AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 5

Volume 2, Issue 5 - March, 2015
brought to you by Joe Harold, Appalachian Trail Museum Manager

It looks like we have finally seen our last winter storm (knock wood) and the snows are finally melting on the trail and around the museum.  Things are picking up as we move along in time to our sixth season of welcoming visitors to the Museum.  I have just about replenished all the retail stock for the season and the Old Mill will be coming back to life in the next few weeks.  Orientations are scheduled for the last two weekends of the month and our annual Spring cleaning will be on Sunday, the 22nd.  The season starts on March 28th at Noon.  Another exciting year at the AT Museum is about to begin.

March 6th, 2015

March 11th, 2015
The difference five days makes with temps climbing into the 50s

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Museum Spring Cleaning

I have scheduled the annual Museum Spring Cleaning day for Sunday, March 22nd, 2015.  We hope to start around 9 am or so and should be finished sometime after Noon.  The cleanup generally consists of general house cleaning, washing windows, setting up the merchandise area, and miscellaneous handy-person jobs. 

In addition we will do some sprucing up outside the museum building including raking leaves and general clean-up, weather permitting. 

There will be plenty of cleaning supplies on hand and we have some tools at the museum, but you may want to bring carpentry tools as well as rakes, etc. for the outside tasks. There will be rubber/latex gloves available but you may want to bring your work gloves.

You can sign up to let me know you are coming at our handy dandy VolunteerSpot Group Page.  
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Orientation and Training Sessions

This year, I'm hoping to conduct several orientation sessions in March and into the beginning of the season (if needed).  I'm trying to tailor them two different ways, one for new volunteers or those who have only served one or two shifts, and those who have served several shifts (or years) who want to go through the processes again and refresh their memories.  I hope to include intensive, hands-on practice of the PayAnywhere Application that we have been using to allow the use of credit cards.  

I want to cover the whole application and have developed a training plan that handles the questions I have received about the application from Docents, including cash purchases, voids, refunds and searching for an item in the inventory list.  

So far I have scheduled Saturday, March 21st and Sunday, March 29th as New Docent Orientation and Sunday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 28th as Experienced Docent Orientation.  You can sign up at the usual Spot.  I will add days and/or times to accommodate all interested parties.  Let me know if you want me to schedule a particular day or time.
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Sign up for Docent/Greeter

You can use the link to the upper right to sign up for a shift as a Docent (it takes you to the Museum Group page).  Each day we would love to have two volunteers working together. It shares the load and helps everything go smooth.  There are some days when only one docent will be fine (like mid-week early and late in the season), but it is always more fun to share the day with a fellow volunteer.  There are a few other days that it will be almost essential that we have at least two people serving the shifts.  Those days are our Hall of Fame Weekend (first week in June) and the Fall Furnace Fest (October).  They were our busiest days last year.  
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Road Scholar Hikes

The Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center's Road Scholar Hike schedule is also posted in the VolunteerSpot Group page.  This program hikes on the AT in four different states over four days.  Day one is always up here in PA from Shippensburg Road to The Museum.  The museum provides "guides" to hike along with the group and provide interesting information on the landmarks we pass on the 8.5 mile hike.  Dead Woman's Hollow, The Halfway point of the trail, PATC Cabins, Toms Run Shelters and the old Farm/CCC Camp/POW Camp/Church Camp on Michaux Road are a few of them.  

If you are interested in doing a nice easy hike and sharing your knowledge of the area, sign up for a hike or two.  Dates are April 27, 2015; May 25, 2015; June 8 ,2015;June 22, 2015 August 17, 2015; September 7, 2015; September 28, 2015; October 12, 2015; & November 2, 2015.
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Basement Help Requested

Things continue to move along with the development of the basement exhibits. The next thing that will need to be done is painting the walls and staining/sealing the new concrete floor.  Here is a list of things we need to get done.  If you think you can help with one or more of these tasks, let me know.

1.  Stain/Seal the floor
2.  Paint the interior section of the floor where the mini trail will run back and forth throughout the space.  (after it is marked by our exhibit designer, Greg)
3.  Build a low bookcase for the back reading nook.
4.  Install carpet padding and carpet in the reading nook.  
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Sunday Public Programs

We still have a lot of slots open for the Sunday Public Programs.  If you have something you want to present, let me know and we will get you scheduled.  You can check out the schedule by following the link at the top of this page.  
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Things Coming Down the Trail

March 19th, 2015 - KTA Membership Celebration and Film Fest in Camp Hill, PA
March 21st, 2015 - New Docent Orientation
March 22nd, 2015 - Museum Spring Clean up and Experienced Docent Orientation

March 28th, 2015 - Museum opens for its Sixth season and Experienced Docent Orientation
March 29th, 2015 - New Docent Orientation
April 12th, 2015 - 0930 - AT Museum Society Board of Directors Meeting - Margy's House.
May 2nd, 2015 - Flip Flop Kick Off (FFKO) in Harpers Ferry, WV
May 3rd to May 8th, 2015 - Joe Thru Hikes the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (70 miles) - easy peasy.
May 15th - 17th, 2015 - Trail Days - Damascus, VA
June 5th, 2015 - AT Hall of Fame Banquet - Boiling Springs, PA
June 6th, 2015 - Hiker Festival and Reunion at the Museum/Park
July 17th to 24th, 2015 - ATC Biennial - Winchester, VA

Once again I will leave you with some interesting photographs.  

Take care,
EarthTone

Furnace

Yonder is the AT.  Can you see it?

Mountain Creek