Special Feature – Lionel & Lily Conrod, Volunteers extrodinaire

They say the strength of a community can be measured by the involvement of it’s volunteers. Lionel and Lily exemplify that community spirit and we think that our members will be interested in their volunteer activities.
The Canadian Volkssport Federation (CVF) is a national organization dedicated to promoting non-competetive participation in walking and other recreational activities for fun, fitness and friendship.
Lionel was a founding member of the Dartmouth Volksmarch Club, the first volkssport club in Canada. In January 1984 he was appointed the trail master for the club and researched topographical maps and trail publications in order to locate interesting places to hold guided walks. Since then he has held several positions with the club including President, Publicity Director and Editor of the club’s quarterly newsletter Footprints which he continues to edit and distribute today. Lionel has been a guiding hand in the Dartmouth club becoming the largest and most active walking club in Atlantic Canada. Lily is also a very active member of the club and has served various positions including President.
Lionel is also heavily involved with the CVF. Since his retirement from Imperial Oil in 1991, as national president, he has represented the CVF at the annual meetings of the International Federation of Popular Sports at various sites in Europe and the USA. Lionel developed the website for the CVF and for the last six years has been the Editor for the national newsletter Volkssport Canada.
If you go onto the Dartmouth and National websites, which I encourage you to do, you will be impressed by the professionalism, but more by the fact that club members are obviously having fun in a healthy shared recreation. Lionel and Lily are to be commended in their efforts to combat the effects of our sedentary couch-potato society.
They both practice what they preach. Since those early days in 1984, Lionel has logged over 30,000 kms (yes, you read that correctly!) during more than 2300 volksport events!
Lionel and Lily have received numerous volunteer awards; regionally, nationally and internationally; however, a recent letter from the Governor General of Canada was icing on the cake. It read as follows: This is an occasion to acknowledge the 25 years of service of Lily and Lionel Conrod to the Dartmouth Volksmarch Club. The commitment shown to their community and to the country is truly admirable. Their contributions and dedication to improving the lives of their fellow Canadians have helped confirm them as leaders and as embodiments of the noblest expression of what it means to serve.

The two websites are: www.dartmouthvolksmarchclub.com
www.walks.ca