News from AVA Headquarters:

Northwest News:

*  Record book processing is taking 7-8 weeks.
*  The Starting Point 2002 will be available after Christmas for $13.95 plus $4 shipping.
*  The 2003 AVA convention will be in the Rocky Mountains.  Here's the website.
*  The AVA has approved a zero-growth budget for this fiscal year ('01-'02)

*  A new club is forming in the Grand Coulee Dam area.
*  The Northwest Regional Conference will be in Anchorage, Alaska Aug 1-4, 2002.  Here's the website.

Explore the John Wayne Trail

If, like many volkswalkers, you . . .

. . . love trails that venture into the wildness.
. . . enjoy the flat, easy grade of rails-to-trails railroad conversions.
. . . adore patches

then you will be thrilled with the eight new John Wayne Trail seasonals in Washington state.  Read our feature article here.

National Heritage Patch

More new walks for 2002

Six New County Seats YREs
The Vancouver USA Volkssporters have added six new Washington county seat YRES.   These include Prosser (Benton county), Vancouver (Clark County), Kelso (Cowlitz County), Pasco (Franklin County), Goldendale (Klickitat County), and Stevenson (Skamania County).

Coulee Dam
The new club in the Grand Coulee Dam area is hosting a Coulee Dam YRE.

Renton Bikes
There will be three new YRE bike rides next year in the Renton area and they will include the Green River Trail.

Some Hefty Trail Walks
Also new are a Skamania 17K, 4 rated seasonal out of Beacon State Park, brought to you by the All Weather Walkers.
Not to be outdone, the Four-Plus Foolhardy Folks have added a new 4+, 15K walk out of Issaquah. 

New East/Central Walks
The Bavarian Volkssport Association has added a new Ellensburg 10K, Okanogan and Winthrop seasonals, and a new Silverdale YRE.

Seattle Area Walks
Interlaken Trailblazers give us new Kirkland and Woodinville YREs.  There are two new North Bend seasonals from the Northwest Striders.

And Others . . .
Two new Port Angeles walks include a 10K and 12K from the Olympic Peninsula Explorers.  The NW Tulip Trekkers have added a Sedro Woolley YRE.

TNT  2002

What would summer be without TNT?   The Thursday Night Trek walks are one way to up your weekly mileage, with evening walks on five consecutive Thursday nights during June and July.  All of these walks will be in and around the Seattle area.

The TNT events are tentatively scheduled for June 20, 27, July 4, 11, and 18th, with a kick-off on April 6th and follow-up walk July 25th.  The events will have a 5-part awards patch featuring dogs.  Stay turn for more TNT news next quarter.

Submit an Essay

Feel passionately about some aspect of volkssporting?  Submit an essay for the next newsletter here.