Official Voice of the American Volkssport Association

1001 Pat Booker Road * Universal City, TX 78148-4147

phone: 210-659-2112 fax: 210-659-1212

Our long term goals include producing training material to help develop new clubs and make them successful, producing a quality promotional guide for our clubs and state organizations, and developing several national volkssporting events. We have already received $1,425 for this year. Please discuss this important event with your club members. If each of our clubs would donate at least $25, we would be almost half way to our goal for the year. It is an easy way for our clubs to help volkssporting become the walking activity of choice. Thank you for supporting our sport and for helping us provide "A Whole Different Kind of Walk" to people all across the United States.

ALONG THE TRAIL

Because the states in the Mid-America Region are in two different time zones, there may be some confusion about start/finish times. Indiana does not change its clocks to Daylight Savings Time. Indiana and Illinois are on same time while Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan are an hour later. Confusing? You bet.

Saturday, June 19, is our first event which starts at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, KY. This is a morning walk which starts from 8 a.m. to noon with a finish time of 3 p.m. (EDT). The trail is 11 km with a 6 km special needs trail available.

Sunday, June 20, finds us at Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio. Hueston Woods is north of Oxford, OH, or south of Richmond, IN. This park is one of the most popular sites for walking events. Wooded areas and lake side paths are included in this trail. Start time is from 8 a.m. (EDT) to noon with a finish time of 5 p.m. There will be a non-denominational church service at the walk area.

On Monday, June 21, there are several meetings scheduled at the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie. The Executive Council and state organization presidents will meet in the afternoon.

The walk on Monday is tentatively scheduled for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a.k.a. the 500 Speedway. We are still negotiating for use of the track for our walk. This will be an morning event. A walk around the famous 2 2 mile oval will be part of the event.

Tuesday morning's event will start at Butler University/lndianapolis Art Museum in Indianapolis. A 6 a.m. (EST) start time is anticipated with a finish time of noon. An AVA community work program is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in Muncie. The projects will start about 1 p.m. at various sites in the Muncie area.

Tuesday's featured event is the Welcome Social at the Horizon Convention Center. The social marks the opening of the exhibit area and will give you an opportunity to make new friends and renew previous friendships.

Mounds State Park in Anderson, IN, is the site for the early morning walk on Wednesday, June 23. Mounds is located about 18 miles from the Convention Center. Workshops and seminars are scheduled for late morning at the Convention Center. Lunch and open exhibit area are also on the agenda.

The AVA Business meetings are slated to begin Wednesday afternoon. Two swims are planned for the Muncie area beginning after the Opening Session. Wednesday evening is open so you can rest up for the remainder of the convention events.

Cardinal Greenway, a Rails-to-Trails project, is slated for early Thursday morning. The Greenway event is a ride-out, walk-back trail. The Greenway, when completed, will stretch about 70 miles from Richmond to Marion, IN. Workshops and seminars are scheduled for late morning.

Lunch, open exhibits and the second session of the AVA Business meeting will last until approximately 3 p.m. The Evening Social will take place at Spring Water Park, which is about four miles from the Convention Center. Food, fun and fellowship is the theme of the social. For those who still have some energy left, there will be dancing until 11 p.m.

Friday's early morning event will take place on the Ball State University campus. This walk has been designated the AVA President's Walk. Again, workshops and seminars are scheduled for late morning while lunch and open exhibit area will precede the final session of the AVA Business meetings. The Banquet with dining, dancing and fellowship will start at approximately 6:30 pm in the Horizon Convention Center.

Marshall, MI, will host the early Saturday morning walking event with a start time of 8 a.m. (EDT). This historic town has some treats in store for our visit. Lansing, Michigan's capital, is not far from Marshall. There are a number of YREs in southern Michigan and northern Indiana that might pique your interest.

The final event of the convention is a walk at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. The park is located near LaSalle and offers several challenging trails. A trail with a "5" rating may be available. The walk is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. (CDT).

There will be special needs trails at all events which will allow all volkssporters and their families to participate in the convention.

The Convention Committee has planned a variety of experiences for your walking pleasure during your stay in the Mid-America Region. We hope to see you in Muncie in 1999.

