On the weekend of May 17–18, the Madison Area Volkssport Association, also known as Dairyland Walkers, and the Greater Des Moines Volkssport Association are jointly sponsoring three recreational walks in Platteville, Galena, and Dubuque.
Registration for all three walks will be at the Wisconsin Welcome Center, 275 W. Business 151, in Platteville. Walkers may register from 8 a.m. to noon on both days. All walkers should be finished by 3 p.m.
Directions will be provided at the registration table for driving to the start points for the walks in Dubuque and Galena. Walkers pay $3 per walk if they receive “credit” for the walk, or $2 for those who do not receive “credit.”
All three of the featured communities owed their early development to the abundance of lead ore in the region, which formed the basis of the area’s economy until the mid-1800s.
The walk in Dubuque, Iowa’s oldest city, will be along a part of the Mississippi Riverwalk, going by the shot tower built in 1856. The route also passes the county courthouse, the Old Jail Museum, the Town Clock, and the Fenelon Place elevator, the world’s shortest and steepest railway.
The walk in Galena will include sections of the Galena River Trail and thoroughly explore the historic downtown, going by the DeSoto House Hotel, Illinois’ oldest operating hotel. The route also visits the Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site. The home was given to Civil War hero Grant after the war by citizens of the city; he lived there during his 1868 presidential campaign and for brief periods during his presidency.
The Platteville route begins in Katie’s Garden on the Rountree Branch Trail and proceeds through the UW–Platteville campus. The walk then continues through Platteville, including City Hall Park, Indian Park, Smith Park, and by the Rollo Jamison Museum. Prior to returning to the Welcome Center there is a view of the world’s largest M on Platte Mound, built in 1937 as a monument to the School of Mines.
Walks of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) will be available at each location. The public is invited to join the walkers and get a taste of volkssporting. Volkssporting is a fast-growing activity which originated in Europe nearly 40 years ago in response to the need for some type of outdoor family sport, free from competition and for people of all ages. Translated from German, it means “sport of the people” as nearly everyone can enjoy it.
These recreational walks promote physical fitness and good health by providing opportunities for fun-filled, safe exercise in a stress-free environment and encourages physical activity by providing events in which people of all ages and all levels of physical fitness can participate.
For more information concerning all three walks, call Don Suloff, (608) 821-0263, suloff@tds.net. For more information on the Dairyland Walkers visit their website at www.dairylandwalkers.com, on the Greater Des Moines Volkssport Association at sites.google.com/site/walkgdmva, and on the national program at ava.org.
