AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - September 2017

September 2017

Brought to you by Nathaniel "Angry Bird" Shank, Appalachian Trail Museum Manager

The museum has been quieter during the week, but we are still seeing some south bounders and plenty of section hikers. Come check out the flowers in full bloom.

Thanks to Georgia and Margy for the flowers!

*In other news, the museum and trail have been publicized in the October 2017 Susquehanna Style magazine. The author, Karen Hendricks, set up the interview and has done an excellent job of writing about our museum and how we are inspiring people to hit the trail. 

This article is so well written, you'll be glad you took the time to read it!

                                                                                                                                                 

ALDHA Gathering

On October, 6th - 8th, the museum will be represented at the Gathering in Abingdon, Virginia. At the Gathering, we intend to have a benefit sale of any used but good hiking gear that a hiker might need. If you are interested in donating any items but can not make it to the Gathering we will gladly take your donation at the museum as long as we receive it no later than Thursday, October 5th at closing time(4pm).

                                                                                                                                                 

Renovations

 Ron and the crew are at it again! The second-floor bathroom has been insulated with soundproofing and the floor has been replaced with cement board. Also, tables and desks have been moved out of the second floor to make space for work and exhibits. On the third floor, the bookshelves have been covered with their second coat of finish. The railing has also been raised around the stairs leading from the second to the first floor. Thanks for all your help!!!

Bathroom floor before cement board

Bathroom floor after cement board

Martha cleaning, Bathroom soundproofing in the wall to the right

Cleared out the second floor with Mike

Margy and Jim stained the railing

                                                                                                                                                 

Scout 551 Volunteer Work

On Saturday, September 23rd, scout troop 551 from the King of Prussia area decided to do a hike to Pole Steeple and completed a service project for the museum. Not only did they place pavers in the landing between the set of stairs between our main floor and our lower level, but they also mowed the lawn, weeded around trees, organized wood piles, and cut up some firewood. A big thank you to all the scouts and adults that helped! I also want to thank Barry Flicker for organizing this and Ed Riggs for helping set up in the morning.

                                                                                                                                                 

Fall Furnace Festival

October 21^st & 22^nd the museum will need a volunteer or two to operate the information table that we set up beside the park people.  We will be setting up an information booth/tent next to the Pine Grove Furnace State Park booth. Not only will this be helpful to attract guests to the museum, but it will also be a great opportunity to connect with the park staff next door. If more than two are interested or you want to cover half the shift just leave a comment and we'll make it work. Here is the link to signup: PGFSPFFF

                                                                                                                                                 

Volunteer Recognition Dinner

The volunteer recognition dinner has been scheduled for November 5th at the Iron Masters Mansion. The time is set for 1:00pm to 3:00pm. This again will be set up as a potluck. I hope that most of you can make it out. You all have really been a blessing sent from heaven. I can't say thanks enough! I have more to say but will save it for my speech. ☺

                                                                                                                                                 

Angry Bird Trail Stories

On 6/3/2012, I spent the night in my hammock on Little Boardman Mountain. As soon as I started hiking it began to rain. After hiking 28 miles the day before I had no clue that I would be only hiking 14.3 today. 

Early in the day when I was at the east branch lean-to, I ran into Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the two who got to the 1-mile marker near Katahdin and said, "This is close enough, let's start from here." They also had two other friends with them who already left the trail. The heavy unnecessary equipment that they had was then given to these two who stayed on to hike. These two were not aware of the trail names that they were given and would not have approved. 

After briefly talking and eating breakfast I hiked on. Ascending White Cap Mountain was cold and windy. Then I encountered hail and sideways rain near the top. As I was hiking I noticed multiple trails caused by the flooding... So I picked a trail and kept going. Then I picked another, and another until I was off trail far enough that I wouldn't see another blaze between noon and dusk. I was determined to hike but didn't know which way. At one point I even sat down on a rock and thought, "Well I guess this is it." Then just before dark I came out of the woods perpendicular to the trail and found a sign that read, "↢Shelter 1.5 miles." I had only made up about four trail miles in all that time of hiking through the woods. Seeing this sign was one of the most comforting moments for me on the trail but it was also the longest mile and a half that I had ever walked.

