Member Benefits

• Frequent Walker Coupons for club events.  To encourage EVERYONE to walk, we offer the chance to buy seven Frequent Walker Coupons for $15.00.  Each coupon is good for IVV Credit at any of our events.  This is a $21.00 value.

• Carpools to events sponsored by other clubs.  Even before our first meeting, we used e-mail to arrange carpools to the August 1998 Ventura Harbor volkswalk held by the Channel Island Volksmarchers.  Why drive alone when you can have friends along?

• Club Dates at Nearby YREs.  Although many people walk at Year Round Events by themselves, they are more fun with friends.  We have already held "club walks" in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Solvang.  If there is no "regular" event during a month (except December) within an hour's drive of our base, we will have a club walk at a nearby YRE.

• Newsletter and e-mail updates.  What better way to keep up with schedules and happenings than a newsletter?  An e-mail newsletter for those with e-mail accounts!

• Free Mailing of IVV Books to the AVA.  We will gladly forward completed IVV event or distance books to the AVA for processing along with our club's business mail.  The resulting awards, of course, are mailed directly to the recipients.

• Club Recognition Awards.  The CCPP's Pathfinder Awards provide special recognition for club members who complete club-sponsored events.  They will be awarded at the following levels:
• Bronze Pathfinder:  5 events.
• Silver Pathfinder:  10 events.
• Gold Pathfinder:  20 events.
• Platinum Pathfinder:  30 events.
• Titanium Pathfinder:  40 events.
• Emerald Pathfinder:  50 events
• Ruby Pathfinder:  60 Events
• Sapphire Pathfinder:  75 events
• Diamond Pathfinder:  100 events

AVA Individual Achievement Awards

A great incentive for participating in volkssporting is collecting "credits" for each event and distance accomplished.  The AVA offers a voluntary International Achievement Awards Program for those who wish to track their progress and credit.  International Record Books (about the size of a passport) are available for $5.00 each.  There is no time limit for completing these books.  They can be stamped at any IVV-sanctioned event anywhere in the world.  (Besides the USA, our members have completed volksmarches in Canada, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.)  When the books are filled, they can be redeemed for awards which include a pin, a patch, and a certificate.

When you register at an AVA or IVV sanctioned event, you either register for the event award or "for credit."  In the USA, registering for the event award, usually a patch or cloisonné medal, costs $7.00 or less.  These awards make excellent mementos of the event.  (The cost is usually one dollar less if you preregister.  However, events are held rain or shine and there is no refund for no shows.)  Walking "for credit" usually costs $2.00.  At the finish, your record books are stamped using a special rubber stamp unique to that event.  When your books are completed, you send them to the AVA Headquarters to receive the award pin, patch, and certificate.  Buying the next book starts you on the way to the next level of achievement.

• Event Awards.  These awards recognize participation in IVV sanctioned walks, swims, bicycle rides, cross-country skis, and other events.  Only one event credit may be earned per event.  The first event award is upon completion of 10 sanctioned events, and is usually the first award a new participant earns.  The next two awards are at 30 and 50 events.  After that, awards are conferred every 25 events up to the 600 event level.  Past that they are awarded every 50 events through 1,500 events, and every 100 events thereafter.

IVV Event Awards up to 325 event level.  Actual pin height is about .75" or 20 mm.

Starting in 1999, an AVA Year Round Event (YRE)  can be walked only once each half year (January-June and July-December) for event credit.  There will be a difference in the stamp (the presence or absence of a "+") to denote the time frame in which the walk was completed.

• Distance Awards.  These awards recognize the actual distance completed.  While a weekend 10 kilometer volksmarch can only be walked once for event credit, it can be walked several times for the additional distance credit.  No distance credit is allowed for swims, since the usual distance (300 meters) is so short.  Distances for bicycle events can be recorded in the distance book or in a special Bicycle Distance book.  As shown in the picture below, distance awards are earned at 500 km increments up to 8,000 km.  After that point, they are awarded every 1,000 km.

IVV Distance Awards up to 6,000 km (3,720 mile) level.

• Bicycle Distance Awards.  These awards recognize the actual distance completed in IVV sanctioned bicycling events.  The first award is at the 1,000 km level.  The next are at 2,500 km, 5,000 km, 7,500 km, 10,000 km, and 15,000 km.  (Illustration not available.)

• New Walker Program.  The AVA has a "New Walker Program."  These packets are generally available at weekend walks or my mail order.  For about $5 you can get:

• Your first event book: Good for your first 10 event Achievement Award (a $5 value);

 
• Your first distance book: Good for your first 500 km Distance Award (a $5 value);

 
• Three coupons for free credit at events: so you can go to three events for free and still get IVV credit (a $9 value). These coupons are good only at events in the USA;

 
• A coupon for a free issue of the AVA's quarterly newspaper The American Wanderer (a $4 value); and


• 10% off your first AVA Specialties order.

• California Golden Heritage Award Program.  This program gives travelers a chance to see historic places in the northern, central and southern areas of California.  Walkers who complete four events in each region are eligible for a patch (shown to the right).  For details on the program, click here.  Several of the year round events sponsored by the CCPP count as "southern" area events.  They are:
• Carpinteria, CA (two state historical plaques commemorate the nearby Chumash Indian village of "Mishopshnow")
• Solvang, CA (site of Santa Ynez Mission)
• Lompoc, CA (site of the original La Purisima Mission)

• 51 Capital/50 State.  Many volkssporters who like to travel began planning their trips so they could walk in all 50 states and in Washington, DC.  One company began selling tee shirts with all 50 states in outline, so walkers could color them in as they went along.  Recently the AVA created two formal programs--one for all 50 states, the other for all 51 capitals.  Interested walkers buy the special program books from the AVA, and then either annotate them by hand or have event stamps placed in them.  This allows walkers who have already walked in areas far from home to obtain credit without traveling there to walk again.

The 51 Capital & 50 State Award designs.

          Name:  ___________________________________________

          Address:  _________________________________________

          City, State, Zip:  ___________________________________

          Daytime Phone:  ___________________________________

          Evening Phone:  ___________________________________

          E-Mail Address:  ___________________________________

The dues for the July-June year  are $15.  That amount covers all family members living at a single address.

To join, mail a check for

• Your $15 dues, plus
• $5 for each New Walker Packet desired (order one for each walker)

If you have questions or wish to find out more about our club or about volkssports, please e-mail us by clicking here.

1998-1999

2000-2001

May 2001