaneous short notes about this week’s events:
• Sunday’s walk in Larochette, Luxembourg, is close to that excellent military museum in Diekirch. Now that April has arrived, it is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Visit www.nat-military-museum.lu for more information. If no parking is available at the museum, there is usually plenty of parking available at the church about 250 meters away.
Clark Soeldner’s Italian walking notes:
• The prize for the walk in Zimella is a personalized certificate of participation and 10 pounds of potatoes.
• Sunday’s walk in Gorgo di Latisana is being held in conjunction with an asparagus festival, so there will be food available.
• “I did the Marlia walk last year and enjoyed it. This is a great opportunity to visit the walled city of Lucca.”
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.
