Post-Gathering Work Trip
At the Future Home of the A.T. Museum!The annual work trip after the Gathering will be Monday, Oct. 12 (Columbus Day) at the Old Mill in nearby Pine Grove Furnace State Park, the future home of the Appalachian Trail Museum.
A quick update on the Post-Gathering work trip from "Ready" ...
SEPT. 29: There are 12 people signed up in advance so far, to help out. This is a preliminary figure; and I'm quite certain the numbers will swell well beyond this number. A Sign-Up board will be posted at the Gathering, along with a box for folks to drop off any cleaning supply donations they may wish to make. (We may need volunteers to help gather these together and bring a portion along with them to Pine Grove Furnace State Park on Monday morning.)
I'm hoping our volunteer numbers will be sufficient to do some work at the hostel, as well as at the museum site. I have arranged with the managers of the youth hostel to use the kitchen on Monday -- starting with lunch, and to house anyone who may wish to stay overnight on Monday. Linens, pillows, and blankets will be supplied by the hostel; towels too, I think. Guy and Lorie are offering these amenities at no charge to us. In exchange, they will have a list of chores that they would like to have done as time/personnel permit.
Guy and Lorie will extend the lodging option to anyone who wishes to stay even longer than Monday night, as well. Seems they have some very ambitious projects planned for the season, and more hands would be welcomed! All supplies for the hostel work will be provided by the hostel, by the way, so our donated supplies will be dedicated to the museum project, only.
We will provide a light breakfast (bagels/donuts kind of thing) along with some juice and coffee on Monday morning. Lunch will be provided on Monday. Red Wolf has volunteered to prepare the evening meal for those staying till and through supper on Monday night; I'm sure he'd welcome a sous-chef or two -- and donations of food/$ for food! He may also need a ride to do some shopping on Sunday night; so if this is something you might like to help with, be sure to seek him out. Any goodies that folks wish to contribute (for any meal or snack) will always be welcome, of course!
I will have a screen, projector and some of Spur and my slide shows to show Monday night; if Takoma Tedd is coming, he's almost always up for a little concert entertainment. If you have any slideshows/DVDs to share, please feel free to bring them --- there's always an eager audience for these! The hostel has a remarkably fine collection of magazines, books, and board games for your enjoyment, too. :-) Guy has really done a great deal of research about how the hostel was used as part of the "Underground Railroad," and will happily provide a tour of the building's secret passageways. If you haven't taken one of his tours yet, this is a Don't Miss! chance to do so.
Some folks have asked about Sunday night accommodations..... The campgrounds we'll have been using for the Gathering at Gettysburg will house us Sunday night. If folks are staying in nearby motels/hotels for the Gathering, those same accommodations should be made for Sunday night.
We will meet at the campground pavilion Monday morning. Our "usual" plan of having breakfast at the hostel is not a possibility Monday morning, as a large group from the weekend will still be there in the morning, so instead -- coffee/juice/breakfast will be available at the campgrounds pavilion starting at 7:30 AM. (Bring your own mugs, please!) We will car caravan together to the work site (about 35 minutes away). The plan calls for leaving by 8:15 AM SHARP! so we can all "punch the clock" for work at 9AM. There will be map/directions print-outs available for folks, as well as an opportunity to bum/offer rides to other volunteers.
This is possibly one of the most exciting and will likely be one of the most memorable work trips ever undertaken by ALDHA for a post-Gathering project. We're hoping for a grand turn-out. It's not too late to encourage folks to join in with this wonderful opportunity to make the AT Museum dream a reality! See you in Gettysburg!
From Noel: This is not a "spit shine" type cleanup, but a general cleanup ... sweep the floors real good, some mopping down, get years and years of dust out of there, remove any and all mouse droppings etc, get rid of unwanted "stuff," get the entire place generally straightened up and looking good..
WE NEED YOU to help, and also, regardless of whether you can help, WE NEED YOU to bring/donate the equipment/supplies necessary to clean up this treasure of ours.. What am I talking about ??????? RAGS~~brooms~~RAGS~~ mops~~RAGS~~ buckets~~cleaning fluids and did I mention RAGS~~~ also lots of good old fashion "elbow grease".. Bring all the "cleaning stuff" to the registration area at the Gathering on Friday afternoon and give it to Larry Luxenberg or me~~ and~~if you are able, sign up for the work party at the same time ... Don't worry about bringing too much cleaning stuff, any extra will be stored away for future "GI Parties."
-- Noel
From Ready: Lunch and dinner on Monday will be provided for workers. And if there are enough people on the work trip we will offer to do some work inside the nearby hiker hostel. In fact, if that's the case, there will likely be lodging available for free inside the hiker hostel. Entertainment that night will also be provided inside the hostel.
Things you can bring along on the work trip:
Rags
Face masks (for dust and mouse feces protection)
Cleaning fluids
Mops
Buckets
Brooms
More rags
Scrubbing brushes (Both hand brushes and brushes with a long handle)
Rubber gloves
Paper towels
Large waste baskets
Trash barrel
Large plastic trash bags
Dust pans and brushes
If you know you are coming, by all means let the museum folks know. You can e-mail "Ready" at: readyhiker@yahoo.com.
Back to the Gathering