AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - June 2016

June 2016
brought to you by Joe Harold, Appalachian Trail Museum Manager

Business is boomin' at the Museum this June.  There are lots of hikers coming through and our visitor counts are rising.  The weather is rather pleasant and our new Children's Museum is a hit.  The grounds around the museum have been transformed with some great landscape additions and the ramp is nearing completion.

Thanks to all of you for your help.  It is certainly appreciated.

____________________________________________

A.T. Hall of Fame Inducts Four 

We had a record crowd at the Allenberry Resort on Friday, June 3rd as we held our sixth annual Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet.  Everyone gathered in the carriage house for some good music by Windtalker, good food provided by the Allenberry, good comments by our emcee, DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn and great speeches by the inductees. 

Honored were Maurice Forrester, Horace Kephart, our own Larry Luxenberg and Henry Arch Nichols.  The HOF committee had the pleasure of having Charter HOF Member Gene Espy present Larry his Hiking Stick (fondly referred to as a Bodhi or Bo D. HOFman)

Maurice Forrester

Horace Kephart

Larry Luxenberg

Henry Arch Nichols

You can read more about the four honorees on our website in the News section.  
____________________________________________

New Children's Museum Opens

Saturday, June 4th continued the busy weekend where we dedicated and opened our new lower level Children's Museum to the public.  A crowd of around 60 visitors gathered around as the speakers talked about all the thought and work that went into creating this space dedicated to the future of the trail, our children.

Gwen speaks to the crowd before the ribbon cutting

Margy and Gwen prepare to open the door to a whole new Museum experience

Your journey starts here...

The space was opened for all to enjoy and the day continued with a Children's Festival.

Festival!

We had music, a trail mix table, story telling and other activities.  We didn't let the early afternoon showers dampen our spirits as the day was full of excitement.

Jennifer reads one of her stories to the gathered children

Later, we had a Volunteer Picnic followed by a couple of our honorees from the night before telling their stories of the trail and their love of its beauty.  

It was a very good day for the Museum.

Visitors enjoy the Reading Hut

____________________________________________

Welcome Our New Intern

After our first 2016 intern prospect fell through, I feared that we would not have the help that we have been lucky to have each summer at the Museum since it opened.  About two weeks ago, I received a call from Tim Atwell, a recent Messiah College grad, who still needed to do his internship.  I eagerly accepted his proposal and we set him up as our Programs Intern.  

Tim introduces Eric who told us all the scary details of ticks and Lyme
and the steps to take to protect yourself at last Sunday's Program

In addition to serving as a Docent, Tim will be helping with the Sunday Public Programs each weekend for the next two months.  Tim isn't your typical college undergrad.  He's a tad older, has a family and a full time job and has served in the Military.  

If you are around on any of the next several weekends, please welcome Tim to the A.T. Museum family.
____________________________________________

Program Added for June 26th

We have added a presentation for the June 26th slot that had been vacant in the Programs schedule.

At 2:00 pm, Tim Atwell, (our intern) will present:

The Necessity of Adventure Experiences in Modern Youth

In the 1930’s, German educator, Kurt Hahn, identified six social declines that hindered the proper development of youth. In response, he developed a school called Outward Bound which is considered the foundation of modern day adventure education. 

Recognizing that these declines are evident in today’s youth, a two week-long wilderness backpacking experience was designed to specifically address these issues. This experience was provided by the Messiah College Office of Adventure Programming, and was designed, implemented, and evaluated by Tim Atwell, an Adventure Education Major Senior. 


Come listen to Tim discuss his findings. You may not be surprised that there were gains made in all of the 6 declines, especially around the areas related to mental toughness.

This seems like a very interesting topic.  We still have a lot of vacant slots for August this year.  If you have a presentation you would like to give, let me know and we will get you on the schedule.  See all our Program Descriptions on our Programs Page.  
____________________________________________

Positions Available at the Museum

Some of you might already be aware of this, but it is time to make the announcement.  

I have decided to step down as manager at the end of this season.  You see, there is this trail... That people like to hike for a real long time...  That's what I want to do.  That's what I need to do.  So, with that said, we need to find my replacement.

I won't be leaving until the end of the year, so the search is only beginning.  I hike in 2017.

I have proposed to the board, and they are in the process of ironing out the details, of splitting my job into two positions.  We feel that this will separate the two parts of the job so that more direct effort can be placed on both.

Here is the plan so far (subject to amendment and alteration by the board)

A.T. Museum Manager - The manager will be responsible for retail sales and stocking, building and grounds maintenance, Road Scholar Hikes, event planning and outreach.  The manager will also directly supervise the Volunteer Coordinator.

Volunteer Coordinator (Asst Manager) - The Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for recruiting, training and scheduling the docents and other volunteers, manage the Sunday Public Programs, supervise any interns, and help with event planning and outreach.  

So if any of this strikes you as something you might want to take on, stand by for additional information and an official announcement.  I certainly would love to have members of the current A.T. Museum family step into the job(s).  Your experience and familiarity with the Museum's processes would definitely be a plus.

____________________________________________

Things Coming Down the Trail

June 19th, 2016 - Program: Drag'N Fly and Freckles
June 26th, 2016 - Program: The Necessity of Adventure Experiences in Modern Youth
June 27th, 2016 - Road Scholar Hike
July 3rd, 2016 - Program: Hiker Picnic and Stories
July 10th, 2016 - Program: Wild Edibles
July 17th, 2016 - Program: Backpacking with a Dog
July 24th, 2016 - Program: Starting out Halfway... WV, MD and PA on the A.T. 

Leonard Adam "Baltimore Jack" Tarlin - 1958 - 2016