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 The A.T. Museum is excited to partner with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for a program and cookout at Brickyard Pavilion at Pine Grove Furnace State Park on May 24th at 1 pm. This event will be hosted by authors and adventurers Heather Anderson and Christine Reed. Come share your stories about how the Appalachian Trail changed your life. Camping will also be available in the Organized Group Tent camping area. Follow THIS LINK to register.
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The Appalachian Trail Museum, Inc. will hold its Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 7 pm. The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. The meeting information appears below. All Museum Members in good standing are invited to attend and will have a vote. The public is also invited to attend.
At the Membership Meeting, the Officer and non-officer Director positions shown below will be elected. The Board of Directors has nominated the following persons to these positions: For a two-year term: President: Larry Luxenberg Vice President: Gwen Loose Non-Officer Directors: (Incumbents) Jennifer Boag, Jim Foster, Ryan Seltzer, Ed Shoenberger. (New Director) Mills Kelly Museum members in good standing may submit alternate nominations for these positions by no later than Tuesday, April 16. Nominations should be submitted by email to [email protected]. Zoom Meeting Information Topic: A.T. Museum Annual Meeting Time: Apr 30, 2025 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82780697396?pwd=TelEHBA6AP0Ql3gRcUuJeivOlrBuJb.1  The fifteenth class of Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame honorees has been announced by the Appalachian Trail Museum’s Hall of Fame selection committee. The 2025 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame class honorees are Richard B. Anderson of Camden, Maine; the late Walter Greene of New York City, New York, the late Marion Park of Washington, DC, and Ronald Tipton of Rockville, Maryland. Most everyone knows that the Appalachian Trail ends in the north at Mount Katahdin in Maine. In 1993, Richard B. Anderson, a biologist and then Commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation, envisioned an extension of the A.T. across the US-Canadian border, providing opportunities for hikers to walk the Appalachian Range from Georgia to Cap Gaspé, Québec, where the range tumbles into the sea. In the decades since, the trail has grown to include sections in over a dozen countries, routed along the geological remnants of the Central Pangean Mountains, including the Appalachians in North America, Europe’s Caledonian Mountains, and the Atlas Mountains in Africa. As of 2023, the IAT links 6,000 miles of trail ringing the Atlantic Ocean. Dick was guided by the work of Benton MacKaye, Myron Avery, Dave Startzell, Dave Field and many others throughout the development of the IAT. Dick has built relationships to sustain the IAT that emulate the vision and practice of the A.T. community. Walter Greene was a Broadway actor living in New York City in the late 1920s. But he had a vacation home in tiny Willimantic, Maine. He learned of Benton MacKaye’s dream of a trail along the Appalachians. More than anyone else, he was responsible for scouting and laying out the initial route of the A.T. from Katahdin south for 120 miles. After meeting Myron Avery by chance in 1930, he joined the famous Avery/Schairer/Philbrick/Jackson expedition in 1933 that blazed the Trail from Katahdin to the West Branch of the Pleasant River and then led the group from there to Blanchard. In 1935 Greene accomplished a great deal through interaction with the Civilian Conservation Corps crews who were building much of the new A.T. and also the critical cable bridge across the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Greene is not well known today because he was hospitalized in 1936 with a serious illness. He never set foot on the A.T. again and passed away in 1941. Picture a group of men in suits, just off work from their mostly government day jobs, sitting around a wood-paneled study, talking Trail. Sitting on the floor taking notes is Marion Park, who joined the Potomac A.T. Club in 1933 and helped edit its early newsletter and then in 1941 became Secretary of the Appalachian Trail Conference, serving in that position until 1955. In those days that meant keeping records of all the ATC (and cross-over PATC) meetings and often going out in the field with speed-hiker Myron Avery, taking notes as he measured and noted deficiencies at the same time. The accuracy of those notes endures and was essential to the organization’s governance, guidebooks, and maps in its first three decades. Every organization needs a Marion Park at its center to keep it grounded, documenting decisions and plans. In addition to all this, Marion and Jean Stephenson maintained a side trail to the A.T. from the Meadow Spring and Buck Hollow trails in Shenandoah National Park, and Marion was Treasurer of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club from 1937 to 1957. Ronald Tipton has been deeply involved with the Appalachian Trail for nearly 50 years. He joined the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club in 1974 and maintained a section of the A.T. for more than 20 years. In the mid-1970’s, as a staff member of the House Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Subcommittee, he worked with the House National Park Subcommittee to help draft and promote the 1978 amendments to the National Trails System Act. Soon afterward, during his A.T. thru-hike, Ron prepared a report highlighting high priority sections of the Trail corridor to be acquired and protected. He was then hired to be the National Parks Program Director for The Wilderness Society, working with closely with Dave Startzell and other Trail advocates to secure a significant increase in annual appropriations for the A.T. land acquisition program. In 1983 Ron was one of the founding members of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association (ALDHA) and has been an active member ever since.
