Profiles of Walking Clubs of the Week

Walk 'n Mass Volkssport Club
The Walk 'n Mass Volkssport club organized its first event in Concord, MA in November 1985, and has been expanding ever since. In 1999, the club sponsored 18 traditional one-day volkssport events and 12 seasonal/year-round events - self-guided trails that can be walked on a day of your own choice. The club has 290 membership units (individuals, couples, or families), including 57 who have joined since April 1, 1999.
Walks in 1999 ranged from events entirely on wooded, natural trails (around Barre Falls Dam or through Quabbin Park in Central Massachusetts) to historic downtown Boston streets (the Freedom Trail year-round event, walked by more than 550 volksporters so far in 1999.) The goal of the club's County Project is to offer walks in new places by organizing two events in each of the state's fourteen counties between 1999 and 2003. Walks were held in nine counties in 1999 and events are being planned for the remaining counties in 2000, including the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. (The County Project is funded by a four-year grant from the Boston Federal Savings Bank.) Other goals this year are to improve the quality and consistency of event trail markings, and to further recognize the accomplishment of first-time walkers.
The club runs an indoor mall seasonal event during the winter months in Burlington, MA. Its Boston, Concord, MA and Providence, RI events qualify as AVA National Heritage Special Events.
The club has a number of programs to enhance the sociability of walking. Group walks of each of the club's seasonal and year-round events are held on weekends throughout the year for those who enjoy companionship on their walks. These were supplemented in 1999 by eleven weekly Tuesday evening "friendly little group walks" of some of the club's more popular year-rounds. For the past several years, the club has sponsored an annual bus trip to New York City to the volkswalks in Central Park. A five-event weekend (3 walks, a swim, and a bike) in three Western Massachusetts counties in August 1999 included a Saturday night barbecue dinner under a tent. (The weekend events were enhanced by over 100 volunteer workers.) With three neighboring clubs, Walk 'n Mass co-sponsors a Tri-State Weekend of events each Columbus Day weekend, which includes a catered dinner on Saturday evening. The 2000 Tri-State events will be held on October 7 and 8, and will feature walks to view four Atlantic Coast lighthouses. Other Walk 'n Mass activities include a club picnic, an ice cream social, and a holiday party. For the last two years the club has scheduled Saturday work days to help clear trails on public lands where club walks were scheduled. Members earn the right to purchase a club jacket by volunteering at events for fifteen hours.
Walks are often held in conjunction with other local happenings. For example, the Newton walk in April 1999 was led by the Mayor as a kick-off to that city's Walk-a-Block Program. The Holliston walk in September 1999 was part of the town's 275th Anniversary Celebration.
The public is invited to club meetings, held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:45 pm at the Bedford Town Center Building, on Mudge Way in Bedford, MA. Meetings usually include a guest speaker and a discussion of upcoming events. (During four summer months, sanctioned evening walks are held instead of meetings.) A Southeastern Massachusetts satellite group meets monthly on the third Thursday of each month in the Attleboro, MA Public Library.
Walk 'n Mass was designated a Silver Star club by the American Volkssport Association at its 1999 Biennial Convention. In addition, the club received a first place award for Single Event Publicity; the club's monthly eight-page newsletter, Footnotes, was awarded third place prize for club newsletters; the club's year-round and seasonal events brochure received honorable mention in that brochure category; and the Walk 'n Mass web site was awarded a Seal of Approval.
For more information click onto the club website, or E-mail the club's E-mail contact, Joyce Toomre, at joycet@tiac.net.

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