WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25th: Annual Meeting for the Bennington Appalachian Trail Community - ALL ARE WELCOME
The Bennington Appalachian Trail (A.T.) Community committee is hosting an annual meeting on Wednesday, October 25th at 6 pm. This meeting is open to the public. The committee will provide updates on Bennington Trailfest and other happenings, solicit input, discuss opportunities to get involved. The meeting will be held at the Bennington Fire House multi purpose room on the third floor. The facility is located at 130 River Street in Bennington and is handicap accessible.
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In 2019, a group of Bennington area residents and volunteers came together to pursue an “Appalachian Trail Community™” designation for Bennington. That successful effort culminated in Bennington becoming Vermont’s third town to gain this status, along with Manchester and Norwich. There are 51 communities from Georgia to Maine with this official designation program through the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.We will begin with a presentation about what it means to be an A.T. Community and we will review this year’s Trailfest event, its impact, and solicit feedback and ideas for A.T. Community opportunities for this coming year. We will also hear about outdoor activities and trail stewardship opportunities from our organizational partner, the Bennington Chapter of the Green Mountain Club We will also share more about committee roles and accept nominations for any open committee roles. There will also be a trail-related door prize from the leftover Trailfest goodies!
More than 3 million people visit the A.T. each year across the 14 states it traverses. How can we maximize the benefit to our community by having this designation? What ideas do you have to make Bennington more hiker friendly? What ways can we be leveraging our status as an A.T. community to focus attention on the outdoor recreational resources we have available and build OUR community in the process?
If you are interested in the outdoors, hiking, stewardship of the trail, and improving Bennington as a destination for outdoor recreation, we encourage you to join in the discussion and ideas with us on the 25th. If you cannot attend the meeting, but wish to be involved, email bennatcommunity@gmail.com