Message from the President
November, 2009
Larry Luxenburg at the Appalachian Trail Museum
These are exciting times for CVATC and the Appalachian Trail Community. In March, we held a very successful Appalachian Trail Open House in Camp Hill, with 240 attending. In June, over 500 greeted the opening of the Appalachian Trail Museum at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. You can find much more information about these events, including pictures, by clicking on the links to these pages above.
I was pleased to play a small role in the opening of the Appalachian Trail Museum. We are extremely lucky to have the country’s only museum devoted to hiking in our backyard. There is, of course, one person without whom this great accomplishment would never have happened; Larry Luxenburg, the Museum’s founder and President. He’s been dreaming of making this come to reality for over a decade. But the Museum is also a great story of how lots of people worked tirelessly toward a common goal. Bruce Dunlavy of our Club helped out with carpentry work. Another member, Bill Speed, did most of the plumbing work. Louise Sis, active in our Club as well as Susquehanna ATC, did much of the painting. Karen Balaban of SATC led the Hike to History prior to the Grand Opening. A crew from SATC took down the Earl Shaffer shelter and assembled it in the Museum. Much of the construction was done by a crew of our colleagues at Potomac ATC. These are only a few of the innumerable contributors. Through it all, the focus has been on getting the job done rather than personal recognition.
Our Club has more and more people coming forward to help us maintain our section of the AT. We are truly lucky to have this world famous footpath passing through our backyard. This fact was brought home to me in April, when I was lucky enough to go on a hiking trip in New Zealand. While tramping (as they call hiking) there, I encountered folks from all over the world. It surprised me that most of them were quite familiar with the Appalachian Trail. Many said they hope to hike it someday.
Many of our Club’s leaders are, like your President, “of a certain age”. That makes sense because as we get older, we have fewer responsibilities in the areas of work and raising children, and thus we have more time to contribute to worthy non-profits like CVATC. But, by no means are all of our active members in the older demographic. One example is Christine Lauriello. Christine leads a very active life raising her young children Katie and TJ, as well as teaching yoga. But she still makes time to serve as our Second Vice President and Membership Coordinator. She’s also active in other worthy causes such as South Middleton Parks and Recreation. Christine and her kids can often be seen hiking the AT in the vicinity of her home. Those who don’t know Christine might think she is a delicate young lady who could be blown over by a stiff breeze. No so. I remember digging water bars with her on a Club workday a while back. She put many bigger, burlier guys to shame as she wielded a mattock and shovel.
Christine is in the vanguard of those who will lead our Club some day when codgers like your President are too old to continue. We are sure it will be in good hands then. I hope Christine'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.
-Jim Foster
