The seventh annual event is the first Stars Over Katahdin since the designation of Katahdin Woods & Waters as the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary on the eastern seaboard.
Continue readingStars Over Katahdin 2020
Announcing the Maine IAT Virtual Hike
Back in January, the Maine IAT Board were planning lots of activities for the coming year. Things like guided hikes and trail work. It goes without saying that these tasks have all been postponed to next year. However, the Maine board never gives up! Announcing the Maine IAT Virtual Hike.
Continue readingDark Skies on the IAT
On May 8, 2020 the International Dark-Sky Association designated Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (including 30 miles of the IAT) as the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary on the eastern seaboard!
Continue readingHead North Ski Days on the IAT
As the winter snows settled over the North Entrance of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and the IAT that crosses the land, not only could birds be heard chirping, but laughter and screams of excited students echoed through the forest.
Continue readingLord Almighty, Look Who’s 90!
Walter Anderson, that’s who! Walter attended his first International Appalachian Trail meeting 15 years ago, at Black’s Lodge in Riley Brook, New Brunswick.
Continue readingDick Anderson’s 85th Birthday
A wonderful group of friends gathered at the old Lunt School in Falmouth, Maine Friday evening, December 13, to celebrate IAT Founder Dick Anderson’s 85th birthday and to wrap up the 25th year of the Trail. John Wasilewski and OceanView hosted and catered the party in the auditorium of the old school, which is now party of the OceanView retirement community. Long-time friend and colleague Elizabeth Swain organized the party for the IAT board, and helped insure a robust turn-out.
The party provided an opportunity to also honor former Governor Joseph Brennan, who celebrated his 85th birthday in early November. Joe met Dick in 1953 at the University of Maine at Orono, and Joe appointed Dick as his Commissioner of the Department of Conservation in 1979.
A slide show of Dick’s life and the development of the IAT played on the big screen while family, friends and colleagues from their days in government congratulated Dick and Joe, and talked about everything from fishing trips and other escapades. Former Director of the Bureau of Parks & Lands Herb Hartman was in full caucus ore with the former Director of the State Planning Office Dick Barringer and the former Governor. The room was filled with constant chatter as old friends, many who had not seen one another for a couple of decades got up to speed with one another’s lives.
IAT champion Eddie Woodin kicked off the speeches with a reminiscence of Dick’s life that hit all the high points, from the early days working for Maine Fish & Game (now Inland Fisheries & Wildlife) on salmon in Sebago Lake, to Directing the Maine Audubon Society, and six years of helping to kickstart the recycling business in Maine before heading to state government.
Dick’s party helped raise over $20,000 for the IAT, with about half heading to the endowment and the other to day-to-day operations. We are grateful for all of the warm regards and financial support as Dick and the IAT head into the new year.
Maine IAT Board Meeting
Maine IAT Board Members gathered on a cold, rainy afternoon in the warm confines of the Common Loon Pub in Orono, Maine to discuss upcoming activities in 2020.
Continue readingThe 25th Celebration Wraps up with a Birthday Party
The IAT Maine Chapter will host a party on the occasion of Dick’s 85th birthday to celebrate all that the International Appalachian Trail has become and all that it will be in the future.
Continue readingWalter Anderson Named Honorary Director
IAT Chief Geologist Walter Anderson is awarded a formal certificate recognizing him as an Honorary Director.
Continue readingTour 150
Sentier NB Trail and the Fredericton Trails Coalition completed the much-anticipated ‘Tour 150’ on Saturday, August 26th, with the aim of bringing representatives of the diverse trail community in New Brunswick to one of Canada’s most trail friendly cities — Fredericton, New Brunswick — to celebrate the completion of Canada’s Great Trail. The Great Trail, envisioned over two decades ago, is the world’s longest continuous trail, tying together the east, west, and Arctic coasts of Canada in a 20,000 mile multi-use system of walkways, bikeways, ski-ways, and paddle-ways.
The International Appalachian Trail has a strong and abiding interest in the success of the trail movement in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada, as the IAT is co-located with sections of the Great Trail in all five Atlantic Canada provinces. IAT Founder Dick Anderson and IAT Maine Board Members Walter Anderson and Don Hudson traveled to Fredericton to help celebrate ‘Tour 150’ and this great day for trails in Canada.
Dick Anderson, David Peterson, Don Hudson
IAT New Brunswick leader and Sentier NB Trail Executive Director Poul Jorgenson was one of the architects of Tour 150, and he was visibly excited to see trail users arrive on the back lawn of the residence of Lieutenant Governor Jocelyne Roy-Vinneau on the banks of the St. John River in Fredericton. They arrived on horseback, on bicycles and muscle-powered scooters, by canoe and kayak, as well as by walking and running. Trail enthusiasts from the four corners of the province were summoned — piped! — to the foot of the grand staircase by a ramrod bag piper in full uniform. Four pieces of a wonderful maple puzzle were delivered, coming together to make a wonderful representation of the province and its grand network of trails. Among the several speakers who warmed up the crowd, Past-President of the Fredericton Trails Coalition and Sentier NB Trail Dave Peterson made special mention in his remarks of the early work in 1994 and 1995 on the IAT in the province. Dave was a member of the original New Brunswick IAT Committee,, and was instrumental in shaping the early vision and route for the trail in the province.
Poul Jorgenson
The IAT Maine contingent was called out by several speakers, including representatives of local and provincial government, provincial agencies, Sentier NB Trail, and the Fredericton Trail Coalition. The Chair of the Board of Sentier NB Trail Jim Fournier sought Dick, Walter, and Don out in the crowd to make a special promise that his organization was committed to completing the IAT in the province, including the original route through the northwest corner of the province and a new southern connection with PEI and Nova Scotia.
Tour 150 was a great celebration of trails in New Brunswick, and the IAT was proud to be represented.
