The Gathering

Friday Night

The 29^th annual Gathering will convene on October 15, 16 and 17 on the campus of Concord University in Athens, W.Va. Camping will once again be provided at the Appalachian South Folklife Center up the road in Pipestem, W.Va.

We open our Gatherings on Friday evening with introductions, hiker testimonials and a roll call of AT class years. For the AT Class of 2010, this is your Homecoming and the first time you will be recognized for what you have accomplished by your peers! Then we will have a Social Hour for catching up with your hiking friends.

Saturday Night

We are showing “Trail Angels” a film by Daniel Peddle. “Trail Angels” is an inspirational and thought provoking trail documentary that focuses not on hikers or the trail itself, but on three well know Trail Angels in the AT hiking community ( Mala, Miss Janet, and Trail Angel Mary) and one hiker with ties to all three (Baltimore Jack Tarlin). Daniel’s film examines the pasts and motivations of all four while showing how they do what they do.

Sunday:

Our Annual Meeting

This meeting features reports from all of ALDHA’s Officer’s and affiliated organizations.

And this is where we elect the officer’s for the next term.

Offices up for Election:

Membership Secretary. The membership secretary shall keep the membership list of the corporation, shall record applications for membership, payment of dues, renewal of membership and expiration of membership, shall keep up to date the address and telephone numbers of the members in a directory and shall distribute the directory to the members, and shall perform all duties incident with the office of membership secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the coordinator or board of directors.

Treasurer. The treasurer shall have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and other financial instruments and financial records of the corporation, receive and give receipts for disbursements, and deposit all monies in the name of the corporation in such banks and other financial institutions as shall be selected in accordance with these Bylaws. The treasurer shall perform all duties incident to the office of treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to or her by the coordinator or board of directors.

Members-at-Large. (Four positions open) Members-at-large will attend all meetings during the Gathering and the Spring Meeting. Volunteer for the various tasks to help the coordinator and help with the decisions necessary for the organization to continue.

Program Coordinator and Facilities Coordinator for the 2011 Gathering

Sunday Evening Program

TBA

Other Presentations

Appalachian Trail Workshops for all the dreamers out there who want to prepare for their first thru-hike. Jack “ Baltimore Jack” Tarlin, will share his thoughts on planning and hiking the trail. The class of 2010, who have just finished the trail will be on hand to sit down and discuss all your questions.

Pacific Crest Trail Work Shop will be chaired by Shane “Jester” O’Donnell.

“Leave no Trace” will be discussed by Laurie Potteiger.

Trail Maintenance is being covered by Bob Peoples.

Appalachian Trail Museum Symposium and Silent Auction

The Appalachian Trail Museum will present its annual symposium at this year’s Gathering. This year the focus will be on the Great Eastern Trail and will feature a progress report by Lloyd MacAskill, who has been one of the main organizers of the trail, which is a long distance route west of the AT.

There will also be an open meeting of the AT Museum Society. It will include an open forum to get suggestions for the museum and discuss future plans.

Also returning this Fall will be another silent auction to benefit the Appalachian Trail Museum. If you have anything you would like to contribute for the auction, contact Larry directly at Luxenberg@lexingtonave.com.

Sunrise service

Sunday morning at 7 a.m. we will gather in the chapel at the Folklife Center for our annual sunrise service. All are welcome; it’s non-denominational and relies heavily on group participation. At some point during the service, the sun is usually visible as it rises, and you will appreciate how this rustic chapel was designed, particularly the placement of the windows. This year Kip Ridick will lead the services.

Annual Apple Contest

Sue “ Mama Lipton” Spring and Tom “Flatlander” Evans are inviting everyone to bring in their apples and apple pies to be judged in the following categories:

Best Overall Apple – the judges to decide…
Grandest Apple – a combination of size and weight
Best Apple Pie – A New Category… the judges will decide which one is the best.

(Wouldn’t you like to judge this one? Just see them to volunteer)

The prizes for each of the above categories are:

1. Camelbak Rim Runner Daypack with hydration system

2. Nikwax (3) waterproofing/cleaning leather/clothing products

3. MSR Hydromedary (2) liter hydration system

Bring Your Photos

Earl Shaffer Memorial Photo Contest

The photo contest is named in honor of Earl Shaffer, the first Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker. A pioneer of trail photography, he was among the first to photograph the trail using color film. Earl’s slideshow chronicling the first thru-hike has been seen by thousands (and is available on DVD from www.earlshaffer.com)

This year the five categories are as follows:

1. Beauty and Grandeur of the Appalachian Trail

2. Beauty and Grandeur of any other trail

3. Trail Humor

4. Wildlife on the Trail (flora and fauna)

5. The Trail Community: Building, Maintaining and Enjoying the Trail

Prizes: Five winners will each receive a Canon Pixma MP270, the compact and stylish All-In-One that prints, copies and scans; it can even edit and print photos without a computer. There will be many additional, wonderful prizes awarded in each category. (If you would like to donate prizes for the contest, contact Ready at readyhiker@yahoo.com)

