Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We had a great time over the weekend, welcoming over 100 people, many for the first time, to our little fire tower. We stayed from Saturday morning till Monday afternoon, and encountered a wide variety of people and conditions.
For instance:
"Where is the garbage pail?"
A doe in the clearing, while people and dogs gawked.
2 snowshoe hares playing with each other
A wicked thunderstorm!
Too many warblers and other birds to remember.
Delicious cold water from the spring after doing trail work!
A couple who started their hike up to the tower from Claryville! (Look it up!)
Kids from 1 to 81!
Lots of great conversations, including one couple who discovered that lean-to's exist!
The most memorable moment, (maybe of all the times I've volunteered), was when a 9-year old girl and her father came up late in the day. They had done Red Hill, Tremper, Overlook, Hunter and BLM all in 4 days! The Dad told me he had to push his daughter a little for BLM, but the reward was ice cream! She and her father were doing the ADK Fire Tower Challenge, and they were almost done. She noticed that I had 2 Smokey The Bear pins on my uniform and commented that she collected pins. For some reason, I decided that giving her a Smokey The Bear sticker was just not going to be good enough. I took off one of the pins and gave it to her. She gave me a priceless look of shock and surprise! A little while later, her Dad's cell phone rang, and it was Mom, checking in. Dad gave the phone to the girl who said something like, "Mom! He took a pin off his uniform and GAVE IT TO ME!" In spite of the fact that they were nearing the end of the Fire Tower Challenge, they had met relatively few volunteers. I think this made her day, her weekend, her - who knows.... ??
For instance:
"Where is the garbage pail?"
A doe in the clearing, while people and dogs gawked.
2 snowshoe hares playing with each other
A wicked thunderstorm!
Too many warblers and other birds to remember.
Delicious cold water from the spring after doing trail work!
A couple who started their hike up to the tower from Claryville!
(Look it up!)Kids from 1 to 81!
Lots of great conversations, including one couple who discovered that lean-to's exist!
The most memorable moment, (maybe of all the times I've volunteered), was when a 9-year old girl and her father came up late in the day. They had done Red Hill, Tremper, Overlook, Hunter and BLM all in 4 days! The Dad told me he had to push his daughter a little for BLM, but the reward was ice cream!
She and her father were doing the ADK Fire Tower Challenge, and they were almost done. She noticed that I had 2 Smokey The Bear pins on my uniform and commented that she collected pins. For some reason, I decided that giving her a Smokey The Bear sticker was just not going to be good enough. I took off one of the pins and gave it to her. She gave me a priceless look of shock and surprise! A little while later, her Dad's cell phone rang, and it was Mom, checking in. Dad gave the phone to the girl who said something like, "Mom! He took a pin off his uniform and GAVE IT TO ME!" In spite of the fact that they were nearing the end of the Fire Tower Challenge, they had met relatively few volunteers. I think this made her day, her weekend, her - who knows.... ?? 
