Saturday, February 15, 2014

AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - Volume 1, Issue 4


Volume 1, Issue 4 - February, 2014

Welcome back.  March 29th will be here before we know it.  As the winter winds down, it is time to start thinking about opening day and all we need to do to be ready.  


Snowy, sleepy museum (2/11/14)
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Reminder: Hall of Fame Nominations

One last reminder.  All nominations should be in by the end of the month (Feb 28th).  
online form
paper form.  
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AT Museum Cleanup Day

It isn't too early to sign up for the AT Museum's annual cleanup day, where we scrub the winter off of the whole museum from top to bottom and get ready for our fifth season.  The date is March 22nd, 2014 and we will work from about 9:00 am until about 1:00 pm or so.  

You can find the signup link on our VolunteerSpot Group page or follow this direct link.

Please help us out if are free to do so.
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AT Museum Volunteer Orientation

On opening day (March 29th, 2014) we will also be conducting our annual volunteer orientation.  This session is to bring any new Docents up to speed as well as a refresher for the veterans.  We have a few new things to talk about and review and all ideas and suggestions are welcome and encouraged.  The session will be from 9:00 am to about 1:00 pm and refreshments will be provided.  You can sign up at the Group page to attend and to help with the refreshments if you want.  Here is a direct link.
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Credit Card Purchases come to the Museum


One of the things we will be covering at the Orientation is our new Credit Card ability.  During the off season we signed up to use PayAnywhere to process our credit card sales at a reasonable transaction rate.  

To make this work, we needed a tablet of some kind (either iPad or Android) and Randy Motz aka Windtalker found a friend who offered an iPad to donate.  That didn't pan out, but Randy and his wife Georgia Harris, aka Mom, donated the funds to buy a brand new (open box) Samsung Tablet.  I have tested out the setup and it works great.  

It is a pretty simple application and I am hoping it will help to increase sales of our retail items.  

Thanks Windtalker and Mom for your dedication to the museum.  We couldn't have done this without you.  

(Randy and Georgia are the authors of Solemates: Lessons of Life,Love & Marriage from the Appalachian Trail, a book we sell at the museum.  We also carry some of Randy's music CDs)
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THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story

The AT Museum has entered the publishing business.  Our first publication is THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story by Richard Judy. Richard has graciously offered to let all proceeds of the sales go to the Museum.  The book is now available on Amazon.com and if you have designated the AT Museum as your charity at Amazon Smile, we will receive another 0.5% of the sale from Amazon.  Follow this link to buy the book on Amazon Smile (make sure you designate AT Museum (EIN 30-0127417) as your charity and I promise you will have a very enjoyable read.  Here is the link


We will also be promoting and selling the book at the Museum as well as the ATC and other places and will have a prominent display of the books this upcoming season.  
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Park Manager Promoted

Jason Zimmerman, the Park Manager here at Pine Grove Furnace State Park has been promoted and will no longer be working at the Furnace.  We would like to congratulate Jason on his hard earned promotion and thank him for all he has done for the Museum and the park.  Our success is surely the result of his help with the Museum.  We wish you good luck Jason, and thank you for all you have done for the Park and the Museum.  

We look forward to continuing our excellent relationship with your replacement.
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Programs Committee Chairman Needed

We are still looking for someone to take on the challenge of being the next Programs Committee Chairman.  The duties and responsibilities would be to find people to present their programs and schedule them on Sundays during the season.  For more information contact Gwen Loose.
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Things Coming Down the Trail

February 28th, 2014 - Deadline for Hall of Fame nominations
March 22nd, 2014 - Spring Cleanup
March 29th, 2014 - Docent Orientation (both experienced and new)
March 29th, 2014 - AT Museum opens for the season
April - Start remodeling the bottom floor
April 27th, 2014 - 5th Annual Ironmaster's Challenge - Sign up here.