APPALACHIAN TRAIL MUSEUM
The Old Mill / Pine Grove State Park, PA
Here are some excerpts from recent letters regarding the A T Museum which I want to pass along :
" 2009: The Year of the Museum Tipping Point
A tipping point can be defined as the time at which a change or effect cannot be stopped.
This was truly a watershed year for the Appalachian Trail Museum. What was at the end of 2008 only an uncertain hope has become a documented reality. We now have a signed lease for the old grist mill along the A.T. in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, with enthusiastic volunteer activity underway. "
" This is an exciting time for The Appalachian Trail Museum. We are in the home stretch before our Grand Opening on National Trails Day, at 11 a.m. June 5, 2010. We will mark the occasion with a grand celebration: a ribbon cutting ceremony, hikes sponsored by local clubs, and interpretative programs with children and families in mind. We will also have booths for interested clubs and organizations.
Currently, we are fixing up the historic 200-year-old Grist Mill and designing exhibits for our new home. The exhibits will feature a hiker center ~in effect a living exhibit~ introducing visitors to the Trail, the Earl Shaffer Shelter, artifacts from other early hikers, a Children's Discovery area, and the 13,000 thru-hiker photos we've digitized over the last year.
Most of the work will be done by volunteers but we need to raise money for construction materials, exhibits, and operating expences.
In true A.T. community fashion, the Museum effort to date has involved hundreds of people showing their support in many ways. If the Museum is to be successful in its mission of preserving the history of the trail and informing new people about the culture of hiking, it requires the Trail community's backing. As an example, on Columbus Day, 48 members of the Appalachian Long Distance Hiker's Association ( ALDHA ), who were meeting in nearby Gettysburg, had a work trip at the Old Mill. The crew scoured the building from top to bottom in preparation for renovation work, which is expected to take place this winter. Many others have volunteered to help with renovation work, to staff the building, or to do programs next year.
Ironically, this success has made the A.T. Museum Society's need for funds all the more acute. While much work will be done by our regiment of volunteers, we will need money to purchase supplies, as well as ready cash for other purposes.
And with a scheduled opening less than seven months away, we need the money fast ! *****
~Exhibits and exhibit housing will need to be constructed and installed.
~Most challenging of all will be the reconstruction of the Earl Shaffer
Shelter inside the Museum. Volunteers will do much of the work, but there will be various related expenses that require cash.
~A variety of internal improvements to the building must be made before approval can be granted for opening it to the public. This work is likely to require some professional services that will need to be hired.
~Once the physical needs have been satisfied there will come all the routine expenses that are required to keep a facility such as this operational ~everything from paper clips to telephone service.
~In addition, as most of us know, there will be the totally unforeseen expenses that are bound to come along. "
In consideration of the vast amount of work that must still be done, combined with the menacingly short time frame available, a traget of $75,000 has been set for this GRAND OPENING FUND DRIVE . Additionally, the giving levels have been revised and expanded :~HIKER LEVEL for a minimum of $50; ~CARETAKER LEVEL for $100; ~TRAIL ANGEL for $250; ~MAINTAINER LEVEL for $500;and ~A2 Society Level for a $1,000 gift . Of course, you can select any other amount that may better fit your circumstances. Donors will be recognized in the Grand Opening Program as well as on a plaque in the Museum. "
Make checks payable to: "Appalachian Trail Museum Society"
Mail them to:Appalachian Trail Museum Society / Rich Evans, Treasurer /
2125 Church Street / Mountain Top, PA 18707
( his email is [email protected]
NOTE: if you prefer to pay online, go to :
http://www.atmuseum.org/fundraising.htm
To make the giving process as painless as possible, we invite you to do either monthly or quarterly payments, and send us your pledge in installments obver a twelve month period.
"A2: THE MISSING LOG. The marquee exhibit for the Museum's Grand Opening will be the Earl Shaffer Shelter from Peters Mouintain in Pennsylvania. The last surviving shelter built by Earl's own hand, this structure was lovingly disassembled by a team of volunteers and stored awaiting eventual reconstruction in the Appalachian Trail Museum. Before this dismantling began,however,each log was marked to identify its position in the shelter to facilitate reassembly when the time came. At the end of the moving day, in the process of putting the logs into storage, it was discovered that log A2 was missing. A search was promptly initiated, continuing into the following day, but to no avail. Despite much subsequent search and speculation, the log's whereabouts remains unknown. ~In acknowledgment of this misfortune the highest giving category ( $1,000 ) has been designated the A2 SOCIETY."
*Follow the fund drive's progress on the Museum Society's web site : http://www.atmuseum.org/
~Robert "Red Wolf o'da Smoky's" Croyle-Membership Secretary