The capstone of Ron's professional career came in 2013 when he was recruited to become President & CEO of the ATC, and served in that capacity until he retired at the end of 2017. His accomplishments as the leader of ATC included creating a new initiative for preserving the larger landscape surrounding the Trail and significant increases in ATC's funding and staff. The 2025 Hall of Fame Class will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at the Bavarian Inn Resort in Shepherdstown, WV. Follow THIS LINK for more information. The Banquet will be one of a full schedule of events during the Hall of Fame Weekend. The Appalachian Trail Museum is pleased to announce that the 2025 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2025. The 2025 venue will be the Bavarian Inn Resort & Brewing Company, located at 164 Shepherd Grade Road, Shepherdstown, WV. The event will begin with a reception at 11 am, followed by luncheon at noon and then the Hall of Fame Induction.  Bavarian Inn, Shepherdstown, WV The Bavarian Inn is a well-known landmark in the Potomac River Valley, located in Shepherdstown, WV, just minutes from historic Harpers Ferry, the Antietam Battlefield and other landmarks. Perched on a spectacular bluff overlooking the Potomac River, the 11-acre European Inspired Boutique Resort offers comfort, elegance, and world-class food and service. The Bavarian Inn has won many awards, including the AAA Four Diamond and Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence. Larry Luxenberg, Founder and President of the Museum, said “It is a great pleasure to again offer a Banquet to honor our Hall of Fame class, after a five-year absence. We are grateful to Lisa Kovatch, who has stepped up to chair our 2025 Banquet Committee. The M.C. for the 2025 Banquet will be 2013 A.T. Hall of Fame inductee David N. Startzell.  David N. Startzell Dave retired in 2012 after more than 25 years as executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. He served the longest tenure of any executive director of ATC, as well as the longest of any officer of the organization, having joined ATC in January 1978. He is widely recognized as the person who did the most across two decades to secure almost $200 million in federal appropriations for the Appalachian Trail land-acquisition programs of the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. Under his stewardship, more than 250,000 acres of public lands were protected along the A.T.’s 2,000-mile corridor. He also directed major reorganizations of ATC to position it as a true centrifugal force in Trail policymaking and operations.
The 2025 Banquet will honor the 2025 Class of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame. The selection process began with nominations from the public. The Hall of Fame selection committee is in the process of selecting the class and it will be announced in the spring. Lisa Kovatch, Banquet Committee Chair, said: “We’re thrilled to have our 2025 Banquet near the headquarters of our partners at Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harpers Ferry. 2025 is the 100th Anniversary of the ATC and it’s an honor to be a part of this year of celebration.” Tickets to the 2025 Banquet will be available in the spring. Check the Museum’s website www.atmuseum.org or email [email protected] for more information.  The AT Museum welcomes Kip Redick, author of American Camino: Walking as Spiritual Practice on the Appalachian Trail, on Sunday, March 16th at 1:30pm. Kip is professor of philosophy and religion at Christopher Newport University.