As I settled in at the shelter I realized I would be spending the night with some questionable people. My can of mace was on standby... (To Be Continued)

                                                                                                                                                 

Things Coming Down the Trail

October 9th - Road Scholar Hike

October 21st and 22nd - Fall Furnace Fest

October 23rd - Road Scholar Hike

October 29th - Museum closes for the 2017 season

October 30th - Road Scholar Hike

November 5th - Volunteer Recognition Supper

AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 12

Volume 2, Issue 12 - October, 2015
brought to you by Joe Harold, Appalachian Trail Museum Manager

We are in the home stretch of this year's Museum season and the leaves are looking pretty nice around the park and up on the mountain.  The past month has been a pretty busy one and the last few weeks of the season will continue to be so.  Thanks to all who are giving their valuable time.  It really is appreciated.  Lots of pictures in this edition.
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Annual Volunteer Recognition Event

We have set the date for this year's Volunteer Recognition Event and moved the time to earlier in the day.  This year we will come together at the Ironmasters Mansion on Sunday, November 15th, 2015 at 1:00 pm.  All those who have contributed their time this year are invited and encouraged to attend as we have a delicious potluck dinner, tell some good stories and show our thanks for your dedication to the AT Museum.
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Far Away and Local Outreach 

Some of you may know that my wife, Lisa and I traveled up to Millinocket, ME this September for the Trail's End Festival, with some hiking in NY, before, and NJ, after the Festival.  We had a great time and I was happy to be able to add three new AT states that I have hiked in and to represent the AT Museum up in Maine.  

Bear Mountain from the top of West Mountain in NY

We drove to New York and spent a night on the trail near Bear Mountain.  The climb up West Mountain was very tough for us, as we hadn't been out on the trail in a while.

Appalachian Trail Lodge

We next traveled to Millinocket, Maine and checked into the Appalachian Trail Lodge, run by Ole Man and NaviGator.

After settling in, we set up the Museum's traveling exhibit in the Community Center and then proceeded to explore the small town.

AT Museum Traveling Exhibit

On Saturday morning, we headed to Abol Bridge and did a nice 15 mile day hike up the Blueberry Ledges Trail to The Birches and then down the AT where we encountered excited Northbounders, who were almost finished with their hike.  

A foggy morning on the Blueberry Ledges Trail

The fog burned off and the day was very pleasant.  We finished up back at Abol Bridge and we could now get a good view of Katahdin "The Greatest Mountain".  

Mt Katahdin from Abol Bridge

We finished up in Maine and received some good comments on the exhibit and headed down to New Jersey, where we hiked another three days with my wife's sister and her friend.  This was a part of NJ I had never seen before, as we spend most of our NJ time down in flat, sandy, Cape May.

Culver Lake from the top of Kittatinny Mountain

After that adventure, I had a speaking engagement at the nearby Green Ridge Village Senior Living Community near Newville at their Living and Learning session.  I talked about the history of the trail and the Museum and answered some very interesting questions form the residents, who seemed to enjoy my talk.  

It lifted my spirits to see that no one is ever too old to be interested in the trail and the Museum.

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The ALDHA Gathering

The Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association (ALDHA) held its 34th Gathering last weekend.  This was once again a "local" event in relation to the Museum.  All the hikers, both young and old, came together on the campus of Shippensburg University, only a 30 minute drive over the mountain.  

The Museum's table set up, with some things to sell and a decent Silent Auction all with donated items.  

Tents of Gathering attendees line the edge of the field

More tents

My cheap Walmart tent.  It did the trick for the weekend, but isn't my normal shelter

One of the attendees, "Wood Nymph" had a pet rat named Little Girl

Saturday evening had a really nice talk from Cam "Swami" Honan who is an amazing hiker.  He talked about his "12 Long Walks" he did back in 2011 and 2012 where he traveled 12 long trails in the US and walked over 14,000 miles in 18 months.  Quite a guy. Check out his website The Hiking Life to learn more about this awesome man.

Swami talks about his dodgy knee

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Work Crew at the Museum

One of the things that ALDHA likes to offer after the Gathering, are various work trips that the members can participate in to help the trail and other AT entities.  The had a group out doing AT boundary work and a nice sized group of 19 with Ron Bungay at their lead, came to the museum to transform quite a few areas in preparation of our ongoing renovation projects.  

