[at-l] RE: The ATC

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C)]

In '93 I saw several black youth groups, which appeared to be mostly inner city kids, but only one adult black on the trail. And that was in New Hampshire.

Unlike most maintaining clubs, MATC is strictly a working group. We have no social hikes. We just maintain trails. The hiking contingent in Maine is the Maine Chapter, AMC, which does only minimal trail work.

35 years ago during the first flush of environmental awareness, a young Bowdoin College chemistry professor took over as president of MATC. He was sort of an interim president, awaiting the return of Dave Field from graduate school in the midwest.

The consensus among environmental groups was that the professor was wasting his efforts, that MATC was a dying organization, since it had no young people. Well we are still going strong and we still have no young people.

I think there are cycles in human activities. Younger people with young families tend not to get involved in such activities -- or if they do, it is with their own spouses and kids.

REcently someone made the complaint again about the lack of MATC young members. I looked around the room and thought, "they're right. There's me and no one else." Then I remembered.

Weary