Walkin' Michigan with
the Historic Pathwalkers
member club of the
American Volkssport Association
04/20/2004
Remarks
Jean Woltjer, President
211 Cambridge
Holland, MI 49423-3057
616-392-2844
The walk boxes for most of our seasonal
walks are in place as of April 1. Those walks include: Holland, Manistee,
Traverse City, Ludington, South Haven, St. Joseph and Douglas/Saugatuck.
Our group walk in Douglas/Saugatuck on April 24 will be our
kick-off for the year. Saugatuck and Douglas were recently named Preserve
America Communities for their outstanding work in historical preservation. We
will meet at 10 a.m. at the Respite Cappuccino Court, 48 Center
Street, Douglas, MI 49406, telephone 269-857-5411. Traveling
south on I-196 from Grand Rapids take exit 41 West. Turn right (west) on Blue Star Highway and go past the Saugatuck
exits to Main Street in Douglas. Turn left
on Main Street and proceed to Center Street, turn right on Center and go one
block to The Respite.
We have a new start point for Manistee: this year the box is
at Wahr’s Hardware Store, 87 Division Street Manistee, MI
49660, telephone 231-723-8335. Wahr's is just one block from the Briny
where we’ve had the box for several years. Wahr’s is in the same building as
The Hitching Post Christmas Store that is on your left as you travel north on
US 31. The box however will be in the hardware store due to lack of space in
the Christmas Store.
Our Holland, Michigan walk has been updated with a revised
route. We’ve added more neighborhoods and eliminated the Window on the
Waterfront area. This walk is especially colorful in the springtime with all of
the flowering trees in addition to the tulips and many other spring
flowers. The Tulip Time festival runs
from May 1 through May 8 this year and after the festival has ended, countless
flowers are planted along the tulip lanes.
The route starts out in the historic district at the Mole
Hole, 17 W. Eighth Street, Holland, MI 49423, telephone 616-396-7467.
You will travel along tulip lanes into the neighborhoods, past several
parks and through the Hope College campus. The last leg of the walk takes you
back to the shopping area on Eighth Street with it’s many and varied shops. I’d
like to encourage everyone to participate in our seasonal and year round walks
in 2004.
Please join us on Saturday in Douglas for our first walk of
the year.
Self-guided walking weekend in southwest Michigan and IndianaDon Alsbro dealsbro@sbcglobal.net
Enjoy a weekend of walking pleasure in southwest
Michigan/Indiana area and stay overnight at the Park Inn in Stevensville, MI
where manager Larry Wozniak is offering a 15-percent discount to walkers. Ask
for the "AVA Rate" when calling for reservations. Wozniak cautions
that guests must call the 800-670-7275 toll-free number to get the special
discount.
Begin your weekend any Saturday with a morning volksmarch on
the Notre Dame Campus in South Bend, Indiana. The year 'round event is
sponsored by the Hoosier Hikers; the start point is at the Jamison Inn, 1404 Ivy
Rd, South Bend, IN 46637, telephone 574-277-6500.
Then move on to Niles, Michigan and do a new,
two-mile river walk (not AVA sanctioned) through the downtown area. Or, you
could visit the Fernwood Botanical
Gardens and Nature Preserve. Fernwood is a 105-acre attraction along the
St. Joseph River in Niles. The nature preserve is home to several gardens,
walking trails, a tall-grass prairie, streams, ponds and a bird-feeding
observation area. The Madeline Bertrand County Park is also located along the
St. Joseph River south of Niles. You can enjoy the hiking and biking trails
through the park’s mature oak and pine forests. I was privileged to be the
Veterans Day speaker at the dedication of the Veterans Memorial in Niles and I
was amazed to see how beautiful the area is.
Then you can continue to St. Joseph and stay overnight at
the Park Inn, 4290 Red Arrow
Highway, Stevensville -- about 6 miles south of St. Joseph, one-half mile
north of I-94 at exit #23. The inn has a beautiful indoor pool and fitness area.
I recommend dining at the adjoining Fireside Inn or Tosi’s which is nearby. On
Sunday do the St. Joseph seasonal volksmarch along the bluff overlooking Lake
Michigan. You can pick up your start card at the Park Inn and drive five miles
to the start of the walk at Fisher-Landis Clothing Company 321
State Street, Saint Joseph, MI 49085 (where they also have a start box).
Park Inn Manager Larry Wozniak has been involved with me in maintaining the
walk. You can reach the inn by calling 1-800-670-7275.
