Mike Stillman

Posted on by

Director
Farmington and Hamdpen, ME
EMAIL: poepaddy@hotmail.com
Mike has a long history in conservation and trails: he served on the National Park Service Historic Landscape Preservation Team from 1990-1992; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Wetland Restoration Service, 1990-1992; as a crew leader for Baxter State Park, 1988-1990; a crew leader for the Maine Conservation Corps, 1993-1994, and a crew leader for the MATC’s Maine Trail Crew, 1995-1996; he has also served as a board member for the Friends of Baxter State Park, 2012-2015. Mike is a fly fishing guide and maker of bamboo fly rods.

Tom Gorrill

Posted on by

Vice-President
Port Clyde, ME
EMAIL: tgorrill@matc.org
Tom retired as President of Gorrill Palmer Consulting Engineers, Inc. in 2015, after a 37-year career in Civil Engineering. Tom is a former Baldpate District Overseer for the MATC and currently serves as its VP and chair of the Governance Committee. He is also a Board member of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust. Tom lives in Saint George where he serves on the Conservation Commission and oversees town trails, volunteers as a driver for Neighbor to Neighbor, and is a volunteer at the Marshall Point Lighthouse. Tom is a graduate of the University of Maine

Doug Dolan

Posted on by

Corresponding Secretary
Hollis, ME
EMAIL: info@matc.org
Doug recently retired after 37 years in the semiconductor industry, with the last 20 years as an Intellectual Property Engineer. He recently termed out after 6 years from the Apex Youth Connection (formerly Community Bicycle Center) in Biddeford which provides barrier free opportunities for area youth to develop career and life skills. He is also working with 19th Century Curran Village to build out their expanding campus in Orrington.  An avid cyclist, he regularly participates in local group rides and organized fundraisers. Giving back to the trails in Maine is important to him, and keeps him focused on staying fit and healthy. Doug holds an ASEE from Eastern Maine Technical College and a BSBA from Husson University.

Ron Dobra

Posted on by

Director
Shirley, ME
EMAIL: ghsron@gmail.com
Ron is a retired Greenville schools music teacher currently living in town. As a 30-year member of MATC, he has served as a section maintainer, district overseer, committee chair, and EC director. A backpacking nut, he topped 15,000 miles last summer, and hopes to finish the 2,000 miles remaining of the 4,600-mile North Country National Scenic Trail this summer.

David Field

Posted on by

Manager of Lands
Trail Champions Honorary Committee Chair
Hampden, ME
EMAIL: meeser3@roadrunner.com
Dave has 65 years of volunteer Trail maintenance experience on the Appalachian Trail. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club for 54 years, including 10 years as President. He served on the Appalachian Trail Conference Board of Managers for 26 years, including six as Board Chair. From 1970-1990, MATC relocated more than 170 miles of the Appalachian Trail to place it in more scenic and protected locations.  Dave designed, laid out and led the work crews to build about 115 miles of those relocations.  In 1984 he designed the original corridor to be purchased by the National Park Service to protect the A.T. in Maine. He is an honorary life member of both the MATC and the ATC, and was inducted, in 2013, into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.  Dave holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Forestry from the University of Maine and a PhD from Purdue University.  He taught forestry at Purdue, Yale University, and the University of Maine, where he retired in 2006 after 30 years on the faculty.

Tony Barrett

Posted on by

Director
Harpswell, ME
EMAIL: barretttony@mac.com
In 1998, Tony left the corporate world and moved to Maine taking on various part-time occupations – most recently in Maine’s seafood economy. With more flexible hours, he has pursued his life-long interest in trails and long-distance, non-motorized travel.  He has bicycled through Europe, in the Middle East and across the United States. Tony has also thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and currently maintains a section of trail in Maine.  He is a life member of MATC, AMC, ATC, Adventure Cycling and the League of American Cyclists.  He serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. He also serves on the Board of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust. Tony earned a BA in 1975 and a MBA in 1977 from the University of Chicago.

Lester Kenway

Posted on by

President
Trail Champions Committee Chair
Bangor, ME
EMAIL: president@matc.org
Lester worked as the Trails Supervisor at Baxter State Park for 22 years, spent two years with Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, and served as the Field Team Program Coordinator for the Maine Conservation Corps until his State retirement. He owns a trail tool business, Trail Services, which provides equipment, support, and advice to trail organizations throughout the United States. He has volunteered with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club throughout his career, serving as its President for the last 10 years. Besides working on trails, Lester has enjoyed hiking and mountaineering throughout North America and in several other parts of the world. A resident of Bangor, Lester earned a degree in chemistry from Bates College in 1975 but prefers to think he majored in Outing Club.

Holly Sheehan

Posted on by
Club Coordinator
Portland, ME
EMAIL: coordinator@matc.org
Holly has worked as the Club Coordinator for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club since 2004. She works with MATC’s Board of Directors, volunteers, organizational partners, seasonal staff and other stakeholders in helping the organization meet its mission to maintain, manage & protect 267-miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Holly co-founded and co-managed environmentally themed camps for children ages 4-13 at both Turkey Hill Farm, in Cape Elizabeth, and Wolfe’s Neck Farm, in Freeport.  Activities centered on agriculture, wildlife, pond and forest ecology. Prior to this Holly taught life science at Portland’s King Middle School. 

Holly holds a M.S. in Environmental Studies from Antioch New England, in Keene, NH.

She and her husband Steve Niles, three sons and two dogs enjoy time spent outdoors including maintaining the A.T.  from Safford Notch campsite to the summit of Little Bigelow Mountain. 

2021 Annual Meeting

Posted on by

The Maine Appalachian Trail Club’s 2021 annual meeting will be held on Saturday April 17 from 9-11am on… you guessed it- Zoom! We will all miss seeing familiar faces and regaling stories of 28-inch blow-downs, shoveling out privies, and flat tires. And we’ll especially miss the coffee and doughnuts! But, this is the best we can do given the circumstances. There will be a bit of extra business to conduct this year because there was no annual meeting in 2020, but we are planning on a 2-hour meeting to prevent screen fatigue and stick to the tasks at hand. We’ll send out more information, including a Zoom invite, as the date approaches. In addition, we’ll be reaching out to those without the internet to make accommodations. Here’s a sneak-peek at the agenda. “See” you all on April 17th! For more information, please contact: Tom Gorrill.

Draft Agenda

  • 9:00 AM Annual Business Meeting of the Club 
    • Welcome – Lester Kenway 
    • Approval of the 2019 Annual Meeting minutes – Janice Clain  
    • Treasurer’s Report – Jonathan Ellis 
    • Adoption of Budget for FY 2021-2022 – Tom Lewis – Finance Chairperson 
    • Corresponding Secretary Report – Doug Dolan  
    • Election of Officers – Tom Gorrill 
    • Constitutional and Bylaw amendments- Tom Gorrill
    • President’s Report – Lester Kenway  
    • Recognition and awards – Peter Roderick, Lester Kenway, Tom Gorrill
    • Other business – Lester Kenway
  • 10:40 AM News from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy – Hawk Metheny (tentative)
  • 11:00 AM End of Day

A Blast from the Past

Posted on by
  • Do you know when the first issue of the MATC Newsletter the MAINEtainer was published?
  • Do you know what the name of the first issue was?
  • Do you know who came up with the name, “The MAINEtainer?”
  • Do you know who was MATC president when the first issue was published?
  • Who was the first Editor?

To find the answers and explore some MATC history check out past issues of the MAINEtainer.

Special thanks goes to Ray “Walking Home” Ronan for providing dozens of scans of the old MAINEtainer newsletter. Thanks Ray!