AVA Convention 1999 - Hueston Woods Walk
My 1999 AVA Biennial Convention experience started on Sunday, June
20, 1999. I missed the first event on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky. In Louisville,
almost 700 walkers enjoyed the historic and charming city, plus free souvenir bats at the
Louisville Slugger museum and views along the Ohio River. I joined the convention outside
of Cincinnati, Ohio at Hueston Woods.
Convention walking events are produced by the AVA walking
clubs in the area, and are a showcase for well-organized walking events. The
Ohio clubs provided a lovely trail, complete with fun "Burma Shave" signs and a
couple of cute wooden arrowmen to keep us going in the right direction.
The Hueston Woods State
Nature Preserve walk explored portions of the American
Discovery Trail. I have been following the development of the ADT by Reese Lukei and
other visionaries – a trail across the USA from east to west. Because I live far
north of the trail, I never got the chance to see it until Hueston Woods. We explored the
pleasant beech-maple forest and lovely lake. We passed a wildlife rehabilitation area with
a cougar and raptors.
The walk hosted over 700 people from across the US and
Canada and around the world. The non-competitive 10K walk is open to people of all
ages. I enjoyed seeing some families along the trail as well as my seasoned walking
friends. I joined with Ted Ballman, AVA President, to pick up our
international association president, Odd Ivar Ruud and his wife at the airport in
Indianapolis, and we continued on with the convention, our next stop the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Walk.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Walk
Walklist Get-Together
Volkssporting
Volkssport Clubs
Full Disclosure: At the time of reporting of this event, Wendy Bumgardner was an outgoing national officer of the American Volkssport Association, and most of her expenses for attending the convention were funded by the AVA.
