Tin Man
05-04-2006, 21:36
From The Sentinel (http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2006/05/03/news/news20.txt)
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=340 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.cumberlink.com/content/articles/2006/05/03/news/news20.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline>Thru hikers, from left, Eric Jenness, 17, of Huntington, Vt.; Dan Ogburn of Charlotte, N.C.; James Butler of Huntsville, Ala., and Nick Eskelinen of Boston take a break at the Pine Grove Furnace Store. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>‘Angels’ on the trail
By Karla Browne (kbrowne@cumberlink.com), May 3, 2006
Appalachian Trail neighbors are invited to "Join the Journey" — the slogan of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, caretaker for the 2,175-mile footpath.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- AdSys ad not found for news:news_story --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Today Sentinel Reporter Karla Browne concludes a four-part series with a look at local "trail angels" and a vision for inspiring more people to minister to hikers and care for the trail.
A thru hiker with his tent on his back seems a lot like a homeless person to Mary Parry of Duncannon.
Having been "homeless, car-less, job-less," Parry feels her heart go out to them. And she wants to help them the way people once helped her.
Every day during the last five summers — and about three times a week in spring and fall — Parry has set out a cooler of iced drinks and snacks on the trail above Duncannon for thru hikers coming off Hawk Mountain.
Last weekend she began her sixth season by adding a second site — the top of Peters Mountain across the Susquehanna River.
"Usually when they get (to Hawk Mountain), they’re out of water — parched," Parry said. She knows because she talks to them over sandwiches she buys them at Riviera Tavern or The Pub, where she tends bar.
<!--
--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=300 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR></TR><TR><TD>http://www.cumberlink.com/content/articles/2006/05/03/news/news20-1.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline>Duncannon as seen from Hawk Rock overlook on the trail (Submitted photo)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Some years she kept her car stocked with "goodie bags" of candy, cookies, granola bars — whatever she could find that’s cheap. When she spotted a thru hiker, she handed over a bag that always contained her card printed with a prayer that starts, "May the light of God surround you" and ends, "Wherever God is, all is well."
Other Duncannon motorists sometimes pull over and hand a $5 bill to a thru hiker, Parry said.
Hikers made at home
Duncannon resident Steve Fehr is not a hiker, but he compiled a three-inch-thick loose-leaf book from interviews with hundreds of hikers who stopped in Duncannon one summer.
Borough officials also are solidly behind hikers.
Banners that decorate Market Street light posts feature a hiker. Borough officials pitched Duncannon for the site of a proposed trail museum. They helped host a Trail Days festival last summer. And a borough park was the setting for a hiker reunion in June, when hundreds of hikers were fed three meals a day all weekend with donated food. The event is planned for July this year.
When Duncannon resident Angel Sligh coordinated a project to paint a mural on a downtown building last year, a life-sized thru hiker was included in the design.
Duncannon residents are getting behind what Pat and Vickey Kelly have done for years at the Doyle Hotel and tavern on the Duncannon square at Market and Cumberland streets. Long a watering spot lauded in thru hiking trail guides, the Doyle offers cheap rooms, a cozy bar and easy access to Duncannon’s post office, where hikers can mail packages of food and supplies ahead for pickup when they get to town.
Since the Kellys took over the Doyle six years ago, they added free Internet access, a website for hikers’ family members to see their photos, a box for hikers to drop off surplus goods that other hikers might need, a washer and dryer — and warm personal welcomes.
Fehr has been known to buy a beer for a thru hiker at the Doyle or The Pub a block down Market Street.
Sitting on a Pub barstool, Fehr joked, "I could be a section hiker between here and the Doyle" if the trail ran down Market Street instead of a block farther west on High Street.
Getting a ride
The Doyle also is the stop for a daily, free van run during the summer to Mutzabaugh’s Market about a mile up Route 274 from Duncannon. The two miles isn’t far for a thru hiker to detour, but locals say the narrow state road is too dangerous for them to walk, Parry said.
"They hike the whole way here and don’t need to hike to get groceries," market owner Stanley Mutzabaugh said.
Mutzabaugh credits the Kellys at the Doyle for the shuttle idea, which he was all for when they asked him to provide it six years ago.
His employees pitched right in, charting how many hikers come in every year and taking turns driving the van.
"Some employees like going down to pick them up. They get to talk to people, ask about the trail. Of course, the hikers like to talk," Mutzabaugh said.
