Our Volunteer of the Month is Tom George, who has been a very active and dedicated member of our Appalachian Trail maintenance crew led by Dan Schwartz.

Tom has been working every spring since 2015 on the Delaware Valley Chapter's section of the AT, which runs from Wind Gap, PA south to Little Gap. Tom also helped on the roof replacement for the Leroy Smith shelter near Katellan.

What is even more telling about his volunteer spirit is that he drives all the way from Wyoming County, north of Wilkes-Barre, to help us! That certainly makes for a long work day, and Tom does it with professionalism and a touch of humor. He is also a certified sawyer (chain saw operator) with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and has even furthered his knowledge by taking their class in tree felling. Given his experience as a sawyer, he has been a help to our more novice sawyers, giving good trail work tips.

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.

DV Chapter's Jeff Fritzinger, our Leadership Chair, and Barbara Beatrice were presented with AMC's Volunteer Leadership Award at the club's annual meeting on January 26 in Norwood, Mass. Chapter Trails Chair Phil Mulligan received the Warren Hart Award at least 224 hours of trail work in 2018, and Chapter Vice Chair Greg Bernet was presented with the Marian Psychowska Award for at least 96 hours of trail work in the past year.

Since becoming leaders with the Delaware Valley Chapter in 2012, Jeff and Barbara have become energetic and committed leaders within the Chapter and in AMC club wide leadership initiatives. Their work as a team is well respected and always engaging.

They have shared their love of outdoor places, such as the Catskill Mountains, by organizing popular trips in fall, winter, and spring of each year. As the DV Chapter Hiking Chair, Jeff has developed well received workshops on Beginner Hiking Skills and Winter Hiking Skills that have attracted many novice participants to AMC’s outdoor mission. They are scheduled to teach an upcoming community college class on hiking skills. Barbara has organized and led the Chapter’s leader recognition dinner.