Hikers have been walking the Appalachian Trail since 1948, when Earl Shaffer completed the first hike. Some hike just to enjoy the scenery, while others experience the trek as a spiritual journey. In American Camino: Walking as Spiritual Practice on the Appalachian Trail, Kip Redick engages in a phenomenological exploration of the relationship between long-distance hiking—in this case, hiking the Appalachian Trail—and spiritual pilgrimage. This book shows the way the Appalachian Trail concretizes existential connections between the hikers’ spiritual experiences and intersubjective relationships with various constituents on and around the trail: mountainous wilderness; its variation of flora, fauna, geology, and watershed; and social interactions with fellow hikers and with communities near the trail. Redick contrasts “spiritual rambling” with other approaches to hiking, such as scenic hikes where an experience of landscape is the focus, or a series of other aesthetic encounters that involve hikers’ connection with nature. This book interprets the Appalachian Trail as a site of spiritual journey and those who hike the wilderness trail as contemporary pilgrims. Location: Bosler Memorial Library, 158 W High St, Carlisle, PA 17013 Date/Time: Sunday, March 16th at 1:30pm  Larry Luxenberg, Museum Founder & President Everything related to the Appalachian Trail got overshadowed in late September when Hurricane Helene brought torrential rains to the mountains. Beloved trail towns were inundated and the trail itself had severe damage. For a time, one third of the trail, from Springer Mountain to Shenandoah was closed and use is still discouraged. Only a handful of times in the hundred-year history of the trail has a natural disaster affected the trail so much. The A.T. community will be tested during the lengthy recovery effort.
Events at the A.T. Museum, which completed its 15th season in 2024, were much less dramatic but we made progress in many areas. Still, as we take stock of the year, there is never a shortage of projects to complete before we start a new season in the spring. One of the least understood but most important parts of the Museum is our collection. Museums must maintain a robust collection if they hope to mount new and important exhibits in future years. Items discarded now are lost forever and one never knows what story a curator will want to tell 50 or 100 years from now. Across all museums, about 2 to 3 percent of their collection is on exhibit at any one time. The rest is catalogued and stored for future use. The A.T. Museum has upgraded its storage facilities many times and over the last decade has maintained space in Carlisle. We’ve doubled the Carlisle space in the last few years, and dedicated volunteers, led by Becky, Sandy and Jerry, have carefully catalogued and stored our widely varied collection. Under Becky’s leadership, we obtained a scanner and scanned our extensive trail register collection. The registers are available for viewing at the Museum. The registers are a great source of trail memories, culture and insight into the A.T. community and a valuable resource for academic researchers. This year we grew our collection substantially. Tim Messerich, an A.T. Museum founder, has for thirty years painstakingly built one of the most extensive private collections of A.T. Guidebooks. In the spring I visited Tim and we spent several hours loading his collection into my car to donate. A complete current A.T. Guidebook set numbers only eleven books, but over the years there have been many permutations and editions. By one estimate, more than 500 different guidebooks have been issued by ATC and the trail clubs since the 1930s. It’s not a straightforward task to distinguish between the various editions but under the unique A.T. Museum cataloguing system, Head Librarian Kurt Bodling estimates that the Museum library has more than 200 different editions. Over the years, at various trail events I’ve collected hundreds of items and it’s a rare month that a new package doesn’t arrive at my house. These collection efforts earned me the trail name “Pack Rat” from my friend Noel “The Singing Horseman” DeCavalcante. Despite continual deposits at the Museum, I had accumulated many items at my house. After several years of threatening, I finally rented a box truck, loaded more than 100 boxes, and on Juneteenth, drove to the storage area. My wife, Frieda, knowing that I had no experience driving a truck, volunteered to accompany me. At the storage area, Manager Julie Queen expertly maneuvered the truck to the loading dock and a half dozen volunteers quickly unloaded the truck and brought the contents to our storage area for cataloguing. Frieda and I made it home safely but Frieda wisely decreed that my truck driving days, brief as they were, are over. Later in the summer, Frieda and I visited Hot Springs, N.C., and spent time with trail icon Elmer Hall, proprietor of the Sunnybank Inn and fellow 1980 