June 23 - Ames

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Damselfly

It was blustery and in the 60’s today – great walking weather!  Our 6K walk started at Reiman Gardens, the largest public gardens in Iowa.  The gardens were gorgeous.  The 14-acre site includes a Children’s Garden, an enclosed butterfly garden, a sustainable rose garden, an indoor conservatory, an herb garden, a hillside garden, a lake with lily pads, and a town and country garden.  There were many delightful nooks and crannies to discover and savor.  The current exhibit, “Big Bugs,” features 10 gigantic sculptures of insects. This is one of the nicest botanical gardens I have ever visited.

Our entire walk was on the campus of Iowa State University, the first designated land-grant university in the US (and a non-smoking campus, I might add).  At the beginning of the walk, the landscape was dominated by a beautiful 55,000 seat stadium. The team is appropriately called the Cyclones.

Rose Garden

The Campanile

After reaching the academic portion of the campus, we were wowed by one beautiful building after another.  Catt Hall was named for Carrie Chapman Catt, the first woman graduate of ISU in 1880 (and class valedictorian), and a renowned advocate for women’s rights and the founder of the League of Women Voters.  (By the way, yesterday’s keynote speaker, Tim Lane, is her great-great nephew. Lane told us that Catt was responsible for a physical education program for women at the university.  The university president had chided some male students for missing their exercise drills, telling them that exercise would make them better students.  She told the president that if exercise was good for the males, it would be good for the female students, too. )

In the library we saw two large murals by Grant Wood (“American Gothic”).  Wood helped form the art movement known as Regionalism, which held that painters should paint what they know. 

George Washington Carver was the first African-American to attend Iowa State and later became the first African-American faculty member.  One of the academic buildings is named for Carver.

The Campanile is the iconic bell tower located near the center of campus.  Built in 1898, the 110-foot tall tower contains a 50-bell carillon which sounds every quarter-hour.

After the walk we drove to the Convention Complex in Des Moines. I attended a workshop on AVA’s Trailmaster Program and I will be bringing the handbook back to my club.  The main thing to be aware of is the new trail-rating system that takes effect on January 1, 2012.

Reiman Garden Gnome

The second workshop I attended was a presentation on Feet and Footwear by a physical therapist.  He provided some very useful information on buying athletic shoes. He pointed out that most shoes are made in big factories in China and quality control is often lacking.  Two pairs that are supposed to be the same size may not b e the same, so you might need to try both on.  He also showed how to check to make sure both shoes in a pair are made properly.  Finally, he showed us how to strengthen our foot muscles.

The second AVA General Session followed.  The session included awards, committee reports, and voting on bylaws amendments.  The Youth Committee report addressed the Girl Scout Walk-Together program.  Next year the patches are going from $1 to $2.  The committee is proposing that the patches not be considered an award in the future.  This means that Girl Scouts could purchase the patches without having to purchase the IVV credit (i.e., they could be free walkers and still get the patches).  Only 500 patches will be ordered for next year, so we should get our order in early.

The proposed bylaws amendments were all adopted.  The proposal to charge dues to state associations was approved despite opposition from a substantial minority.

Rating:

Walk Route: A

Walk Documentation: A+