"Hikers have been a part of Duncannon as long as I can remember," he added. "We’re so used to the people hiking through town, we take them in just like people from the community."
And thru hikers have a name for people like the Kellys, Stanley Mutzabaugh, Steve Fehr and Mary Parry. The hikers call them "trail angels," and their deeds are called "trail magic."
The magic works both ways.
Vickey Kelly said she would not have lasted six years as a bar owner if it weren’t for thru hikers.
"The influx of diverse people keeps us going," she said as she flitted between the bar and heavy wooden tavern tables.
Between serving drinks at the Riviera, Parry said she loves it when a polite young man from the South calls her "Miss Mary." And she recalled when a thru hiker sat at the picnic table in her back yard just staring at his mug because ice seemed like a miracle.
"It’s simple things that thrill them to death."
Wanted: trail friends
A map kiosk outside, friendly employees and a porch swing invite passersby to learn more about the Appalachian Trail, but that is not enough for Karen Lutz, 52, who heads a staff of five at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy regional office in Boiling Springs.
"We need to investigate how local people can help" the trail, Lutz said.
She calls it "friend-raising."
"As the community begins to be aware of what a treasure they have in their backyards, they will support it emotionally and financially."
So last June at Boiling Springs’ annual Foundry Day festivities, the trail office was a hub for activities.
Smokey Bear came by for photo opportunities, a search-and-rescue volunteer and park ranger showed children how to climb with an ascension device, and volunteers handed out club membership applications and newsletters. Those and more events are planned for this year’s Foundry Day June 3.
A partnership with Boiling Springs-based South Middleton School District has incorporated trail outings into its curriculum, and Lutz would like that to be a model for other school districts.
An image of every school child having a jar of pennies on his or her desk for trail donations is part of a vision held by Pam Underhill, the trail’s superintendent at the National Park Service.
Lutz sees the trail as an "outdoor classroom" where lessons in all the natural sciences, geography, creative writing, art and even math can be taught — "particularly where schools are physically located next to the trail," as in Boiling Springs, she said.
Trail volunteers also can champion the trail by making connections with planning agencies and zoning boards, Lutz said.
"We want to do a better job of reaching out to those folks," she said, "even if they never set foot on the trail. We’ve done a really good job of talking to ourselves, but we haven’t done a really good job of engaging our neighbors."
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=340 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.cumberlink.com/content/articles/2006/05/03/news/news20.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline>Thru hikers, from left, Eric Jenness, 17, of Huntington, Vt.; Dan Ogburn of Charlotte, N.C.; James Butler of Huntsville, Ala., and Nick Eskelinen of Boston take a break at the Pine Grove Furnace Store. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>‘Angels’ on the trail
By Karla Browne (kbrowne@cumberlink.com), May 3, 2006
Appalachian Trail neighbors are invited to "Join the Journey" — the slogan of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, caretaker for the 2,175-mile footpath.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- AdSys ad not found for news:news_story --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Today Sentinel Reporter Karla Browne concludes a four-part series with a look at local "trail angels" and a vision for inspiring more people to minister to hikers and care for the trail.
A thru hiker with his tent on his back seems a lot like a homeless person to Mary Parry of Duncannon.
Having been "homeless, car-less, job-less," Parry feels her heart go out to them. And she wants to help them the way people once helped her.
Every day during the last five summers — and about three times a week in spring and fall — Parry has set out a cooler of iced drinks and snacks on the trail above Duncannon for thru hikers coming off Hawk Mountain.
Last weekend she began her sixth season by adding a second site — the top of Peters Mountain across the Susquehanna River.
"Usually when they get (to Hawk Mountain), they’re out of water — parched," Parry said. She knows because she talks to them over sandwiches she buys them at Riviera Tavern or The Pub, where she tends bar.
<!--
--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=300 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR></TR><TR><TD>http://www.cumberlink.com/content/articles/2006/05/03/news/news20-1.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline>Duncannon as seen from Hawk Rock overlook on the trail (Submitted photo)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Some years she kept her car stocked with "goodie bags" of candy, cookies, granola bars — whatever she could find that’s cheap. When she spotted a thru hiker, she handed over a bag that always contained her card printed with a prayer that starts, "May the light of God surround you" and ends, "Wherever God is, all is well."
Other Duncannon motorists sometimes pull over and hand a $5 bill to a thru hiker, Parry said.
Hikers made at home
Duncannon resident Steve Fehr is not a hiker, but he compiled a three-inch-thick loose-leaf book from interviews with hundreds of hikers who stopped in Duncannon one summer.
