The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club

Donna Evans
TTEC Training

Homeschoolers, Sterling, VA

2015 TTEC Cohort

July 8, 2015

In preparation for the upcoming TTEC summer workshop in Shepherdstown, WV, I visited the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC), one of many local clubs along the Appalachian Trail tasked with preserving and maintaining this important resource.  The PATC is a volunteer-based organization located in Vienna, Virginia.  It was formed in 1927 to help build and maintain 240 miles of Appalachian Trail stretching from Pine Grove Furnace in Pennsylvania to Rockfish Gap in Virginia (the southern end of Shenandoah Park).  While the PATC still maintains this section of the AT, it also now manages more than 1,000 miles of hiking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region.

During my visit, on July 7^th, Staff Director Edna Baden showed me around the facility.  She spoke very highly of the TTEC program and Karen Lutz and Betty Gatewood who were involved in my training regarding the AT.  Edna gave me and my five year old son, Dean, a tour of the tool room.  We saw the tools used by the many volunteers to maintain the AT.  We saw the paint used to mark trees.  We visited the Board Room and the library which is filled with many fascinating books.  Members can check out these books for up to one month and learn all about the Appalachian Trail and related topics.

It was such a pleasure to meet Edna and other staff members at the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club to discuss ways that volunteers might share in and contribute to the mission of preserving the Appalachian Trail for generations to come.  I hope that I will be able to design helpful materials and make a good contribution towards that end as I participate in the TTEC program and beyond.      

Donna Evans
www.herbaleducator.com