Michael Ahern, our volunteer of the month, completed AMC Leadership training in 2017 when he retired from the business world and has become an active hike and bike leader. Mike enjoys multiple outdoor activities including road, mountain, and trail biking in addition to hiking and kayaking. He is also a certified lifeguard, a wilderness first responder and kayak instructor. We are fortunate that Mike shares his love of the outdoors with DV members.

For those of you who are kept up to date by receiving the Weekly Bulletin, you can thank Mike for his volunteer work in helping this message gets to you every week.

During his life off trail, Mike enjoys playing his saxophone at a local coffee bar on amateur nights and spending time with his five grandchildren. Please thank Mike for his service!

Our Volunteer of the Month program was initiated to recognize volunteers nominated by their peers. Chapter members can nominate volunteers by e-mail to recognition@amcdv.org.

The nomination should contain the nominee’s name, reason for the recognition, and name of the nominator. Each nominee name is entered into a random drawing for the Volunteer of the Month recognition. The monthly winners are entered into an annual drawing at the Annual Dinner for a grand prize of a weekend stay at an AMC facility. Nominees must be an AMC member, not a member of the current Executive Committee, and may serve in any volunteer capacity that benefits the Chapter mission in the Delaware Valley area. See the past Volunteers of the Month.

AMC volunteers clean up Monocacy Way

Our volunteers, led by Dan Schwartz. walked five miles along the  the Monocacy Way trail in Bethlehem between Illick's Mill (the AMC office) and Broad St and collecting trash. The walk follows the Monocacy creek past the mill, through the woods, by the Paint Mill Pond which usually has swans, past the Burnside Plantation and down into the center of Bethlehem.

Twenty students graduated from the DV Outdoor Leadership Training course this past weekend. They were an interested and enthusiastic group of people who should be a most welcome addition to the DV leadership ranks when they complete their co-leads in the coming weeks.

If you or anyone you know would be good potential AMC leaders, but were unable to attend this past weekend's event, the NY-No. Jersey Chapter's Outdoor Leadership Training course will take place at the Harriman Outdoor Center on the weekend of May 18-20, and that they may become DV Chapter leaders by attending that course and doing their two required co-leads with the DV Chapter. Click here for more information.

Appalachian Trail work: Delps to Ski Area Cutoff, March 31

Our crew clears deadfalls and keeps the route open ... more photos.

Phil Mulligan and David Stein were 2017 top leaders, with 69 and 68 leads respectively, while Jane Richter and Joan Aichele were the year's top participants, logging more than a thousand miles each. Click here for the complete list.

They were among our many leaders and participants honored at this year's activities social and gear swap, held March 11 in New Hope.

The event was a great time to connect with friends and to celebrate over dinner the achievements of our members who completed more than 100 activity miles during 2017. We also honored leaders who led more than four events during the year and they are shown here with their new blaze orange fleece hats.