Middlesex Township's Heavy Equipment Helps To Construct Trindle Road Parking Lot

It is with mixed feeling that I begin my last Message as your President.  My second term will end on March 31.  Assuming you elect her at our March 5^th membership meeting, Christine Lauriello will take over for me.  I hope you will give Christine the same high levels of support and confidence that you have given to me.  She will certainly deserve it.

I’m pleased that we’ve made some significant strides during my two terms, building on the excellent work of predecessors like Frank Bohn and Melanie Wertz.  We started a new website, www.cvatclub.org, as well as fan pages on Facebook and Google+.  We started a very successful affiliation with the hiking group Day Hikers of Central PA, which has resulted in many new volunteers and members, especially younger ones.  We made a serious effort to reach out to our municipal government partners in the valley.  The best result of this effort was the great partnership with our friends at Middlesex Township.  Their in-kind support was critically important in our successful effort to open a new parking lot at Trindle Road, midway between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle.  Other important partners were the South Mountain Partnership and Mountain Club of Maryland’s Miles Fund, which each gave us monetary grants.  The most important word in all of this is “we”.  I may have played a leadership role in these achievements, but nothing would have happened without your wonderful support.  Thank you.

I’m spotlighting Kevin Shannon as a noteworthy volunteer this time.  Kevin’s involvement with the A.T. goes back a very long ways.  He and his brother, Robert thru-hiked the trail in 1978, just after Kevin had graduated from Penn State with a degree in Environmental Resources Management.  Interestingly, that was the same year that Karen Lutz, director of ATC’s Mid-Atlantic region office in Boiling Springs, also thru-hiked the A.T.  Kevin and Karen have remained friends ever since.  I have in my collection a newspaper article from the Harrisburg Evening News dated July 31, 1978 entitled “Brothers Hike the Trail – All 2,000 Miles”.  It features a much younger Kevin and Robert, along with their old-style external frame packs.

After his thru-hike, Kevin was busy for many years with his job and raising a family.  But, in recent years, Kevin has made time to give back to the trail community.  He has become a fixture at our monthly work days, and joined CVATC’s board of directors a few years ago.  He helps to maintain a section of our trail north of Wertzville Road.  Kevin will stand for election as Vice President at our club’s upcoming membership meeting.  Our club benefits enormously from Kevin’s insights, wisdom and hard work.

I hope Kevin's example inspires you to become more involved with our Club.  If it does, please contact me and I will work with you to find an opportunity that fits your interests and abilities.

By the way, I’m not going anywhere.  The CVATC Board has asked me to stand for election as a Board member.  Also, you’ll probably see me maintaining my section of the A.T. between Sherwood Drive and Wertzville Road.  Take care, and see you soon.

-Jim Foster