thru-hikers Jan Coverdale and Lou Schroeder. Elmer came to the trail nearly 50 years ago and has spent most of that time in Hot Springs. We took many Sunnybank Inn items for the Museum collection and spent a few wonderful days in Hot Springs. It has been heartbreaking to hear about the devastation that came to town a month later. Like anyone with stewardship of a historic building, the A.T. Museum deals with maintenance issues ranging from pumping out our septic tanks to roof leaks. This winter we replaced the Old Mill’s gutters to prevent water damage. In the fall a volunteer crew removed the rotten logs in our rampitheater, our outside seating area. We still face a major project, repointing the stones in the walls of the Old Mill. Each year we try to add new exhibits and enhance existing ones. Our most exciting new exhibit in 2024 involved thru-hiker Gary Monk, who carried a hand clicker the length of the trail. By the end of the trail, he tallied more than 80,000 blazes. We’ll have the exhibit’s grand opening next year. This year we inducted the 14th class into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame. Before the induction ceremony, we had a conversation with current and past inductees or their representatives. The 2024 class: Edward B. Ballard, a field coordinator for the National Park Service (NPS), who proposed a protected A.T. corridor; Arno Cammerer, third NPS director, who personally helped Myron Avery develop the initial A.T. route; Raymond Hunt, ATC chair, first data book editor and one heavily involved in land acquisition and A.T. management; and Ron Rosen, a fifty year A.T. volunteer, a leader in acquiring and protecting the Trail in Dutchess County, New York, including the difficult Nuclear Lake section. Brook Lenker, Executive of Keystone Trails Association, was MC. The A.T. Museum continues to be involved in books and publications about the A.T. The Museum, under librarian Kurt Bodling, maintains a collection of 2,662 books, 241 guidebooks, 149 maps, 255 multimedia items such as CDs and DVDs, and 11 periodical titles numbering hundreds of individual issues. Typically, during the season, one serious researcher a month utilizes our collection. Among these have been Washington Post Reporter Lizzie Johnson, who wrote a front-page article on changes in A.T. trail length; Professor Mills Kelly of George Mason University, who was working on several books as well as articles and podcasts; Brian King, longtime ATC staffer and noted A.T. historian; and Ernesto Bastos Viveiros de Castro, a Brazilian park manager working on a doctoral thesis. This year, former Museum Manager and board member Joe Harold published a thriller taking place on the A.T., Hell and High Water: An Appalachian Trail Adventure. A notable addition to A.T. history, Welles Bruce Lobb, a Pennsylvania hiker, published He Was Too Young to Die, about Bob Brugmann, who drowned on the A.T. in 1973 in Clarendon Gorge, Vermont. New board member Ed Riggs continues to write a hiking column for the Gettysburg Times, one of the few hiking columns in any newspaper. This year we lost two long-time board members and added four new members. Noel “the Singing Horseman” DeCavalcante, passed away this summer after 26 years involvement with the Museum. Despite his illness, Noel continued serving on the Hall of Fame Committee and did general Museum work until the end. Ron Bungay retired from the board after many years of service. Ron led our construction crew and every area of the Old Mill and some of Ironmasters reflect his talent and hard work. Our four new board members were all active volunteers for years before joining the board. The four are: Judy Bennett, Jennifer Boag, Ed Riggs and Ed Schoenberger. Robert “Red Wolf o’ da Smoky’s” Croyle continues to put out his monthly electronic newsletter filled with pictures and news about the A.T. Museum and the A.T. He consistently comes up with beautiful pictures and stories that I see nowhere else. Red Wolf also maintains our extensive membership records and recruitment and is in charge of our critical fundraising efforts. Programs continue to be a highlight of the Museum season. A fascinating one in May was the talk by the Netteberg Family. Daughter Juniper “The Beast” was not quite 5 years old when she finished the A.T. In some places she didn’t walk the trail; she ran. Parents Olen and Danae, doctors who worked in the African nation of Chad, tried hard to keep the children entertained on the Trail. Meanwhile, the children got so used to hiking every day that during rest days, they went stir crazy. A truly amazing family. Another engaging talk was by Christine Reed on How to Become a Rugged Outdoorswoman. One of several talks in the shaded picnic grove on the Museum grounds, she led an inspiring discussion of how to achieve your goals. Along with the Earl Shaffer Foundation, the Museum sponsored a storytelling and culture festival in late June. Several dozen people talked about their trail