We had a blast at Winterfest last night in Duncannon, PA! It was a nice little get-together at the Clark’s Ferry Tavern located at 600 North Market Street with about 12 different community groups, a campfire, some festive holiday yard decorations, Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, a DJ, and a few hundred happy people enjoying a night together in an average little American town.

The Duncannon Appalachian Trail Community set up a table near the campfire (of course) with our informational brochures, T-shirts, AT postcards made by Susquenita Middle School students, cookies, snacks, apple cider, and our most popular item of the night, reindeer crafts for the kids! Thanks to the hard work and generosity of DATC member Deb Takach, we helped Duncannon children assemble 50 cardboard tube reindeer tree ornaments. That’s 100 googly eyes, 200 pipe cleaner pieces, 50 yarn scarves, and 101 holes poked! That one extra hole went into my finger, (I shouldn’t be allowed to play with scissors). Unfortunately, we ran out of reindeer in the first hour but we had plenty of free goodies to hand out to the kids and their parents thanks to DATC members Patrick W. and Robyn S.

Patrick made delightful cookies with currants, nuts, and a coffee glaze; and Robyn made tasty treats combining pretzels, chocolate, and candies. Paul S. manned the free cider station while spreading the word about all of the good work the DATC does and fielding questions about trees, bugs, and wildlife. Me? I just tried not to bleed on the reindeer as I poked the holes for their little pipe cleaner antlers.

Special thanks to The Duncannon Parks and Recreation Committee and all of the other volunteers who came together to arrange such a pleasant event.

Many people told us they wanted to buy a super awesome “I hiked to Hawk Rock” shirt but they couldn’t come to Hawk Rock to buy one in person. That’s why we’re currently accepting orders for more shirts via email until Wednesday November 23rd. Shirts ordered before November 23rd will be available for pickup at The Doyle Hotel starting Saturday, December 3rd. And to show our appreciation for The Doyle’s cooperation, the DATC will donate one dollar to The Doyle for every shirt you buy!

These high performance orange shirts are soft to the touch, 100% polyester, jersey knit, Aqua FX ® (for wicking properties), Freshcare ® (for anti-microbial properties), and darn good looking too. Long sleeves are $20 and short sleeves are $15 (2XL and 3XL are $3 more).

You can also order our green short sleeve DATC logo shirts for only $10. They’re 50/50 Poly/Cotton and come in sizes S, M, L, XL, 3XL, and 4XL (3XL and 4XL are $2 more – 2XL are sold out).

Send an email to shirts@duncannonatc.org before November 23rd and your order will be ready for pickup at The Doyle on December 3rd. Be sure to specify quantity, color (orange or green), sleeve length, and size when ordering.

We look forward to hearing from you. You’re going to look great in these shirts!