2008 County Seasonal Walks

April 1 through September 30

In October 1999 the Virginia Volkssport Association (VVA) held an event at Breaks Interstate Park. This event was the last one in a program where the VVA hosted an event in all counties in the state, with the exception of those counties where events were hosted by Virginia Clubs. The events are being revisited. The VVA is offering an opportunity for those who missed out the first time to come and walk and finish coloring in their "Virginia is for Volkssport Lovers" t-shirt.

VIRGINIA IS FOR (VOLKSSPORT) LOVERS by Gin Armacost, Pentagon Pacesetters Getting bored with the same old trails in the same old places? Treat yourself to a mini-vacation by taking an overnight trip to upcoming Virginia Volkssport Association "county walks". VVA President Fred Lopez and Vice President Nancy Stenger have been giving folks with the Virginia county map t- shirts plenty of opportunities to color in those 95 counties and 6 cities. This continues the effort begun in 1994 with the "Virginia is for Walkers" program initiated by Atlantic Region Director Diane Evans in conjunction with the Virginia Division of Tourism, marking the 25th anniversary of the "Virginia is for Lovers" slogan. Annette Tollette, of the Peninsula Pathfinders, and now AVA treasurer, carried the effort through 1995 by finding trails in 30 "new" counties. This year, Fred and Nancy have already taken the VVA to 9 "new" counties, with 7 more planned over the next few months. And if you're thinking "why start on the counties now, they've already done most of them and won't go back" - NOT TRUE!! The VVA hopes to start repeating some of the walks next year - the trails have already been worked out, and some of them have been really great! Over the past 2-1/2 years, we've walked in some pretty out-of-the way places, from Onancock (Accomack Co.) and Cape Charles (Northampton Co.) on the Eastern Shore, to Cumberland Gap (Lee Co.) in the far Southwest point of the state. We've had easy walks in small towns like Jarratt (Sussex and Greenville Co., along I-95 near the North Carolina border), challenging walks in Fairy Stone, Natural Tunnel, Hungry Mother, and Douthat State Parks (Patrick, Scott, Smyth, and Bath Counties), and learned something about our heritage at Cumberland Gap and Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Parks. Certainly it takes a little planning and more than a couple of hours of driving time to get to these places, but it's worth it! Most of the counties still to be "filled in" are out in the farmlands, hills, and mountains - away from the traffic, noise, and smog of the I-95 corridor. So where are we going next? On Saturday, 27 July, the VVA heads to Amelia Courthouse (Amelia Co.) for a town walk, and then to Bear Creek Lake State Park (Cumberland Co.) on Sunday, 28 July. Figure on about 3 hours driving time from Northern Virginia via I-95 (or U.S. 1) and U.S. 360 to get to Amelia, plan to spend the night in Farmville, then get up (not too early!) Sunday for the Bear Creek Lake event, then 3 hours or so to home (via U.S. 15 and U.S. 29) The next opportunity to "collect counties" will be 17-18 August, when we'll head out to Highland and Nelson Counties (either side of Staunton, about 3-4 hours from Northern Virginia). Staunton, Waynesboro, or Charlottesville would be good choices for places to stay overnight. The last of the VVA "county" weekends for 1996 is planned for 14-15 September - Buckingham, Fluvanna, and Goochland Counties, southeast of Charlottesville. Again, Charlottesville would be a convenient place to stay. Oh yeah - one other thing about these overnight trips. Ya gotta eat dinner somewhere, right? Don't worry! We've had such excellent dinner outings to local restaurants in the areas of these far-flung events that Fred Lopez has proposed renaming the VVA to the "Virginia Volkssport and Culinary Society"! If you're spending the night in the area of the walks, just check with the folks at the finish table, and they'll let you know when and where the group plans to meet for dinner. So come on out and treat yourself to a mini-vacation with "a whole different kind of walk!" For more information on the VVA county walks, contact Fred Lopez or Nancy Stenger in the evening at (703) 631-8512, or send a SASE to 14402 William Carr Lane, Centreville, VA 20120-2813 to get a flyer. If youneed help with route planning, or want to know about other places to visit in the areas of these events, you may contact Gin Armacost in the evening at (703) 352-9622. If enough folks are interested, maybe we can get a Pacer van! See you in Amelia on July 27th!!!

Pre-registration: Pre-registration is required. Mail pre-registration form and fees to: VVA, 3 Delmont Court, Hampton, VA 23666-5508. Start cards and trail instructions will be sent by return mail. No refunds.

Award and fees: There is no commeorative award for these events. The fee for IVV Credit only is $3.00. Non-IVV particiapant fee is $2.00. [A non-IVV participant is an individual who participates without obtaining IVV credit. The $2.00 will be used to defray the cost of printing and postage.]

Virginia Map with the Counties labeled

After Walking: Completed start cards are mailed to the VVA in the addressed, postage paid envelopes provided. Stamped insert cards will be mailed to the participant for each event completed.

Start times: The trails must be completed during daylight hours.

Contact: Annette @ (757) 766-3065 -- evenings before 9:00 p.m.

Email contact: Annette

Comments: It is recommended that participants carry water in case of extreme weather conditions. Pets are welcome on a leash.

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