The Appie Award is given yearly to the member who, in an outstanding manner, exemplifies the mission of the Appalachian Mountain Club. This year’s Appie award was given to Katie Reeves. Katie is a knowledgeable and welcoming hike leader who clearly loves the outdoors, and loves sharing it with others. She is enthusiastic, quick to volunteer, and has a love for exploring new places. The Narragansett Chapter is very fortunate to have her.
The John Clark Service Award is given to the “unsung hero” of our chapter. Someone who quietly goes about his or her business of contributing to the chapter. This year, the John Clark award was given to David Toohey. While somewhat new to the Narragansett chapter, David has shown a keen interest in volunteering as much as possible with the Narragansett Restoration Project, and along the Tippecansett Trail. Since his involvement, David has become a Trail Adopter and often does trail work solo as well as with the trails committee.
Golden Appie of the Year: The Golden Appie award recognizes outstanding sustained commitment of service to the chapter. The Golden Appie was presented to Jim Swanberg, for his dedication to the chapter and for serving as the Narragansett Chapter’s chair of the Northern Hikes committee. This committee involves a substantial amount of time and commitment, and involvement in this committee is the only way the Narragansett chapter can host events north of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Jim became a northern hikes leader in 2017 and restarted the Narragansett chapter’s backpacking program by hosting workshops and leading trips. By 2019, Jim had stepped into the role as chair of the Northern hikes committee. Jim recently stepped down from the chair role this month, and we wish him very well.
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