The Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club, the oldest active volksmarch club in Germany, will host its 38th Annual International Volksmarch this weekend at the Heumaden Sports Club in Heumaden-Sillenbuch, southeast Stuttgart.
The event will feature new trails of six, 12 and 20 kilometers, with the six-kilometer trail being stroller friendly. A Young Walkers category will be offered for the six- and 12-km trails, so bring the kids. The march begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday.
The club’s Wayne Henry described the event this way:
“Walkers will enjoy the refreshing beauty of the woods surrounding Stuttgart with trails providing views of valleys and vineyards stretching to the Neckar River. The early parts of the trail go past family flower gardens in Sillenbuch, then through the Nature Preserve of the Eichenhain, with huge oak trees thought to be up to 400 years old. At several spots along the trail, walkers can see the famous Stuttgart landmark, the TV Tower, rising majestically above the landscap e. Keep in mind, this is Stuttgart, so the longer trails do include some strenuous hills!”
The individual prize for this year’s march is a boot hat/lapel pin with colored feathers. This is a weekend of walking you will not want to miss. For directions to the Start-halle, visit the SGAWC website at www.sgawc.org. The club also needs volunteers to assist at the walk. If you can spare a morning, afternoon or both, email Melissa Rodeffer at Melissa. rodeffer@gmail.com. The club also welcomes donated baked goods to be sold at the start hall.
We wish the SGAWC a very successful weekend of walking. Bob did this walk a few years back and had a wonderful time. He especially enjoyed the “troll garden,” which had about 1500 garden trolls and other figures plus miniature castles and other fairytale buildings.
For those who can’t make it to Stuttgart, consider the event at the Wildflecken Training Area. This is part of the open house at Rhön-Kaserne. The start window is 6 a.m. until noon both days. The routes will be 10, 15 and 22.5 kilometers. Since this walk is on an active military base, please don’t leave the marked trails. If you discover any ammunition or parts of it along the way, don’t touch it, and inform range-control immediately.
This is not an IVV event, but it should still be a fun walk during a weekend of activities at Rhön-Kaserne.
There are a couple of walks in the Kaiserslautern area — one in Glan-Münchweiler and another a bit farther away, in Nieder-Wiesen. Glan-Münchweiler is fairly close to Kaiserslautern, and you can walk both Saturday and Sunday. The start window is 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. both days. The trails are five, 10 and 20 kilometers, and the prize is a B-medal. Last year they gave out beer glasses. With luck, you might be able to get one this year, too.
Starting at the Sportheim, the Nieder-Wiesen trails will be five, 10 and 20 kilometers. You can start the shorter two routes between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The longer trail has a 1 p.m. cutoff. The prize here is a women’s scarf.
Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