experiences and memories of Earl Shaffer and shared a variety of moving stories. On behalf of the Foundation, David Donaldson presented the Museum with a letter from Earl’s pioneering 1948 thru hike. In the letter, the White Mountain crew recommended “dead heading” Earl through the New Hampshire huts – giving him free food and lodging. On Labor Day Weekend, Greg Cook talked about the experience of being a docent at the Museum while I showed slides and talked about the history of the Museum. The Thru Hiker Class of 1974 had their 50th reunion at the Museum. The upsurge in thru-hiking started in 1973 so these were trail pioneers. The talented duo, Karen and Shannon, of Wander Out Yonder, recorded several talks and Museum events and made them available on their Youtube Channel or on the Museum website. During the winter, Museum Manager Julie Queen took on the Hiker Yearbook along with founder Odie Norman. The Museum will continue Odie’s work of more than a decade to capture each year’s class of hikers that is both a normal Yearbook and not like any other Yearbook. In future years Julie will look for volunteers to help continue the project while staying true to its roots. Visitors to the Museum continue to delight in our pollinator garden along the entrance path and inside the main ramp. The garden continues to fill in and plants meander where they will, according to our Chief Gardener, Ann Bodling. In late summer, the garden was filled with bees and butterflies of many species nectaring on everything that was blooming. The pipevine growing at the top of the ramp once again stole the show when the pipevine swallowtail caterpillars were eating and growing there. Ann plans to do her best to keep the vigorous vine from taking over the museum. Because of a groundhog that has taken up residence near the museum, the variety of plants was somewhat diminished, though the garden was still full and beautiful by late summer. This year, because of the drought, plants were shorter than in some years. Ann finds it always interesting to watch how a garden responds to weather, insects and herbivores and continues to thrive. In the spring she plans to remove some of the individual dominant plants to make way for more variety, particularly earlier blooming species for summer visitors to enjoy and learn from. The Museum has a diverse group of talented volunteers but what makes the enterprise thrive is our two managers, Julie Queen and Missy Shank. Missy completed her fifth year as hostel keeper at Ironmasters Hostel. She began in January 2020, a month before the global Covid pandemic was declared, not an auspicious time to enter the hospitality industry. Missy has enhanced the hostel’s reputation among the trail community and established a welcoming atmosphere. In a sign of a return to normalcy, the Hostel even hosted a few weddings this year. Julie brought years of A.T. involvement to the Museum manager’s position in 2021. She has broadened the Museum’s outreach to the trail community and fostered a close-knit group of engaged volunteers. The Museum manager deals with an extraordinary variety of tasks and Julie handles these tasks with grace and aplomb. Julie continues to attract many talented volunteers and foster camaraderie with monthly volunteer picnics, hikes and other outings and new projects for volunteers. Our dedicated volunteers always delight in the varied and fascinating visitors who come to the Museum each year. The Museum is fortunate to have both leaders as well as our many dedicated volunteers and supporters. We thank our many volunteers and our supporters throughout the trail community and we look forward to another great year in 2025. Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It’s a reminder that the A.T. is still relatively young but has had a remarkable impact around the world. For those in a position to support the Museum’s continued growth and operations, we appreciate any financial contribution. To contribute, please follow THIS LINK or CLICK HERE for our form to print and send in. use the Membership / Donation FORM. The FORM details the listing levels on the permanent June 2027 Museum plaque. All contributions through December 31, 2026, are added together to give a donor their plaque listing level. Your support makes the Museum the success we all enjoy! Sincerely, Larry Luxenberg Museum President, www.atmuseum.org or www.appalachiantrail.museum Contact info: Julie Queen, Museum Manager, 717-486-8126, [email protected] or [email protected] Missy Shank, Ironmasters Manager, 717-486-4108, [email protected] Robert “Red Wolf o’da Smoky’s” Croyle, Museum Membership Secretary, [email protected]  Nominations for the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be accepted through January 31, 2025. The Hall of Fame recognizes those who have made a significant contribution toward establishing and maintaining the approximately 2,190 mile footpath that passes through 14 states from Maine to Georgia.