Borough officials also are solidly behind hikers.
Banners that decorate Market Street light posts feature a hiker. Borough officials pitched Duncannon for the site of a proposed trail museum. They helped host a Trail Days festival last summer. And a borough park was the setting for a hiker reunion in June, when hundreds of hikers were fed three meals a day all weekend with donated food. The event is planned for July this year.
When Duncannon resident Angel Sligh coordinated a project to paint a mural on a downtown building last year, a life-sized thru hiker was included in the design.
Duncannon residents are getting behind what Pat and Vickey Kelly have done for years at the Doyle Hotel and tavern on the Duncannon square at Market and Cumberland streets. Long a watering spot lauded in thru hiking trail guides, the Doyle offers cheap rooms, a cozy bar and easy access to Duncannon’s post office, where hikers can mail packages of food and supplies ahead for pickup when they get to town.
Since the Kellys took over the Doyle six years ago, they added free Internet access, a website for hikers’ family members to see their photos, a box for hikers to drop off surplus goods that other hikers might need, a washer and dryer — and warm personal welcomes.
Fehr has been known to buy a beer for a thru hiker at the Doyle or The Pub a block down Market Street.
Sitting on a Pub barstool, Fehr joked, "I could be a section hiker between here and the Doyle" if the trail ran down Market Street instead of a block farther west on High Street.
Getting a ride
The Doyle also is the stop for a daily, free van run during the summer to Mutzabaugh’s Market about a mile up Route 274 from Duncannon. The two miles isn’t far for a thru hiker to detour, but locals say the narrow state road is too dangerous for them to walk, Parry said.
"They hike the whole way here and don’t need to hike to get groceries," market owner Stanley Mutzabaugh said.
Mutzabaugh credits the Kellys at the Doyle for the shuttle idea, which he was all for when they asked him to provide it six years ago.
His employees pitched right in, charting how many hikers come in every year and taking turns driving the van.
"Some employees like going down to pick them up. They get to talk to people, ask about the trail. Of course, the hikers like to talk," Mutzabaugh said.
"Hikers have been a part of Duncannon as long as I can remember," he added. "We’re so used to the people hiking through town, we take them in just like people from the community."
And thru hikers have a name for people like the Kellys, Stanley Mutzabaugh, Steve Fehr and Mary Parry. The hikers call them "trail angels," and their deeds are called "trail magic."
The magic works both ways.
Vickey Kelly said she would not have lasted six years as a bar owner if it weren’t for thru hikers.
"The influx of diverse people keeps us going," she said as she flitted between the bar and heavy wooden tavern tables.
Between serving drinks at the Riviera, Parry said she loves it when a polite young man from the South calls her "Miss Mary." And she recalled when a thru hiker sat at the picnic table in her back yard just staring at his mug because ice seemed like a miracle.
"It’s simple things that thrill them to death."
Wanted: trail friends
A map kiosk outside, friendly employees and a porch swing invite passersby to learn more about the Appalachian Trail, but that is not enough for Karen Lutz, 52, who heads a staff of five at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy regional office in Boiling Springs.
"We need to investigate how local people can help" the trail, Lutz said.
She calls it "friend-raising."
"As the community begins to be aware of what a treasure they have in their backyards, they will support it emotionally and financially."
So last June at Boiling Springs’ annual Foundry Day festivities, the trail office was a hub for activities.
Smokey Bear came by for photo opportunities, a search-and-rescue volunteer and park ranger showed children how to climb with an ascension device, and volunteers handed out club membership applications and newsletters. Those and more events are planned for this year’s Foundry Day June 3.
A partnership with Boiling Springs-based South Middleton School District has incorporated trail outings into its curriculum, and Lutz would like that to be a model for other school districts.
An image of every school child having a jar of pennies on his or her desk for trail donations is part of a vision held by Pam Underhill, the trail’s superintendent at the National Park Service.
Lutz sees the trail as an "outdoor classroom" where lessons in all the natural sciences, geography, creative writing, art and even math can be taught — "particularly where schools are physically located next to the trail," as in Boiling Springs, she said.
Trail volunteers also can champion the trail by making connections with planning agencies and zoning boards, Lutz said.
"We want to do a better job of reaching out to those folks," she said, "even if they never set foot on the trail. We’ve done a really good job of talking to ourselves, but we haven’t done a really good job of engaging our neighbors."