Welcome to PATC: Finding Your Way into the Club
By Matt Waurio
“When’s the next hike in Loudoun County?”
“Will I get poison ivy?”
“What’s a Crapper Crew?”
At PATC’s monthly New Member Meetings, there’s no shortage of questions. Hosted monthly by Anne Brown, these informal gatherings give new members a chance to learn how the Club works, ask questions, and – perhaps most importantly – meet some of the people who make PATC what it is.
At the September 14th meeting, about 10 excited new members joined our virtual call at 5:30pm. They got to share their background and talk directly with long-time PATC members like Anstr Davidson and Jayne Mayne. We’ve found that kind of connection is important for new members to feel informed and involved.
It seems like a majority of our long-time PATC volunteers found their way into the Club through friends. This is, of course, fantastic. We want PATC to be a place with close connections and friendships, but not everyone joins with a friend already on the inside. For those folks, figuring out where to start can be surprisingly difficult. We’re trying to improve technologically, but nothing beats human connection. New Member Meetings fit that bill.
As an example: This weekend, I met a 20-something year-old Appalachian Trail (AT) thru hiker who wowed me with his knowledge of AT and PATC history. How many folks can knowledgably speak about the PATC Congressional lobbying era? This guy could! Despite his passion, he never became significantly involved in PATC because, essentially, he couldn’t navigate the Club. He never attended a New Member Meeting and doesn't have any friends in the Club – so he got lost, gave up, and found another group to join.
And that’s the experience we want to prevent. Hopefully we’ll win him over – along with many others. But we have to remember the overwhelming feeling of being a new member and offer that hand to welcome them to the Club.
That’s right, PATC New Member Meetings aren’t just for new members. If you want to hop in on the next one and ask a few questions (or answer a few questions), you can find info on the PATC calendar. They tend to be emailed and posted a month in advance and are often scheduled mid-month on a Monday or Tuesday at 5:30pm.
If you're new to PATC, come meet us. If you've been around awhile, come help someone else find their way in.