2007 AVA National Convention |
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Sacramento, California
June 23-July 01
For you that don't know, the AVA (American Volkssport Association) is an international walking club. We do other stuff too like swimming and biking but our primary function is walking, walking, and more walking. Most walks are 10k (6.2 miles) with a 5k option offered. The 2007 AVA Convention covered 9 days with 12 events ranging from Lake Tahoe to the San Francisco Bay. We averaged about 700 walkers per event.
Awhile back, in a moment of insanity, I not only volunteered to help out at the convention, I signed up to chair the setup/teardown committee. This job required my team and I to be the first-in and the last-out at each walk. I also volunteered my people to help out wherever possible during the walks between the setup and teardown times. In addition to that, I had to round up all the equipment needed to support this thing, chairs, tables, canopies, water jugs, etc. etc, etc., and have it staged in a central location prior to the start of the convention and then make sure it was delivered-to and picked-up from each event, each day. Well, this central location ended up being a 180 mile round trip from my place in Stockton, (nice!) and with gas prices hovering above 3 bucks a gallon, ouch! They claim they'll reimburse me for all my expenditures at some point in the future. Hopefully, this will occur in my lifetime.
I did get lucky in finding a dedicated crew: Fellow walkers and friends of mine, Dan, Larry, and Joanna, aka the Rollin' Geo-HOMIES (HOMIES is an acronym for Happy Old Mobile Individuals Enjoying Stuff) committed to help me out with the setup and teardown tasks while Jan and Oscar procured and drove the U-haul.
Anyway, this blog is dedicated to my team and their spirit of devotion, enthusiasm, and accomplishment. Without them this whole endeavor would've been a disaster. Thanks, guys and gals for a job well done.
2007 AVA National Convention Website
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7 Jul 2007
Picnic at Heidi's
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