Historic Pathwalkers Fall Newsletter November 2009

The weather is telling me that our walking season is coming to an end. The temperatures continue to drop and October has seen more than its share of rain. November is also starting out rather wet but at least it’s not snow yet!
We have closed four of our walks for the season. These are the two in Ludington, Manistee and Traverse City. Scheduled to close at the end of November are Douglas, Holland, South Haven, St Joseph and Zeeland. That leaves Grand Haven and Grand Rapids which will end on December 6. The final numbers are not yet in but all indications so far show that we had a very successful season. The number of walkers was definitely up from last year. We have three walks that are open year round and they are Lansing, Howell and Coldwater.
All of these walks have been sanctioned for next year and will open again in the spring. This is a good time to thank all of our POCs. These are the people who are instrumental in keeping the boxes stocked and available to the walkers giving them a chance to enjoy their community and contribute to the local economy. They send quarterly reports to the AVA and help keep our treasurer supplied with funds to operate the club. A big THANK YOU to all of you! We appreciate all you do. Please remember that our officers are available for help with any issues you might have.
As walks close for the season please send the stamp to AVA, 1001 Pat Booker Rd., Suite 101, Universal City TX 78148 within 10 days. You may enclose the last participation report with it but you have 30 days in which to send that in. If these deadlines are not met we as a club are fined $10.00 for each late stamp or report so your prompt attention to this is much appreciated! As usual, any expenses that you incur may be reimbursed by sending receipts to our treasurer.
All money should be sent to our treasurer, Alma Lucas, 5261 Southbrook Ct. #51, Hudsonville, MI 49426 and all quarterly reports sent to me, Jean Woltjer, 211 Cambridge Ave. Holland MI 49423 or email to jean.woltjer@att.net.
This year it seems we had an unusually high number of comments on the start cards that were returned. It’s always nice to get some feedback on our walks and ALL of it was positive! That is very encouraging and we want to continue to keep our walks interesting and enjoyable for our visitors. The AVA continues to bring out new special programs and we want to contribute as much as possible in order to attract walkers to our state and to our clubs walks.
There are a few changes in our starting points for next year. Our Howell box has been moved to the Uptown Coffeehouse at 102 E. Grand River Ave. and our alternate start point in St. Joseph has changed its name to Stevensville Inn and is scheduled to change to a Super 8 in February. The Landis Clothing store will continue as the other starting point in St Joseph.
We hope to have a scheduled event or two next year and will continue to work on that. If you have any ideas along that line please communicate them to one of the officers for consideration.
We always enjoy seeing and hearing from members and this summer heard from the Perrys again. They are 95 and 91 respectively and are charter members of the club. In years past they contributed much to the success of our events (I know Rita was secretary at one time too) and it’s nice to know that they continue to have an interest in our activities even though they can no longer participate in the walks.
Another couple that comes to mind is Daryle and Joan Fountain. Joan has had some health issues but is coming along nicely and we wish both of them the best and hope to see you again next year.
We missed seeing Bill and Judy Bowne this year and hope all is well with them.
Our club is now also on Facebook so look for us there. We also have a blog now where you can find information on our activities. The blog address is http://historicpathwalkers.blogspot.com . This was set up by Linda Theil. All of our members can become correspondents and be able to put photos or comments on our blog. Please contact Linda at linda.theil@gmail.com if you would like access.
She has to send you an invitation which if you accept you may go on the site and post. We would like to see this grow and build a community where we can all share. Additional walk information can also be obtained http://ava.org
This newsletter will be the last one for 2009. As always the summer has flown by and the holidays are not that far away. Thanks to all who’ve contributed to another successful walking season and may you all have Happy Holidays.


President Jean Woltjer 616-392-2844 jean.woltjer@att.net
Vice Pres Pat Korloch 517-882-1495 pk55@juno.com
Secretary John Pierce 616-527-2413 hpvolks@iserv.net
Treasurer Alma Lucas 616-662-2359 ajlucas@charter.net