"The fifteenth class of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame will be inducted in 2025, and nominations are open for Hall of Fame nominees," said Larry Luxenberg, president of the Appalachian Trail Museum – the organization that oversees the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame. "Nominees should be people who have made a significant positive contribution to the Appalachian Trail and who have unselfishly devoted their time, energy and resources toward making the Appalachian Trail a national treasure." 59 individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in the first fourteen years. Their names and biographies can be found on the Museum's website, www.atmuseum.org "These pioneers played critical roles in building, maintaining, protecting and publicizing the Appalachian Trail", Luxenberg said. Nomination criteria and the nominating and selection processes for the 2025 Hall of Fame are: Criteria - Those eligible for inclusion include anyone who has made an exceptional and positive contribution to the Appalachian Trail or Appalachian Trail community. This could be by leadership, inspiration, service, achievement or innovation. This includes, without limitation, pioneers who conceived of and developed the trail; those who organized or directed major trail organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and Appalachian Trail clubs; maintaining clubs; longtime trail maintainers; leaders who promoted and protected the A.T.; hikers who have made significant accomplishments, and other persons who have enriched the culture or community of the Appalachian Trail by their association with it. Eligible persons can be living or deceased. The emphasis will be on persons who have made their contribution to the A.T. over a long period, whether or not they are still active. Eligibility and selection will be determined without regard to race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. Nominations – Nominations will be solicited from throughout the hiking and trails community. The easiest way to submit a nomination is by using the online site https://tinyurl.com/y5tpw6u5 Nominations also may be submitted using the paper nomination form. Copies of the paper form can be obtained at https://tinyurl.com/442wdfcr or by requesting one from the Museum. A nominator need not be a member of any hiking organization to submit a nomination. A nominator may only make one nomination per election cycle. Nominators will be asked to justify their nomination in a brief statement that describes the nominee and why he or she fits the criteria. Deadline for nominations – January 31, 2025. Hall of Fame Committee; Election – An Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Committee has been selected by the Appalachian Trail Museum Board of Directors to supervise the election process. That Committee is chaired by Jim Foster. Other members of the committee are David Field (a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee), Brian King, Gwen Loose, Karen Lutz, Larry Luxenberg (a 2016 inductee), Bill O’Brien and Ron Tipton. The Committee elected six people to the 2011 Charter Class, five to the 2012 Class, five to the 2013 Class, and four each to the classes since then. Announcement and recognition of inductees – Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in early April. They will be inducted at a time and place to be announced. The inductees will be enshrined on an Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Wall of Honor at the Ironmaster’s Mansion, located near the Museum. Located in Pine Grove Furnace State Park and at the midway point of the Appalachian Trail, the Museum is near the Pine Grove General Store on Pennsylvania Route 233. Four new inductees into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame were honored at the A.T. Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held on September 21, 2024. The venue for the event was the Army Heritage Education Center in Carlisle, PA. Emcee for the Induction was Brook Lenker, Executive Director of Keystone Trail Association. The 2023 Hall of Fame class is the late Edward B. Ballard of Washington, DC; the late Arno Cammerer of Arlington, Virginia, the late Raymond Hunt of Kingsport, Tennessee, and Ronald S. Rosen of Poughkeepsie, NY. Although not as well-known as other founders of the Trail, Edward Ballard played a critical role in its design. He was a field coordinator for the National Park Service during the pivotal 1937 Appalachian Trail Conference meeting. With the backing of his close associate Myron Avery, Ballard proposed what became the Appalachian Trailway Agreement among ATC, NPS, the U.S. Forest Service and the thirteen states through which the Trail passes. In that Agreement, he proposed “an Appalachian Trailway”—a buffer strip of land within which the Trail and its surroundings would be protected. We now know this as the A.T. corridor. Although it would take many decades before his dream of a corridor for the Trail became reality, the essence of that agreement continues to this day. He also proposed the chain of overnight shelters or lean-tos roughly a day’s hike apart along the length of the footpath. That system of Trail shelters also continues to this day. Ballard later served in the Pacific during World War II, then as an official with several state park agencies, and finally as a prominent landscape architect. He passed away in 2000. Arno Cammerer has been described as the best friend that the A.T. had in the federal government during its early days. By the 1930s, Cammerer had been at the