Guidelines: Bring your photo(s) to Hiker Central – the earlier, the better. The Gallery will be open Friday. Enter as many as 5 trail photos, maximum size 8x11, matted or unmatted, but not framed. Winners will be announced after the Saturday evening presentation. Winners should make arrangements to collect their prizes then, or right after Sunday’s Business Meeting. So that everyone gets a chance to enjoy all the photos throughout the Gathering and beyond, please do not remove your photos from the Gallery! Upon entering your photo, it becomes the property of ALDHA. Any photo, whether winning entry or not, may be used in future ALDHA or ATC publications. (For example, the cover of the 2010 ALDHA Directory sports one of Don “Cruiser” Aldworth’s beautiful photos from last year’s contest!) The Photo Contest is sponsored by the Earl Shaffer Foundation and will be coordinated by Ready, current Foundation president.

Memorial Wall

We will again dedicate a Gathering Wall to those members of ALDHA who are not in attendance, some in memory. Bring a photo of an ALDHA member who will not be with us this year so that they may participate in their own way.

ATC’s Ultimate Trail Store

ATC will bring their Ultimate Trail Store to Concord College. You will be able to find plenty of trail related merchandise

Hiker Fair

Vendors will set up their wares for you to browse and buy. Vendors need to contact Sue “Leapfrog” Williams at swillsing@gmail.com.

Companion

Robert “Sly” Sylvester, will meet with all of the guide book and field editors for lunch at the Subway on Saturday. Anyone wishing to help with the Companion is welcome to come.

Information:

Among the services you can expect to find at ALDHA Central will be the following:

Registration Desk where you can pay your dues and Gathering registration fees, and pick up your program and registration packet.
ALDHA Membership Desk where you can check to see if we have all of your information correct in our database. We hope to turn around the information culled from this year’s registrations and publish a 2011 directory.
Lost and found: if you lost it, check here. If you found something, leave it here for the owner to come and claim it.
Message Board: Looking to hook up with an old trail friend? Post a stick-it note here and we’ll help you contact that person.
Ride Board: need to hitch a ride home? Or looking for someone to share the driving expenses? Leave a note here to help find each other.
Program Changes: Check here for info on room changes, new programs added, and any programs that have been cancelled.
Gathering Wall and Photo Contest: Photos can be dropped off here for both events, and we will post to the Gathering Wall here (see above).
Monday’s Work Trip sign-up and information

Volunteers always welcome

The Fall 2010 Gathering will be ALDHA’s 29^th anniversary get-together and we want to make it something special. With your help, we’ll be able to do just that.

Program coordinator Ray “Otto” Douglas needs volunteers in a number of other areas as well, Namely:

Workshops: If you want to do a workshop or slide show, we have some useful tips on how to make that happen.

If you are planning to do a workshop this year, please note that the program coordinator prefers that you provide your own video equipment. In other words, it’s BYOP, bring your own projector.

Registration Desk: Help sign in folks and make sure all their questions are answered. Contact Membership Secretary, Mara “Stitches” Factor, who will be coordinating the desk this year.

Support Crews: These folks provide an invaluable service just by running chores, setting up signs on meeting rooms, removing those signs afterward, chasing down projectors and extension cords for workshops, and being available to handle other emergencies.

Campfire: The Friday and Saturday night campfires at the campsite need a few reliable volunteers to make sure the wood and fire ring are ready for action on both nights and the area is cleaned up before everyone leaves on Sunday. Remember: Quiet hours at every ALDHA Gathering begins at 1:00 a.m. please be respectful to those who wish to sleep.

Video Deejay: If someone would like to coordinate the playing of video tapes for our weekend-long lineup of trail related videos that would be a huge help. They are shown in the same location at different times. Your job is to make sure it happens on schedule.

Trail work trip opportunity

We are working with ATC to build new trail at the New River Relocation up Peter’s Mountain. Experience is not necessary, but your help is needed. We will leave the Folklife Center on Monday morning, October 18^th and drive to the site. We will work on the trail for the day. ALDHA will provide lunch and snacks. There is parking near the site, and there will be a camping area Monday night for those who want to stay and leave on Tuesday morning. Tools will be supplied, but we recommend that you bring gloves, long pants, long sleeved shirts, and sturdy shoes and to bring water. Please sign up at Hiker Central. Questions? Talk to Mike Wingeart “Wing-Heart”.

