On Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, the Ramstein Roadrunners Volkssport Club will hold its annual Turkey Trot. We are featuring the walk this week so next Thursday you can be out on the trail bright and early.
This is the 28th year for this walk in Ramstein. It will start at the Mehrzweckhalle in Miesenbach, street address Am Kiefernkopf 22. The 5- and 10- kilometer trails start between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.; the finish time is 3 p.m. Please finish by that time so the club members and other volunteers can quickly clean up the hall and get home to their Thanksgiving meals. This year’s prize is a beer glass, but the quantity is limited. The club also will offer a B-medal Edelweiss scarf in assorted colors. Don’t forget to bring some baked goods to donate to the club.
Many of you will have the day off, so here is a chance to do a volksmarch in the Ramstein area. It’s not a holiday for NATO folks in the Netherlands, so we won’t make it this year. Bob drove down a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the walk. The start hall was hopping, the trail was challenging, the bratwurst was hot and the beverages cold! What more can you ask for?
For information about the Ramstein Roadrunners, see www.ava.org/clubs/ramsteinroadrunners.
• We’re adding a walk to the list we gave you last week. On Jan. 1, Gänheim, Germany, will host a guided New Year’s walk. There will be trails of 5, 10 and 15 kilometers starting from the Sportzentrum. We mention this walk now, because advanced registration is strongly recommended. You can email the club at crosswerntal@gmail.com.
• We always get a chuckle when we list the walk in Vorbachzimmern, as we have for this weekend. Back in the day of car atlases and paper maps, we decided to go to this walk because on paper it didn’t look very far away.
It ended up taking five hours to get there. The walk was nice, but Bob kept thinking about the five-hour return trip. It was the prize that lured us there. The prizes offered in the past years have been ceramic, winter-themed buildings that hold tea-light candles. A church, a farmhouse and a mill are just some of the prizes given in the past. We love these and often buy extras as gifts. This year B-medals are offered, and hopefully you will be able to choose one of these cute prizes.
• If you have never walked in Luxembourg, try the nice event in Gilsdorf this Sunday. Routes range from 6 to 50 kilometers. When we have done the shorter trails, they have been flat and along a river. The longer treks undoubtedly will take you into the surrounding hills.
• If you are interested in combining a trip to Austria, a volksmarch and a Christmas market, the Stuttgart German-American Wandering Club has a deal for you. The club plans a bus trip to Bregenz, Austria, on Dec. 2. You will be able to walk either 6- or 10-kilometers and then have time to visit the two Christmas markets in town. We suggest that you walk the shorter trail to allow more shopping time! You get this for only 20 euros, if you are a member of the club. Non-members can go for 25 euros. But, you’ve got to hurry. Payment is due by Nov. 20. Contact Dal Pettaway at dalcita@hotmail.com or Ruth Cresson at rcresson@hotmail.com for more information.
• With cold weather closing in, we will soon see icy driving and walking conditions. The various European countries usually make a strong effort to keep the roads as clear as possible. However, this does not usually apply to volksmarch trails. In Germany, you might see the following phrase on a volksmarch flier or on a sign in the start hall: “Die Strecke wird nicht geräumt oder gestreut.” This means the trails haven’t been cleared or salted. In any language, be careful out there!
• The count down to the annual Bastogne Historical Walk officially has begun! This year the event takes place Saturday, Dec. 15. This is not an official IVV walk, so you won’t get your books stamped, but it is always an interesting walk through the history-filled Bastogne countryside. We’ll provide more information as the date draws near. This is going to be one heck of a history-filled weekend. We can’t wait!
Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