National Park Service for more than a decade and had recently become its Director. Prior to becoming Director, he worked with Myron Avery to lay out the route of the Trail from Pennsylvania to Georgia. As Director, Cammerer was instrumental in making the Smoky Mountains a national park. He secured funding from his good friend John D. Rockefeller Jr. to acquire land for the park, which secured the route of the Appalachian Trail through that area. When, in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps was created and began building Skyline Drive, Cammerer tasked the CCC with rebuilding the trail in places where the Drive obliterated the original Avery routing. After the Blue Ridge Parkway's construction required the Trail in that area to be rerouted, Cammerer directed the CCC to help with this work as well. When the administrators of Great Smoky Mountains National Park prohibited shelters on the A.T. within that park, Cammerer intervened and got them restored. Arno Cammerer died of a heart attack in 1941. In his honor a mountain in the Smokies is named after him – Mount Cammerer. Dave Startzell, long time Executive Director of ATC, said this of Raymond F. Hunt: “Ray was not a large man, but he was a giant within the A.T. management community.” Ray was the first editor, in 1977, of the annual Appalachian Trail Data Book, a role he continued to perform until his election as ATC Chair. A highly active Trail volunteer with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club, he served a long term on the ATC Board of Managers beginning in 1979 and was especially involved in the publications and land-acquisition programs. His three terms as ATC Chair from 1983 to 1989 were significant ones for building support within congressional appropriations subcommittees for funding to secure a buffer of land around the footpath against development. ATC’s partnership with the National Park Service was also formalized during this time, including the 1984 delegation by that agency to ATC of day-to-day responsibility for managing the Trail lands. This meant that ATC was given most of the same conservation responsibilities that park staff have at other National Park units. Mr. Hunt completed a section-hike of the whole Trail in 1988. He passed away in 2005. Ronald S. Rosen is widely recognized as one of the most effective volunteers in the history of the A.T. He began his involvement in the mid-1970s when he became a maintainer with the New York New Jersey Trail Conference. In 1981 Ron formed and chaired the Dutchess Appalachian Trail Management Committee. Later this Committee’s role was expanded to supervise all of the A.T. in New York east of the Hudson River. Ron led the effort to move the A.T. off the roads in this area to a true trail. Ron developed one of the first Local Management Plans which has become a model for other clubs up and down the AT. Another huge task Ron immersed himself in was the cleanup of a radioactive spill at Nuclear Lake near the path of the Trail. Beyond his work on the Trail in New York, Ron has served in various volunteer administrative roles within ATC. He has served for decades on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership Committee, including terms as its Chair. More recently, Ron served on the committee that developed the A.T. Vista concept, as the successor to the Biennial Conferences. Ron was a leader of the first very successful Vista held in 2023. Ron has been named an Honorary Life Member of ATC.  John "Bodacious" Beaudet Museum Founder & President Larry Luxenberg presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to John Beaudet. Beaudet, known as Bodacious, has carved the hiking sticks for each inductee into the Hall of Fame. A two time A.T. thru-hiker, Bodacious lives in Flag Pond, Tennessee. Additional information about each inductee can be found at the Museum’s website, www.atmuseum.org. The Induction Weekend also featured informal interviews of the 2024 honorees and representatives, along with a guided tour of the Museum. The Induction ceremony and interviews were all recorded. Links to them are available below: Induction: youtu.be/L0pMIcbPdTw Interviews: youtu.be/wIloDIHau4M The A.T. Museum lost a legendary leader today, Noel DeCavalcante, "The Singing Horseman". Noel was one of the Museum's founders and served from the beginning on its Board of Directors. Below are two tributes to Noel. The first is written by Museum Founder & President Larry Luxenberg. The second is by Museum Board member and the Board Secretary, Bill O'Brien. Larry Luxenberg's Remembrance of Noel It is with sadness that I report the passing of longtime Museum Board Member Noel “The Singing Horseman” DeCavalcante in the early hours of Saturday after a long illness. Noel was a close friend of more than 30 years and held a leadership role at the Museum for 26 years, ever since the first proposal for the Museum. During that time, he served the Museum in every conceivable capacity and maintained that tie until the end. After distinguished service in the Air Force for 26 years including combat in Vietnam, Noel retired and thru-hiked the A.T. in 1989 and the following year canoed the Mississippi River. We believe he may have been the first person to canoe the entire river from its recognized main source at Lake Itasca, MN., to the Gulf. We made that claim to the Smithsonian Institution but didn’t follow up. Both adventures are chronicled in my book Walking the Appalachian Trail in the chapter titled The Singing Horseman and the Geek. Noel described both adventures in articles for the Penn State