Allentown Hiking Club hike leaders must:

An Allentown Hiking Club History
by Barbara L. Wiemann

In the summer of 1931, Elwood S. Thomas, a member of the Allentown School Board, visited Europe, where he was impressed with the vigor of Europeans who walked and hiked. Upon his return to Allentown, he advocated for the formation of a hiking group to introduce the benefits of hiking to the residents of his home city.

In response to his enthusiasm, the Allentown Recreation Commission, under the leadership of Irene Welty, formally issued an invitation to local citizens to meet on Wednesday, December 2, at City Hall to organize a hiking group. 23 people attended. In what was obviously a busy and productive meeting, the attendees

The club's first hike, led by Irene Welty, went to the Pinnacle on December 6. Club attendance records indicate that 18 members and 6 visitors participated in the outing. The club kept detailed records of attendance at all hike; Clarissa Krommes was recognized as the member who attended the most hikes during 1932.

Judging from the minutes of the monthly meetings, one of the most vexing concerns was arranging transportation for hikers. In January 1932, after a lengthy discussion, members voted to charge everyone attending a hike ten cents, which would be placed in a gasoline fund. The issue was revisited at the next two meetings. In March, members decided to discontinue the gasoline fund and secure a truck and driver for $5.50, for which amount he would "transport hikers for a distance of fifty-seven miles." In September, members decided to revert to using members' cars for transportation, and in January 1933 the minutes note that "on all hikes where machines are required, a box be put at a place of convenience, for all to contribute what they like, and the total to be distributed equally among the car drivers."

The club soon added activities that continue to this time. Speakers and programs enhanced meetings. Club vice president Charles Wisely presented a talk outlining a hiker's duties. Other presentations included an amusing talk entitled "Reflections on an Amateur Hiker‚" and a first aid presentation. An annual banquet was approved. And at the annual meeting in December 1936, the Club named its first honorary members: Elwood Thomas, Ernest Ashley, Frank Beary, Percy B. Ruhe, and Myron Avery.

John Leibig was elected President in 1933 and served for five years. Leibig began a regular newspaper column "With the Hikers" for the Allentown newspaper. Hand drawn maps of the hike routes were included. In addition to this external publicity, the club began a mimeographed official members publication entitled the "Trail-O-Gram." It included hike listings, recaps of past events, trail news, articles of interest to hikers, and hiker humor.

In September 1932 the club appointed Walter Benning as the club's first Supervisor of Trails. He would be responsible for organizing the work parties needed to keep the club's Appalachian Trail section cleared. In January 1935, E. M. Zimmerman and Louis Haas of the Appalachian Trail Conference attended the club meeting and Zimmerman presented a talk on the Appalachian Trail. The Club voted to become a dues paying member of the Appalachian Trail Conference and decided to embark on an ambitious new project: building a "cabin" on the Appalachian Trail.

On Dec. 2, 1941, when the Allentown Hiking Club celebrated its 10th anniversary, the club was a flourishing organization, with a full hike schedule, a well maintained section of the Appalachian Trail, and a recently constructed shelter. But World War II would change that. Men (and some women) went off to war and women took jobs outside the home and planted victory gardens. Time and energy for leisure activities were at a premium; gas and rubber were rationed, and transportation for hikes was difficult to obtain.

The last wartime schedule in the club archives, for May 1943, lists two afternoon hikes, both led by women and requiring no driving. Participants walked to South Mountain and along the Lehigh Parkway. Sometime after this date, the Allentown Hiking Club suspended activities for the "duration."

The hiatus lasted longer than anticipated. For reasons that are not explained in any club records, the club was not officially reorganized until January 1954. However, club members apparently did get together and hike informally, since there is a 1946 picture in the archives, taken at Hickory Run State.

In January 1954, the Allentown papers carried news articles announcing an Allentown Hiking Club reorganization meeting to be held February 4 at City Hall; anyone age 17 or older was invited to join. Twelve hikers attended the initial February 14 hike; at least one of those hikers, Merritt Zimmerman, is still a club member 52 years later. The reorganized club quickly re-established past practices and activities. In March, a quarterly schedule was assembled and newly elected club president Dale Beach offered a slide program. A social committee was established and in June, when the club held a picnic, records show that 34 people had paid the $1.00 per year dues, one third of the way toward the goal of 100 members that had been set at the February meeting. Club emblems (patches) were designed.

Members also quickly focused on the club's Appalachian Trail responsibilities. On March 28, the club hiked to the Allentown Shelter, then almost 20 years old. The trail and shelter seems to have survived the hiatus rather well; most likely, individual members had undertaken the responsibility of performing maintenance during the previous decade. Paint for blazing became a regular club expense. Shelter repairs were made in 1957, and in 1961 bunks were built by Explorer Post 107 and installed, so backpackers no longer had to sleep on the dirt floor. [The 1969 date given in the previous installment was a typographical error.]

Publicity in the Allentown papers and hike announcements on WKAP promoted club activities. By 1958, increasing club membership supported double hikes (two hikes, one longer, one shorter, on the same day). Weekend trips became a schedule staple. Destinations included the Catskills, Clarks Valley on the Appalachian Trail, and the Jersey shore. A hike with the Blue Mountain Club to Hidden Lake (Sunfish Pond) in November 1954 was followed by many other joint outings.

On November 12, 1956, AHC hosted 140 hikers from six other clubs (Alpine Club of Williamsport, Batona of Philadelphia, Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing of Berks County, Reading Hiking Club, Susquehanna Trailers of Wilkes-Barre, and the Wilmington Trail Club) in a 12-mile trek through seven parks in the city. Highlights of the day were the annual Chrysanthemum Show and the trout at Lil-Le-Hi Trout Nursery. This successful venture was followed in March, 1957, with a "Hiker Reunion‚" attended by 100 hikers from Batona, BMECC, Reading, Susquehanna Trailers, Susquehanna AT, and Lancaster Hiking Clubs. This was a far more rugged 12-mile hike, as the route included the Appalachian Trail, Pulpit Rock, and the Pinnacle.