The following message has been received from Sue Banks, president of The Dartmouth Volksmarch Club; the DVC were our co-host for the 2005 Celtic Colours Walk Festival.
Hi Rollie: We had a wonderful weekend in an area of Cape Breton that most of us had not walked before. In past, driving through this area, I have often wanted to stop and get to know some of its trails and view points. The beauty of the area with the falls, the narrows, the neat communities and the hospitality are outstanding. In spite of the warm showers (rain), they walked! And they enjoyed! Even the Celtic Salt Cod! Accomodation in the area was excellent; I heard no unfavourable comments. I believe everyone enjoyed the whole weekend and I am proud that our club had some part in it. Memories will last forever. Unfortunately most of us did not have time to take in many of the Celtic Concerts. I have heard many comments that, another year, they would like to participate in a one guided walk per day, perhaps a longer walk and keep more time for concerts. Some would prefer afternoon concerts to avoid driving back to their accomodation late at night, in the dark. So, it was a good introduction of the Celtic Colours Festival. Pre-purchase of tickets is a must as you did tell them in the brochures, etc. and should still be emphasized. They will return and they will bring others. I believe that the Monday afternoon walk drew fewer participants because of the rain and the long drive back to Halifax/Dartmouth but, it also attracted new people to volkssport. Sharon talked with four people from Kenora, Ontario who were in the area for the music and found the walk really good. There are always hiccups when dealing with a large group of people and you dealt with it very professionally
Please Note:
We have already addressed the amount of guided walks, the 2006 schedule has 3 guided walks only for the Celtic Walks Festival and the YRE's will be presented as they were intended as self-guided events. The 2006 schedule is now available and I will have copies at the next event and at our Annual General Meeting which is scheduled for Saturday 26th of November 2005, the venue for the meeting will be posted shortly.
Our statistics on the weekend for both clubs are as follows:
CBIH: Saturday Morning 8th of Oct in East Margaree: IVV 39, free 4, Total 43
DVC: Saturday Afternoon 8th of Oct in Pipers Glen: IVV 53, free 3, Total 56
DVC: Sunday Morning 9th of Oct in Grand Narrows: IVV 73, free 2, Total 75
CBIH: Sunday Afternoon 9th of Oct in Iona: IVV 81, free 8, Total 89
DVC: Monday Morning 10th of Oct in Uisge Ban Falls: IVV 75, free 3, Total 78
CBIH: Monday Afternoon 10th of Oct in Denys Mtn: IVV 35, free 4, Total 35
The total GW for CBIH was 167
The total GW for DVC was: 209
TOTAL PARTICIPATION: 376
The above statistics included Walking Adventures International, a bus tour group of 26 who in addition to atttending our walk program and dinners at Iona, attended several music venues and museums throughout the week of Celtic Colours. This years group were led by Debbie Zimel and Sandy McNamara.
In addition to the above Guided Walks the CBIH hosted an early bird walk on Friday using our Year Round Event in Baddeck that attracted 34 participants and during the remainder of the week using our YRE's as Guided Walks, we averaged 8 walkers at 2pm daily plus 4 to 6 participants who signed in on their own.
When checking the "walk boxes" I noticed four names "from away" who had either signed in for our YRE's in the morning or the day before us. We should consider making Lily & Lionel Conrod from Dartmouth, Shirley Brogan Ontario and Ruth Pederson from Middleton, WI USA honourary Capers due to their support of our fall walking festival.
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