The hot volksmarch this weekend will be hosted by the Tuefelskopf-Wanderers of Reichweiler, Germany, who are extending a warm invitation to all American volksmarchers, especially the folks from nearby Baumholder. The start hall is the Dorfgemeinschaftshaus. You can start the 5- and 10-kilometer walks between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. If you would rather walk 20 kilometers, you can start between 6 a.m. and noon both days.
The prize is a beautiful beer mug with the crest of Bavaria. They also have limited quantities of mugs from earlier walks with the crests of other German states. Nothing says, “I did a volksmarch in Germany!” better than one of these mugs.
• Next Thursday is the Feast of Corpus Christi holiday. To volksmarchers, that means several walks next Wednesday and Thursday. The Wednesday events will be in this week’s listing, while the Thursday walks will appear in next week’s chart.
A good example is the event in Schwaigern, Germany. Wednesday afternoon, between 4 and 7 p.m. you can walk either a 6- or 10-kilometer trail. Then next Thursday morning they will offer the same courses with an additional 20-kilometer route, with start times between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. We mention this because this is a Stammtisch event for the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club. Look for their blue flag at the start hall.
• Speaking of the Stuttgart club, it’s planning a bus trip to Munich on June 30. In addition to a volksmarch, the club plans to stop in the city center for some sightseeing. Cost for the bus trip is 20 euros for members and 25 euros for nonmembers. The price includes 1.50 euros for the start card with IVV stamp. Please let them know quickly if you plan to attend; payment is due June 12. Contact Dal Pettaway at dalcita@hotmail.com or by home phone at 07031-428-2858 or mobile at 0176-7525-5968.
• With the days getting longer, we’re starting to see fliers for evening walks. Here in the Tri-Border area, St. Odiliënberg’s 26th International Summer Evening Walk Series starts June 4. The hosts, W.V. Roerdal ’87, will provide different 10-kilometer routes every Monday evening through the end of August.
The walks start between 4:30 and 7 p.m. These events are high on our list of favorite summertime walks.
Not only are the days longer, the weather is getting warmer. Don’t forget the importance of keeping well-hydrated on your walks (and give your four-legged walking companion a drink also). As a general rule, control points are about five kilometers apart, but this is entirely at the discretion of the host club, so they might be farther apart. Sometimes the short routes do not have a control point at all.
Pack your own water (and a bowl for the dog) and don’t wait until you feel thirsty to take a drink. Take a little bit of money with you because the club might only have bottled drinks for sale. You might want to carry a cup with you as well. Some clubs have free water or tea if you bring your own cup. This also reduces the amount of trash generated by the walkers and we all need to be environmentally friendly.
• Mother’s Day turned out to be a good day for walking. We did two walks in our local area. The first was the annual Asparagus Walk in St. Odiliënberg, Netherlands. It was a cool morning with heavy dew, so we got wet in the tall grass along a stream, but that didn’t slow us down. As we left we stopped at a roadside stand and bought some fresh white asparagus and strawberries.
Our next stop was at the walk in Eigenbilzen, Belgium. This was another nice walk through the countryside. After the walk we had a leisurely lunch at a corner cafe and then drove to the flea market in nearby Munsterbilzen. This was a rather large flea market and garden show, with at least 100 vendors. We did not find any hot deals, but still had a good time looking for that one-of-a-kind treasure.
• Tim and Luchi Lynch did the walk in Monreal, Germany, on Mother’s Day and it looks like they had a very nice time. They went to the top of the hill overlooking the city and sent us some wonderful panoramic pictures. The pictures from inside the city remind us of the beautiful city Monschau, especially how the buildings are next to the river that runs through town. Now Monreal is even higher on our priority list for “must-do” walks. Thanks, Tim and Luchi, for sharing the pictures and note.
Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
