Since today is "Gene Espy Day" in Macon, Georgia, proclaimed as such by the Mayor of Macon to give honor to Gene for his 1951 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail ( the second thru-hike as recognized by the A. T. C. ), I thought it would be fitting to post this photo taken last June at the Appalachian Trail Museum's Hall of Fame banquet. This first inductee group into the Hall of Fame had only one of the six inductees actually there to receive his ceremonial A. T. Hall of Fame walking stick, Gene Espy ! The other five each had a representative to receive it. Many thanks go to John "Bodaciuos" Beaudet for the excellent, sourwood, cut-out-of the-woods, walking sticks he handcrafted last winter ( I had the pleasure of helping him hunt out a few of them along a dirt and gravel road up on a Tennessee mountain last autumn). It was an auspicious moment the day after the banquet when Gene and I arrived at the Appalachian Trail Museum for Gene's first visit to it; we were met at the door by Larry Luxenberg, Museum President. Indeed, one happy milestone for all of us who have labored and donated to create our A. T. Museum !
From Left to Right: Nancy Ann Shaffer Nofziger (for Earl Shaffer), Dan Garvey (for Ed Garvey), Gene Espy,
ATC Executive Director Dave Startzell (for Benton MacKaye), ATC Chief Operating Officer Steve Paradis (for Arthur Perkins), and PATC President John Hedrick (for Myron Avery).
For more info on some of the various inductees, please go to either of the attachments ~ one has been awhile on our website, www.atmuseum.org. and the other is the recent PDF posted earlier in this Whiteblaze.net thread.
HAPPY TRAILS !
Robert " RW ", A. T. Museum Membership Secretary