Luray And Page County, Virginia Awarded Appalachian Trail Distinction

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), along with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) invites the public to attend the official designation of the town of Luray and Page County, Virginia as the newest Appalachian Trail Community™ on May 11, 2013 at 1:45 p.m. End Quote

Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV (1888PressRelease) April 26, 2013 - The ceremony will be held at the Ruffner Plaza in Luray and is a part of the town's Festival of Spring. This event is free and open to the public.

The Appalachian Trail Community™ is a new program of the ATC, the nonprofit responsible for the management and protection of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). Working with a growing network of trailside community partners, the program recognizes and thanks communities for their part in promoting the A.T. as an important local and national asset as well as an international icon.

"The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is proud to celebrate communities that are helping to protect and promote the Appalachian Trail," said Julie Judkins, Resource Program Manager for the ATC. "These new partnerships will increase local stewardship of public lands, support community initiatives for sustainable economic development and conservation planning as well as support healthy lifestyles for community citizens."

Speakers at this event will be Wendy Janssen, Superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Jim Northup, Superintendent of Shenandoah National Park; Mark Wenger, Executive Director/CEO of the ATC; Barry Presgraves, Mayor of Luray; Douglas Purdham, Mayor of Stanley and Karen Lutz, Regional Director of the ATC.

Honored guests include Bill Rolfe, Interim Administrator of Page County; Dick Hostelley, Vice President of Volunteerism for the PATC and Gretna Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association.

The Festival of Spring event will feature educational presentations on reptiles and demonstrations on buck saw, first aid and fly casting. The event will also feature local artisans, non-profit vendors and plenty of family activities including a duck race, dog Frisbee competition, face painting, a bounce house and a train exhibit.

The ATC was founded in 1925 by volunteers and federal officials working to build a continuous footpath along the Appalachian Mountains. The A.T. is a unit of the National Park System, stretching from Georgia to Maine, at approximately 2,180 miles in length. It is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world. Volunteers typically donate more than 220,000 hours of their time doing trail-related work each year, and about 2 to 3 million visitors walk a portion of the A.T. each year.

For more information about the A.T. Community™ program, visit www.appalachiantrail.org/atcommunity.

About the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy's mission is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail, ensuring that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow and for centuries to come. For more information about the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, visit www.appalachiantrail.org.

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