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See this week’s European Volksmarch schedule.

We understand that Nov. 15 and 22 are religious holidays in some German states. Depending on the state, some IVV walks that have been publicized might be canceled. If you plan to attend a walk on one of these Sundays, please check the DVV Web page at www.dvv-wandern.de.

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In 2001, the club in Vorbachzimmern, Germany, offered a decorative church candle holder as its souvenir. These are the kind that you place a tea light candle inside. We were so excited about getting the church that we really didn’t pay attention to how far away the walk was. We ended up driving several hours each way! (It has become one of our favorite jokes that it didn’t look that far away... only a few inches on the map!)

But, we got the church and love collecting these buildings. Since then they have offered more buildings; in fact, you can create a Christmas village from their Volksmarch prizes. In addition to the church, they have offered a Pfarrhaus, or rectory; a Rathaus, or town hall; a Gasthaus, or guest house; a Schulhaus, or school house; a Bahnhof, or train station; a farmhouse; and a mill with a water wheel.

If you’re interested in collecting these candle "houses," B-medals are available in limited quantities this year at Vorbachzimmern.

Start times for the 5-, 10- and 20-kilometer trails are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. The finish time for both days is 6 p.m. So, unless you walk a 20K in two hours, don’t wait until 4 p.m. on Saturday to start the long course.

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Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, and that means the Ramstein Roadrunner’s Turkey Trot is rapidly approaching. We hope you have cleared your morning schedule to get out and participate in this unique Volksmarch. If it isn’t on your calendar yet, here’s the basic information: Starting from the TV 03 Turnhalle at the intersection of Jahnstrasse and Landstuhler Strasse, walk the 6- and 11-kilometer trails between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.; the finish time is 3 p.m. Please finish by that time so the club members can quickly clean up the hall and then enjoy their Thanksgiving meals later that afternoon. The prize is a beautiful beer mug.

The Roadrunners could use some volunteer help to make this a successful holiday walk. Whether you help set up, mark trails, staff a control point or clean up afterwards, they will certainly appreciate it. Please contact the Roadrunners at Ramsteinroadrunners@yahoo.com if you can help by volunteering. If you cannot volunteer, you can still help by bringing some baked goods to donate for the club to sell. You don’t have to do the baking yourself; store-bought goodies are greatly appreciated.

Speaking of the Roadrunners, they are carpooling to Hanweiler on Saturday for the torch walk. Start time is between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Mehrzweckhalle. You must be finished by 9 p.m.

You can also join the Roadrunners on Saturday, Dec. 19, for their bus trip to Luxembourg City for their 10th annual Christmas Market walk. Distances include 5, 10, and 20 kilometers. Sign-up and pay by Dec. 4 and receive a 20-percent "Speedy-Bird" discount. For info and reservations, contact Gene at parrotdad@hotmail.com.

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With only one month left to go, the official countdown to the annual Bastogne Historical Walk has begun. It looks like another exciting weekend of walking, history and remembrance again this year.

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This weekend is the Spangdahlem (Germany) Bazaar. While Lorraine is checking out Christmas gifts, Bob will be hanging out with his friend Peter Dupré of Aviation Arts and Collectables at Peter’s booth. As the name states, Peter’s specialty is aviation artwork, but he also carries a variety of other military prints and collectables.

We also will be looking for the latest artwork from our friend Michel Beberashvili, whose prints of angels are truly heavenly.

Of course, pottery from Soufflenheim, France, is high on our shopping list as well. If you see us there, come up and say "Hi!"

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"Grazie" to the following people who sent fliers for this week’s column: William Castro and Maureen McHugh-Castro; John and Evelyn Golembe; Wayne Henry; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; John, Mary and Tess Laub; Tim and Luchi Lynch; and "Pat" and Cheryl Patterson. Keep up the great work!

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Miscellaneous notes about this week’s volksmarch events:

• Sunday’s walk in Bettendorf, Luxembourg, is convenient for the folks in the Bitburg and Spangdahlem, Germany, areas. Not only is the countryside beautiful, it is close to Bob’s favorite Battle of the Bulge museum, in Diekirch, Luxembourg.

• This year the German town of Elgersweier’s walk is not a torch walk, but it starts on Saturday between 2 and 4 p.m., so you’d better take a flashlight if you start close to 4 p.m. The distances are 6 and 10 kilometers and you must be finished by 7 p.m. They are offering a prize of a model semi-truck.

• The walk in Rennerod, Germany, is offering a ceramic angel as its walking prize.

• One of the prettiest fall walks we have ever attended was in Hahnstätten, Germany. When we were there, the reds, oranges and golds of the leaves on the trees were breathtakingly beautiful. This weekend they are offering 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-kilometer trails for you to enjoy.

• What is probably the last biking event of the year takes place this weekend in Hattenhof, Germany. Ride the 25-km route from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and finish by 5 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, and finish by 5 p.m. If you want to walk, too, there are 5- and 10-kilometer trails both days which also have the same start window as the biking event. The B-medal prize is one of the small semi-trucks.

•According to Clark Soeldner, our Italian volksmarch connection: "The Badia Polesine prize is 250 grams of nodini ia funghi porcini and 250 grams nodini d’amore pasta. I did this walk in 2002 and wondered what the nodini d’amore pasta looked like. It turned out to be like tiny sacks closed with a cord at the top. The cost for the restoros and two packages of pasta is 3.20 euros, which is not a bad deal."

E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.

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