To participate in the programs, AVA has created special 50-State and 51-Capital achievement books for interested volkssporters. The books, similar in design and size to an IVV Book are available now through AVA Specialties. Each book costs $5.00 and includes a free personalized certificate when the book is completed and returned to AVA Headquarters.

All volkssporting clubs and members will abide by these guidelines:

1.)These books may be stamped with the official IVV stamp.

2.) A participant does not pay extra to have a stamp placed in his 50-State/51-Capital book.

3.) An AVA club may not refuse to place a stamp for a sanctioned event in the 50-State/51-Capital book.

A special deluxe package is also available for individuals completing the 50-State/51-Capital programs. An elegant certificate, patch and T-shirt can be purchased for $25.00. Volkssporters who have previously completed the 50-state/51-capital programs are welcome to purchase this package.

The 50-State and 51-Capital programs are retroactive, meaning that individuals in the midst of pursuing either program can participate in this new achievement program. For example, if an individual has walked in 14 states, he will write the 14 states he has walked in the 50-State (and/or 51-Capital) award book. Once he has updated his book, from that point on he can validate his book by using the IVV stamp for each state he has walked.

The 50-State/51-Capital books are not replacements for IVV Achievement books; they are supplements. It is essential that if an individual is participating in the IVV program, he must continue to use IVV achievement books to receive official recognition from the IVV.

5 Kilometer Walks. The IVV has directed the AVA to cease sanctioning 5 kilometer walks and the approving of 5 kilometer walk distances on published club brochures and events listed in The American Wanderer. This directive is effective immediately. However, AVA clubs can continue to offer trails for those physically unable to walk the 10 or more kilometer distance.

All walk events that have been sanctioned prior to this announcement remain unchanged, including event brochures that have previously been approved to promote the event. No new Event Sanction Requests for walking events can be approved for less than 10 kilometer distances with the exception that the applicant for sanction may have trail distances less than 10 kilometers for those participants unable to walk the 10 kilometer or more distance.

Only the sanctioned distances may be on the event brochure cover or flyer. Regional directors and their designees are instructed to cross off 5 kilometer distances on Event Sanction Requests and event brochure drafts submitted for approval. Clubs are advised to use the wording ATrails of shorter distances are available for those unable to complete a 10 kilometer walk.@ This wording should be printed inside the brochure.

New AVA Specialty Prices & Sales Procedures. Beginning August 1, clubs will receive a 20% discount on every specialty item they buy. This includes IVV books. Another new change is that all items (including IVV books) will incur a shipping charge. When ordering single IVV books or bars, shipping charges are $1.00 per item. Texas clubs pay sales tax on all items unless they have a tax number on file.

Volkssports Associate members will receive a 10% discount on every item purchased. Individuals must include membership numbers to ensure a discount is given. Membership numbers begin with VAI, VAF, or VAL designations; it is not an individual's awards passbook number.

Second Seasonal Sanctioning Window. A reminder about the purpose of allowing a second sanctioning window for seasonal events: the intended purpose of the second sanctioning window is to allow new clubs the opportunity to host a seasonal event and to support special cases that might arise where a club, old or new, has finally, after months or years of work, received approval to host an event at a particular location.

Deferred Billing. In an effort to help those clubs who would like to sanction their next year's events early so they appear in the IVV Calendar, the National Headquarters is pleased to announce DEFERRED BILLING. Sanction requests submitted with the "please bill" option checked will be billed three months prior to the event with payment being due within 30 days to keep your club in good standing. Sorry, those clubs who have already submitted ESRs cannot take advantage of this option for ones already in house.

New Policies & Procedures for Recognition Awards. It is time for all AVA clubs to consider nominations for national recognition awards. At the next Executive Council meeting in September, new policies and procedures will be established for Recognition Awards. Be prepared to submit nominations for a fall 1998 deadline.

The new fiscal year began July 1st, and we are now in year two of the four-year Millennium program, with a goal to reach $25,000 in donations. Please distribute the enclosed brochure to help us raise funds for this vital program.

September Executive Council Meeting. The next Executive Council meeting will be held September 11 and 12, 1998, at the Hampton Inn, Union Station, 2211 Market Street, St. Louis, MO.