Visit our Social Sites or drop us an email:
Appalachian Trail Museum
  • Welcome
    • Directions, Lodging and Shuttles
  • About, Hours, etc.
    • Contact the Museum
    • Affiliates and Friends
    • Board of Directors & Staff
    • Corporate Governance
    • Hiking Around The Museum
  • Museum Store
  • The Hiker Yearbook
  • Banquet
  • News
  • Ironmasters
    • Ironmasters FAQs
    • Amenities
    • Hostel Rates
    • Private Guest Suite
    • Ironmasters History
  • Hall of Fame
    • 2024 Class
    • 2023 Class
    • 2022 Class
    • 2021 Class
    • 2020 Class
    • 2019 Class
    • 2018 Class
    • 2017 Class
    • 2016 Class
    • 2015 Class
    • 2014 Class
    • 2013 Class
    • 2012 Class
    • 2011 Charter Class
  • Online Museum
    • Research Library >
      • Appalachian Trail Museum Digital Library
      • Rules of Use
      • Research Contact
    • The Latest Buzz
    • A.T. History by Tom Johnson
    • A.T. Childrens Museum
    • Feature Articles
    • Select Trail Stories
    • Journal Project
    • Shelter Registers and Vintage Guides
    • Hiker Years - Exhibits
    • Photo Collections >
      • Class Photos
      • Individual Hiker Collections
      • Hall of Fame
      • Vintage Location Photos
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Volunteer
    • Make a Bequest
    • Join; Make A Contribution
  • Thru-hiker Photos
  • Videos

2025 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

3/30/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.
0 Comments

A.T. Museum Announces Date, Venue and M.C. For 2025 Hall of Fame Banquet

3/6/2025

0 Comments

 
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.
Picture
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. 
Picture
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.

0 Comments

    AT Museum News

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    December 2024
    September 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    Appalachian Trail
    AT
    AT Museum
    Children's Exhibits
    Grandma Gatewood
    HOF
    Mysteries At The Museum
    Photos
    Travel Channel

    RSS Feed

Home

About

Store

News

Contact

Copyright © Appalachian Trail Museum, Inc.