GLIN==> Press release: Great Lakes Seaway Trail creates new Volkssport Association

PRESS RELEASE: January 20, 2011
Contact:  Daryl Giles, Seaway Trail, Inc., 315-646-1000 x200
Photo available: Great Lakes Seaway Trail boardwalkers.
 
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Creates New Volkssport Association
 
Sackets Harbor, NY ­ After just one organizing meeting, the new Great Lakes
Seaway Trail Volkssport Association already has some officers and 14 charter
members. Residents of Sackets Harbor, NY, and Watertown, NY, became the
first to join the new initiative expected to attract members from the
byway¹s 86-some shoreline communities located along the St. Lawrence River,
Lake Ontario, Niagara River, and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania.
 
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail is one of America¹s Byways, a National
Recreation Trail, and a state bicycle route in both New York and
Pennsylvania. The new club will apply for American Volkssport Association
sanction for a Trailwide system of walks and events.
 
Faith Lustik, Health Planner for the Jefferson County Public Health Service,
will serve as Vice President for the new association. Inger Curth, a retired
Jefferson Community College Librarian, will serve as the Great Lakes Seaway
Trail Volkssport Association¹s first Secretary. An organizing committee will
fill other officer positions and is developing by-laws.
 
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Volkssport Initiative Coordinator Daryl Giles will
serve as Trailmaster. Giles first learned of volkssports in Germany when her
husband was stationed there with the military. As Trailmaster, she will
develop walking plans in collaboration with the byway¹s community leaders
and walking enthusiasts.
 
The initial focus of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Trailwide Volkssport
Association will be on establishing community-led Volksmarching (walking)
events throughout the 518 mile-long coastal region.
 
The theme of the first series of walks for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Volkssport Association is expected to celebrate the byway region¹s War of
1812 history. Giles has already met with leaders of two upstate New York
AVA-sanctioned clubs: the Niagara Frontier Volkssport Club and the Niagara
Escarpment Volkssport Association, Buffalo.
 
³We are thrilled to support the establishment of a Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Volkssport Association and to add our Buffalo area Volksmarch events to the
Trailwide initiative,² says Niagara Escarpment Volkssport Association
President Dorothy Socie.
 
Niagara Frontier Volkssport Club President Barbara Stafford says, ³We look
forward to joining the Great Lakes Seaway Trail club for events in Sackets
Harbor and to adding our events to the exciting lineup of new walking
opportunities that this Great Lakes Seaway Trail initiative represents.²
 
Walks of 3.1 miles (5 km) or 6.2 miles (10km) may be enjoyed at one¹s own
pace individually, as families or groups, or with a pet where permitted.
Participants can have their logbooks validated at sanction events and earn
pins, patches or souvenir tokens for a certain number of events or distance
covered.
 
The Volkssport concept represents the opportunity for all people to engage
in healthy activity that encourages fitness. The term encompasses
non-motorized, non-competitive activities including walking, bicycling,
swimming, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.
 
³The pace of the Volksmarching walks fits perfectly with the Great Lakes
Seaway Trail motto of exploring our byway Œin your own time, at your own
pace, and in your own style¹,² Mitchell says.
 
³If this healthy ³let¹s get up and move² initiative grabs the public¹s
attention as much as the Great Lakes Seaway Trail geocaching adventure that
began in 2010, we expect to see a similar positive impact on our byway
communities Trailwide,² Mitchell adds.
 
The Sackets Harbor, NY, home to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail headquarters
and the Seaway Trail Discovery Center, had an active Volksmarch walking club
known as the North Country Wanderers from 1975 to 2007.
 
The next meeting dates for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Volkssport
Association are 5pm gatherings at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center on
Tuesday, January 25th and Tuesday, February 22nd. Anyone interested in
attending the meetings or learning more about the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Volkssport Association may call 315-646-1000 x200 for details.
 
Learn more about the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway online at
www.seawaytrail.com. # # #
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