Official Voice of the American Volkssport Association
1001 Pat Booker Road * Universal City, TX 78148-4147
phone: 210-659-2112 fax: 210-659-1212

VOLUME 9, NUMBER 5 May 2001

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S DESK

WOW!!! The volkssporters and the clubs have really come through on my plea for donations to this final year of the Millennium Fund campaign. As of May 23, we had received $22,625.69 and the dollars keep coming in. Not only is this great for the AVA financially, it is great for the morale of the National Headquarters staff. Your positive response reaffirms the commitment of so many to ensure volkssporting continues as a viable program to help us enjoy a fun and healthy lifestyle. Thank you to all of you for your continued support. I know we will make our $25,000 goal before the end of the convention in Bellevue.

The 12th Biennial Convention is almost here, and this convention will be remembered for two very important happenings. First, we will be celebrating twenty-five years of volkssporting in the United States. The convention will feature a special birthday event at Wednesday's general session which will cap off a celebration that will begin in Fredericksburg, Texas, on June 8, 9 and 10. Second, the AVA will be setting its course for the second twenty-five years of volkssporting in the U.S.A. I wish all of you could be there to join in these historic events. But for those who cannot, we wish you a happy volkssport twenty-fifth birthday and look forward to working with you as we build the future of volkssporting in the United States. Thank you for all of the help you have already given us in renewing The Spirit of Walking.

Support Needed for Convention Community Project. The AVA's community project at the convention is to provide much needed support to the Hopelink Food Bank. Hopelink services about 450 low income, needy seniors, and homeless individuals each week. They are asking for nonperishable canned food, dry boxed food, baby food and personal items. If you prefer to make a monetary contribution, please send a check made out to the AVA and designate the donation for the Hopelink fund. That way we can give them one large check rather than a stack of small checks. Remember, one of the important things we need to do is give back to the communities that support our programs and this is a wonderful opportunity to do that.

Delegate Selection and Proxy Designation Forms. The Delegate Selection and Proxy Designation Forms that have been sent to the National Headquarters are currently being verified. The club copies of the forms are being returned to the clubs for distribution to their delegate or proxy. If there was a problem with the form as submitted (e.g., no signature), the form is being returned for correction. Please get them back to the Headquarters as soon as possible. If you have not sent in your form, please do so at once. If the forms have been received and verified before you arrive on the convention site, you will have a much shorter wait in the credentialling line. The credentialling booth will be in the Registration Area at Meydenbauer Center and will be open on Tuesday, June 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Wednesday, June 27 from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Credentialling times for Thursday and Friday will be posted at the convention site. Remember the Delegate Selection and Proxy Designation Forms are legal documents and must be properly completed before an individual is authorized to vote.

Along the Trail

Short Paths, Lined with VERY IMPORTANT INFO-- Annual Dues are due, by July 1. Convention week, June 25-29 the AVA Headquarter staff will be reduced by half--please keep that in mind. For the next thirty days, certain headquarter staffers will be involved in relocation of their offices--kindly bear with them. Awards reports a six-week backlog. We will be closed July 4. YRE/Seasonal sanction requests are due at Headquarters by September 1.

From Brandi Deemer, Special Projects Coordinator-- All June sponsorship requests have been filled and all July sponsorship requests will be filled before our convention in June. As we continue to develop a stronger network of New Balance local retailers nationally it becomes increasingly important that each of our clubs abide by the eight week deadline for sponsorship. It is necessary to have this time in order to find and confirm a local retailer.

Enclosures--Please find two copies of AVA's Youth Program brochure. The agenda for the Executive Council Meeting, to be held on Monday, June 25, 1 p.m. at the Bellevue WestCoast is also enclosed.

What does that Policy say?? Did you know that you must print and distribute an event brochure for each event. That's right. AVA Policy 4.0, II, E, 1 says "A club must prepare an event brochure and distribute it free of charge. A club will produce an adequate number of brochures to distribute outside the volkssporting community to properly advertise the event in the local area. The publication of event information State Organization publications and other volkssporting publications, either official or unofficial, does not satisfy this requirement."