Bedford Hiking Club to sponsor volkswalk April 20 in Orleans during the Dogwood Festival
The Bedford Hiking Club is sponsoring an historic walk on April 20 during the Dogwood Festival in Orleans. The walk will be a “volkswalk” and will have 5K (3.1 mile) and 10K (6.2 mile) options. The walks start at the pavilion on Congress Square. Walkers will be given a map and written directions with historical information on what they’ll see along the route.
Orleans dates to 1815 and is the oldest town in Orange County. The town has beautiful buildings. Walk the streets named after our country’s presidents and learn about the amazing people who built this town and the hopes they had for their community. The dogwood trees that line many of the city’s streets should be in bloom and will make the walk beautiful and speak to the vision Orleans' citizens had to make their town a better place.
Volkswalks began in Europe and are interesting walks laid out to highlight areas of interest and are specific distances, usually 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and/or 5K (3.1 mile). Regular volkswalkers keep track with stamps of the events they walk and the distances they walk in small books and look forward to the next walk to see new areas, old friends, and meet new people. The Bedford Hiking Club is pleased to bring a volkswalk to Orleans to highlight the Dogwood Festival and this interesting community.
Walkers should check in to receive a map and directions anytime between 9 a.m. and noon. They should plan on finishing the walk by 3 p.m. The walk is free for those who just want to do the walk, but for regular volkswalkers who walk for credit there is a $4 charge. Teena Ligman, who planned the walk, suggests people have water to carry with them and wear comfortable shoes. She notes that the walk is level and paved but some of the pavement may be a bit rough, and there are some sections where there are no sidewalks, so people may need to walk in gravel or grass.
In general, it might take a person 2-3 hours to complete the 10K volkswalk. People walk at their own pace and are encouraged to stop and enjoy the festival or points of interest along the way. It is not a timed event as long as people return by 3 p.m. Dogs are welcome but should be on a leash and their owners should bring bags to pick up after them.
For information, contact Teena Ligman at 812-278-0139 or by email at tdligman@att.net.
The Bedford Hiking Club sponsors four nearby year-round walks. The Hoagy Carmichael Walk in downtown Bloomington features all the sites related to Hoagy Carmichael’s life while he lived in Bloomington and goes by his gravesite. There are also volkswalks at Paynetown State Recreation Area just east of Bloomington on Ind. 446, and at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell. The fourth walk is the Limestone Walk in Bedford, featuring interesting limestone buildings and two cemeteries. For information on any of these year-round walks, contact Ligman.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Participate in volkswalk in Orleans on April 20 with Bedford Hiking Club