Alumni Magazine, the PennStater. It is an understatement to describe Noel as a proud alumnus of Penn State. Following the two adventures, Noel worked at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for a year on issues of safety for hikers on the trail and was instrumental in the Ridge Runner program. His Ridge Runner uniform and notes are in the Museum collection. In retirement, Noel served as Coordinator of ALDHA from 1995 to 1997 and served multiple terms on the ALDHA Board. He also represented ALDHA on the A.T. Museum Board. In 1998, Noel became one of the founders of the Museum. Over the years he put his rare talent to use to thoroughly analyze a problem from every angle on behalf of the Museum. No major and few minor decisions for the Museum were made without Noel’s analysis and he never had any agenda other than the success of the Museum and never sought credit for his contributions. Noel served on the selection committee of the A.T. Hall of Fame from its first year in 2011. He also served on the committee to select a Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Hall of Fame Banquet. Bill O'Brien's Farewell To The Singing Horseman
One of the longtime movers and shakers in ALDHA died today. A former coordinator (1995-1997) and a force behind the scenes for many many years on behalf of ALDHA and the A.T. Museum, Noel DeCavalcante -- "The Singing Horseman" -- was 86. He thru-hiked in 1989, which is when I first met him on a legendary rainy night at the old Congdon Camp in Vermont. The tiny closed-in cabin had 4 bunks and each one had 2 people apiece. One had a Dalmatian puppy. When I got there as a southbounder, the only room left was the table, which folks cleared off to make room for me. We had all settled in for the night when lights started poking through the lone window of that dark dreary closet. Noel and Chooch had been lollygagging all day from Bascom Lodge picking and eating blueberries when their headlights sent up a round of moans inside the cabin. But there's always room for one more, in this case two more, on a rainy night, so they made their sleeping arrangements on the floor below my table. Between the snoring, the bumping into the table's legs below me and the dog getting sick from eating grass all day, it was quite the memorable night. In the 35 years since that episode, Noel and I always had fond memories of it. He delivered one of the most moving testimonials I have since ever heard, at my first Gathering later that year, and when the two of us thought about running for coordinator in 1995, we had a friendly summit on the steps of the Concord College Union on Saturday night where both of us offered to let the other one run. It was finally decided by the only witness to this summit, a quietly amused Rerun, who simply flipped a coin. Noel won the toss, becoming ALDHA's sixth coordinator. I became his assistant, then succeeded him two years later. It was the beginning of a long, fruitful and fun collaboration that served ALDHA -- and later the A.T. Museum -- well. I will always cherish that trail friendship, arguably one of the most productive trail friendships in ALDHA history, if I don't say so myself, and today I am saying it. He was our counselor, our conscience, our consigliere (Uncle Sam would be proud). The stories and memories will last a lifetime, like the time he drove two thru-hikers to a car dealership in Maryland so they could drive back to North Carolina for a surprise visit on the wedding anniversary of one of the hikers. (He forgot to send her a card, so what else were we supposed to do? I called Noel at ATC headquarters, and he came right out. Noel, you were a life-saver.) Happy trails forever, Horseman. Peace, love & adios. -- Sprained Rice The Appalachian Trail Museum announces that the 2024 Class of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame will be honored at the A.T. Hall of Fame Induction on Saturday, September 21, 2024. The Induction will begin at 1 pm and will be held at the Army Heritage Education Center, located at 950 Soldiers Dr, Carlisle, PA 17013. The induction ceremony will be a free event, but registration is required due to limited space. To register, send an email to [email protected] The induction ceremony will be one of a full schedule of events taking place during the Hall of Fame weekend. The M.C. for the 2024 Banquet will be Brook Lenker. Brook is Executive Director of Keystone Trails Association (KTA). Founded in 1956, KTA promotes, provides, preserves, and protects hiking trails and hiking opportunities in Pennsylvania. KTA is also one of the 30 clubs that maintain the Appalachian Trail. Brook came to KTA in October 2021, bringing decades of service to the environment. He most recently served as the Executive Director of FracTracker Alliance, a national organization addressing the risks of fossil fuel development. Previously, Brook served as Manager of Education and Outreach for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, as Director of Watershed Stewardship with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and as the Recreation Program Director with Dauphin County Parks and Recreation Department. His education includes master’s and bachelor’s degrees in geography and environmental planning from Towson University.
As previously announced, the 2024 Hall of Fame class honorees are the late Edward B. Ballard of Washington, DC; the late Arno Cammerer of Arlington, Virginia, the late Raymond Hunt of Kingsport, Tennessee, and Ronald S. Rosen of Poughkeepsie, NY. |
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