Registration

To pre-register for the Gathering, fill out a copy of the registration form mail it no later than Sept. 24, 2010, to ALDHA, 10 Benning ST., PMB 224, West Lebanon, N.H 03784. After Sept. 24 please wait until you show up at the Gathering to register (it’s still the same price!)

The Gathering costs $10.00 per person. A one year membership in ALDHA is $10.00. Members receive a copy of the Annual Membership Directory, and four Newsletters over the course of the year.

Please follow the links for membership for further explanation of the fees.

Directions to the Gathering

From Interstate 64 – Take the Sandstone exit (No 139) and follow Rt. 20 South through Hinton. The turnoff for camping at the Folklife Center is on the left, about 22 miles from the exit. Look for our signs pointing the way to a left turn onto Indian Ridge Road, and then another sign about 0.5 mile later at a hairpin turn on the left, pointing the way to the Folklife Center. Make the hairpin turn, and the Folklife Center will come up in another 0.9 miles on your right. Please drive slowly, because these are narrow country roads.

Concord College in Athens, where all meetings will take place, is about 9 miles down Rt. 20 from Pipestem. At the traffic light in the center of town, turn left onto Vermillion Street, and in about a mile the campus will appear on your left. Please park in back of the building.

From Interstate 77 – Take the Athens Road exit (No. 14) and head East toward Rt. 20, which you will reach in about 2-1/2 miles. At the intersection, turn left (North) onto Rt. 20. In about 2 miles, when you come to your first (and only) traffic light in the center of Athens, turn right onto Vermillion Street. Concord College is about 1 mile down this road on your left. Please park in the back of the buildings.

The Folklife Center, where camping is available for free, is about 9 miles from campus. Go North onto Rt. 20 at the traffic for about 7-1/2 miles, and about 300 yards past the entrance to Pipestem State Park, turn right onto Indian Ridge Road. Go straight for about 0.5 mile and look for our signs pointing down a hairpin left turn. Make the left turn, and the Folklife Center will come up in another 0.9 mile on the right.

From Route 460 – Get onto I-77 North at Exit 9 and follow the directions from I-77 above.

***NOTE:

Large RV’s will have a tight squeeze on these roads, as well as at the entrance to the Folklife Center. Please drive carefully and make room for oncoming traffic. It might be better for those large RV’s to setup at Pipestem State Park; however there will be fees there. (See Below)

Online Ride Board
If you have room for a rider and want to help out a fellow hiker, or if you need a ride to get to the Gathering, follow the directions on this page and we’ll try to facilitate your search.

Camping and Accommodations:

Camping at the Folklife Center

Camping at the Folklife Center is fun and a great place to meet up with old hikin’ buddies and it’s free. You can set up your tent pretty much where ever you want outside of the parking area, if you aren’t sure of a spot, ask someone that is sure. Camping is free Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when you pay your registration fee or if you are an active thru-hiker. If you come early or stay late it is $5.00 per night per tent extra… honor system… Pay Noel Decavalcante, “The Singing Horseman”. Please don’t come earlier than Wednesday before the Gathering or stay later than Monday after the Gathering.

Bathroom facilities are available in the main building and there are several port-a-potties for you to use. Camping over the hill could be a little noisy at night; the bonfire is up there, so it makes sense that the further you are from the bonfire the quieter it will be. Although some of us are loud snorers. The main building, or dining hall as it is sometimes referred to, is a great place to hang out, get a fire going in the fireplace. It is open all weekend for your use and as a meeting place. The Center often has soup for sale and you can usually find a cup of coffee, a donation is always appreciated… The policy at the Folklife Center is no alcohol, please respect their rules.

There are beds available in the three bunkhouses at the Folklife Center. It is $12.00 per night per bed; you furnish your own sleeping bag. Electricity and bathroom facilities are available for those paying customers that sleep in the bunkhouses. Rooms are for the older folks, those that have special needs, handicapped, and/or ALDHA Board of Directors. You also must be a current member of ALDHA and registered for the Gathering to be eligible to stay in the bunkhouse…Remember no booze or smoking…If you have any questions about the Folklife Center in general or if you want to make bunkhouse reservations ahead of time, and it is wise to do so, e-mail Noel at noeldecav@aol.com or call him at 321-253-3826. Pay Noel when you arrive, your bed will have a reserved sign on it. C U at Pipestem.

Our policy at the Folklife Center has always been to observe quiet hours from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. Please be respectful.

Pipestem State Park: Open year round. Call 1-800-225-5982, or 304-466-1800, for information, or www.pipestemresort.com for rates and details and policies. They do not take reservations at this time of the year and it is first come, first served. They have full hookup sites, electric only sites and no hookup sites.

Motels in Princeton, W.Va.: There are a number to choose from. For the best and quickest way to find out more information, visit the free web site of Hotels-Guides.US at www.hotel-guides.us/west-virginia/princeton-wv-hotels.html.