I had to head out to the board meeting early in the morning, so you could imagine my total delight when I came back to the Museum around 2:30 and saw all that had been accomplished.  

There used to be a cleaning closet here.  Not any more.

Top floor where most of the work was going on

Workers get to work

The old bathroom on the top floor is demolished.  

Sheet rock installed and some floor boards removed to
facilitate the completion of the HVAC ducting.

This vital work enabled us to prepare for the next phase of our renovations.  Eventually 50% of the floor boards in the top floor will be removed to create a mezzanine, allowing visitors to see the nice arched window from below.  This space will also be our Resource Library, where we will house our rare and historic books, guides and other publications for the use of researchers and other interested parties.  We have a long way to go, but this work group helped us get a lot closer than we were.

I didn't get any pictures, but the Museum grounds had a lot of work done to them too.  The grass was cut and a lot of weeding was done at the stone wall along the old road where the trail travels down to the parking lot.  Everything had a nice fall freshness that made me feel good.

The travel time guesstimate for the workers was around 113 hours and the volunteer hours were 119.

The Gathering brings people from all over and these states were represented by the workers. California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.

My UTMOST Thanks goes to the following workers, who gave their time and sweat to help the Museum realize its dream of expanding to every floor of the Old Grist Mill.

Ron "Yellow Shoes" Bungay

Susan Gail "SG" Arey

Warren & Ann "46 & Storyteller" Axtell

Marilyn "Ameba" Beckley

Mark "Capt. America" Bailey

Dave "Owel Dave" Fleischman

Cheryl "Nike" Hadrych

Veri "Misssing Kink" Hurst

Dan "Milesback" Houchins

Jeff Kunkleman

Pete "Peak" & Laura Lane

Thomas "Radar" Baker

Jim "Jimp" Paschetto

Deb & Charles "Maw & Paw" Tucker

Greg "Weather Carrot" Walter

George "Billy Goat" Woodard

Very note worthy is Billy Goat who probably has more trail miles than than the rest of the crew put together.

Ron

Thanks once again.  We really appreciate it.
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AT Museum Board Retreat

Back in April the Appalachian Trail Museum Board of Directors held their annual Spring business meeting and decided that a retreat would probably be a good thing to have in October, to see how far we have come since we first incorporated, where we are now, and where we want to go next.  Linda Witmer joined us back in April and was with us again this past Monday as the board came together at Margy's house.  

The board gets to work

With Linda's facilitation, the board figured out what is next for Appalachian Trail Museum, Inc., and made plans to update our documents and plans to show how we have grown over the last several years.  

Linda talks about a strategic plan

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Basement Update

Things continue to happen in the new Children's area in the bottom floor of the Old Grist Mill.  Greg of Graphik Masters, our exhibit designer dropped off two of the 14 state display boards for the basement children's section.  They still need to be mounted and several more need to be designed and built, but we are on our way.

Georgia

Tennessee

Make sure you go down to the basement the next time you are volunteering at the museum to check them out.  

We still have a lot of work gathering pictures (and permission for their use) and writing the copy that will go on the boards to highlight each state that the trail travels through, so if you have good pictures or can write a line or two, let us know. ____________________________________________

Captain Stupid Lives

If you have read our first published book, THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story, then you would recognize the trail name "Captain Stupid", the main protagonist of Richard Judy's first novel.  Larry Luxenberg, Richard and Margy Schmidt have collaborated to create a new Tee Shirt that we will sell at the Museum.  I think it came out rather nice. 

Captain Stupid - from THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story

Larry models the back of the shirt

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Things Coming Down the Trail

November 1st, 2015 - AT Museum closes for the 2015 season

November 2nd, 2015 - Last Road Scholar Hike of the season
November 5th, 2015 - Last Group comes to the Museum

November 15th, 2015 - 1:00 pm - Volunteer Recognition Event

An October addition to the Dead Woman's Hollow sign.