For information on any of the above items please contact me
at 942 Sierra Drive, Benton Harbor, MI 49022,
telephone 269-925-3524, or e-mail dealsbro@sbcglobal.net.
Note:
If you want to extend your trip, an hour's drive north on I-196 will take you to Douglas/Saugatuck and Holland where you can enjoy the seasonal volksmarches mentioned in Jean Woltjer's remarks at the beginning of this newsletter.
For those who are new to volksmarching, a volksmarching tutorial and answers to frequently asked questions are available at the American Volkssport Association website at http://ava.org.
Member news
Alma Lucas, Membership
John Pierce makes 50
States, that is. Historic Pathwalkers founding member and
longtime money-man John Pierce completed his 50 states last week by walking in
Arizona, Nevada and Arkansas. Congratulations, John!
HP pres nears the goal
Louise Blystra and Jean Woltjer plan to finish their fiftieth state in July
when they travel to Alaska. They will be joined on their trek by Historic
Pathwalkers Darrel and Nancy Bratt, Alma Lucas and John Pierce.
Korloch heads north
In August, intrepid trekkers Pat Korloch and Ron Mercer will
travel to Alaska for a seven-day cruise and four-day land tour with the Travelling Trekkers. The
cruise departs from Vancouver, British Colombia and ports in Juneau, Ketchikan,
Skagway, and Sitka. Then Pat and Ron will travel by train to Denali. Norma
Jones is the contact for the Traveling Trekkers at 618/234-8309; her e-mail is trekker1@intertek.net.
Before heading for Alaska Pat's Kiwanis club will complete the Hawk Island Playground on Cavanaugh Road near Aurelius on May 19. Anyone who would like to lend a hand on build day or contribute to this project may send a check to "Friends of Ingham County Parks" in care of Pat at 3111 S. Catherine, Lansing, MI 48911. For information, contact Pat at pk55@juno.com.
Historic Pathwalkers welcomes new member Cheryl Osborne of
Rockford, Michigan. Cheryl can be reached theosborneclan@juno.com.
Contact
Alma Lucas will be
handling club membership and requests for information about our club. Please
contact Alma at the address above if you'd like to join. The Historic
Pathwalkers is a member club of the American
Volkssport Association. For all the latest news from AVA, check AVA News for Clubs.
Jim Jones
The following information was posted on April 6 at Walklist an e-mail list
of information about AVA events. To subscribe to Walklist send an e-mail
message to walklist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
AVA's Lewis and Clark Special Program is in full swing for the upcoming Spring,
Summer and Fall Season. These are ideal times of the year to strike out on this
very special trail and experience some of the same geography, weather, trails,
rivers, mountains and plains that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
experienced during their epic journey from Camp Wood, Illinois to the Pacific
Ocean. The Bi-Centennial has already begun with Signature Events from
Philadelphia to Camp Wood. Around May 14, Camp Wood will celebrate the
departure of the expedition and more Signature Events will follow as the time
frame progresses toward the Pacific. You can be there and experience all the
adventure and beauty of this great land and one of the most important
expeditions ever funded by the U.S. Government.
Eleven
states are included in the Lewis and Clark Program. There are many Year Round
Events and many new one-day events that have their roots in the Lewis and Clark
Trail. Obtain a National Lewis and Clark Trail map from one of the facilities
of the National Park Service or at www.nps.gov.
The Start Point and the Special Program website at www.lewisandclark.freeservers.com have valuable information on qualified
events. Visit it soon.
Program books can be obtained for $7.00 payable to Lewis and Clark Special
Program at 1404 Vicksburg Drive, Belleville, Illinois 62221 and e-mail contact
is jimandnorma87@intertek.net.
Join us now as we walk the events of the National Lewis and Clark Historic
Trail.
Planning ahead
Leonard Wojtysiak
Regional Director
All our clubs need to start looking hard at what walks
(YRE/Seasonal) they want to re-new for 2005. We will need to have them in
to us by July 1. To design a patch and get a copy on the brochure done it could
easily take a couple for months or more. If you can discuss this at state
meetings, no one will be surprised in June.
Linda Theil, Editor
If you have any walking information or adventures you'd like to
share with the club, please send them to me at my address above. Also if
neighboring clubs would like us to promo your walks here, please send me the
information. Please share our newsletter with anyone you know who is interested
in walking. Our page is online at http://www.ava.org/clubs/pathwalkers/.