Appalachian Trail Museum to Open for Third Season on March 31

March 7, 2012 - PRLog -- Visitors to the Appalachian Trail Museum during its upcoming season will enjoy some changes including new information displays on two of the trail’s most celebrated pioneers – Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery.  Mackaye is credited with being the trail’s visionary, and Avery is the person most responsible for making MacKaye’s vision a reality.

“The Appalachian Trail Museum Society always is working to make the museum an interesting and educational experience, and we think keeping exhibits fresh is critical to success during our third season,” said Larry Luxenberg, museum founder and president of the Appalachian Trail Museum Society. “During our first two seasons, the museum welcomed some 20,000 visitors from all but a few states and many countries.”

The museum will officially open for its third season on Saturday, March 31. The 2012 museum hours will be noon to 4 p.m. on weekends from March 31 to Memorial Day; daily from noon to 4 p.m. Memorial Day thru Labor Day, and noon to 4 p.m. weekends from Labor Day to Sunday, November 4.  Extended hours will be scheduled by museum manager  Howard Davis to accommodate group tours and special events at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park, where the museum is located.

Luxenberg said two items planned for the MacKaye-Avery exhibit, in addition to professionally designed and produced information panels, are the typewriter used by Benton MacKaye to advocate for the trail and one of the measuring wheels that Myron Avery used to measure the trail’s entire distance of almost 2,000 miles as he hiked it.  There will be special programs commemorating their accomplishments and a variety of weekend activities that will appeal to all ages and families.  These will include nature hikes, hiking and camping skills presentations/demonstrations, history discussions, storytelling and arts and crafts – all relating to the Appalachian Trail. To make program suggestions or to volunteer as a presenter, contact Howard Davis at atmuseumgreeters@gmail.com or program chair Gwen Loose at gloose@yorkcountytrails.org

A highlight for the 2012 season will be the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Friday, June 8, 2012, at the Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania.   The inductees will be enshrined on an Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Wall of Honor in the Appalachian Trail Museum. Banquet tickets may be obtained through http://atmbanquet2012.eventbrite.com/ -- a secure online site

On Saturday, June 9, to continue the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Weekend, discussions and presentations with Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame honorees or their families and representatives will be held at the museum.   Pine Grove Furnace State Park will have activities planned for June 9, which also is National Get Outdoors Day.

Luxenberg said volunteers are being sought for all aspects of museum operations from greeters and docents to maintenance and landscaping crews to program and hike leaders.  Howard Davis is accepting inquiries at atmuseumgreeters@gmail.com

Located in a 200-year-old, restored grist mill in historic Pine Grove Furnace State Park and at the midway point of the 2,184-mile-long Appalachian Trail, the museum is across from the Pine Grove General Store on scenic Pennsylvania Route 233 in Cumberland County.



About the Appalachian Trail Museum Society                                                                        

The Appalachian Trail Museum Society, a 501-C-3 not-for-profit organization formed in 2002, organizes programs, exhibits, volunteers and fundraising nationwide for the Appalachian Trail Museum.  The museum opened on June 5, 2010, as a tribute to the thousands of men, women and families who have hiked and maintained the 2,184 mile long hiking trail that passes through 14 states from Maine to Georgia. Located in the Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Gardners, Pennsylvania, the museum is conveniently near Carlisle, Gettysburg and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.  Additional information is available at www.atmuseum.org.