AT Museum Volunteer Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 11

Volume 2, Issue 11 - September, 2015
brought to you by Joe Harold, Appalachian Trail Museum Manager

There is a little crispy nip in the air lately.  Fall is not too far away.  As I head "Down East" to Maine for the Trail's End Festival, I hope to squeeze in some trail time and maybe see a moose or two.  The season is winding down, but there are still so many things happening in the next couple of months.  The building is now "climate controlled" and hopefully ready for the upcoming winter.  But before that, we still have our last two months of visitors to welcome.

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Annual Volunteer Recognition Event

We have set the date for this year's Volunteer Recognition Event and moved the time to earlier in the day.  This year we will come together at the Ironmasters Mansion on Sunday, November 15th, 2015 at 1:00 pm.  All those who have contributed their time this year are invited and encouraged to attend as we have a delicious potluck dinner, tell some good stories and show our thanks for your dedication to the AT Museum.  

Ironmasters Mansion

We have moved up the time to accommodate those who don't want to drive after dark and those who have to travel far to attend.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the Museum, especially as a Docent/Greeter are welcome to join us to meet the other volunteers and find out more about volunteering at the Museum.  I will be sending out a flyer soon and will be setting up the VolunteerSpot event so we can organize the food and drink items.  
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"Trail Magic" Documentary About Grandma Gatewood

Last year, Peter Huston and his crew came through the Museum and filmed a bit while making their documentary about Grandma Gatewood called "Trail Magic".  That film is now complete and ready for an interested audience.  

From the little bits that I have seen, it looks to be very interesting and features one of the Museum's early exhibits and one of our Hall of Fame inductees, Emma Gatewood.  

Grandma Gatewood Exhibit at Museum

We are working on having a screening in this area and I will let everyone know when I have firm details.  Everyone should try to see this great, informative, documentary.

UPDATE: Peter's program will be Saturday Oct. 10 from 3 to 5 at The Gathering. It will be our 16th A.T. Museum Symposium at the Gathering. Peter will also be showing the film as part of the Longwood Gardens Big Read of Ben Montgomery's book in the spring.
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Appalachian Trail Trivia

Check out this article and see how many of these little tidbits of information you already know.  They can always come in handy when you are talking to our visitors.

You can check it out here.

(I thought there 289 shelters, but I could be wrong)
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ALDHA Gathering - A Local Event Once Again

The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association (ALDHA) is once again holding its annual event know as The Gathering at Shippensburg University.  This will be the 34th year of holding the event where hikers of all kinds come together to talk about their adventures and learn what is new on the many long distance trails that we all hike.  

Acorn, Poppins and Ketchup - Hikers from the Class of 2013
(Ron Tipton and Kip Redick seated)

The event starts on Friday, October 9th, and things happen through the 12th.  It is quite an experience.  There will be workshops and presentations, a Hiker Fair, apple contest and the Feature Presenter is Cam "Swami" Honan who is an amazing hiker who has logged over 55,000 miles on numerous trails throughout the world.  

Registration for the event is only $20 and of course benefits the trail.  It would be great to see all you great people who volunteer at the museum at the event.  

You can find out more about The Gathering Here.
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New, Updated AT Museum Website

If you haven't already checked it out, point your browser to www.atmuseum.org and check out our new, updated website.  Alan Strackeljahn, Jim Foster and myself dedicated quite a few hours moving all of the content to the new host and giving the interface an upgrade.  The new site will also have a new feature of an Online Store.  I still have a lot of work to do to make the store the way I want it, but it is up and running and my one man shipping department (me) is standing ready to take your orders. 

Along with the the Special Features, which are now called the Online Museum, we now have a calendar that will show all the happenings at the museum and around the area and also a blog like News feed where we hope to keep everyone up-to-date on the interesting things that happen at the museum in between these newsletters.  

Check it out.

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Things Coming Down the Trail

September 18th to 20th, 2015 - Trail's End Festival - Millinocket, ME

September 18th, 2015 - Road Scholar Hike

October 9th to 11th, 2015 - ALDHA Gathering - Shippensburg, PA

October 12th, 2015 - Road Scholar Hike

November 1st, 2015 - AT Museum closes for the 2015 season

November 2nd, 2015 - Last Road Scholar Hike of the season

November 15th, 2015 - 1:00 pm - Volunteer Recognition Event

I haven't taken a lot of pictures around the museum this month, but I leave you with this crackling fire in the newly build fire pit as dusk settles around the museum.