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The Appalachian Trail Museum is in Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania. Image by Robert T. Kinsey courtesy of Millpictures.com.

Deadline nears for Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame nominations

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

The Appalachian Trail Museum is in Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania. Image by Robert T. Kinsey courtesy of Millpictures.com.
The Appalachian Trail Museum is in Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania. Image by Robert T. Kinsey courtesy of Millpictures.com.
GARDNERS, PA. – Hikers and hiking enthusiasts nationwide have until March 31 to submit nominations for the first inductees into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.

Those eligible for consideration include anyone who has made a major contribution to the Appalachian Trail, or otherwise has advanced the cause of the Appalachian Trail. A list of persons nominated as of Feb. 28 can be viewed at the museum’s website at www.atmuseum.org.

“We encourage folks to continue sending in nominations, regardless of whether the person you’d like to nominate has already been named or not,” said Jim Foster, chairman of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Committee.

The Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame is being established by the Appalachian Trail Museum Society to recognize those who have made a significant contribution toward establishing and maintaining the 2,181-mile footpath that passes through 14 states from Maine to Georgia.

Nominations include pioneers who conceived of and developed the trail; those who organized or directed major trail organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Appalachian Trail maintaining clubs; longtime trail maintainers; leaders who promoted and protected the Appalachian Trail; hikers who have made significant accomplishments, and other persons who have enriched the culture or community of the Appalachian Trail by their association with it.

Nominations may be submitted at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/63PYPCT.

The first class of inductees will be announced at the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet on June 17 at the Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, Pa. The banquet will be a part of the first Appalachian Trail Museum Festival, an event that will celebrate the museum and its opening in June 2010 as the first museum in the United States dedicated to hiking. During its first year, the museum attracted more than 8,000 visitors from 48 states and 18 countries.

Located in Pine Grove Furnace State Park and at the midway point of the Appalachian Trail, the museum is across from the Pine Grove General Store on Pennsylvania Route 233. The museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day and on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. in the spring and fall.