Love of the outdoors. Camaraderie. Commitment to sustainability.
These are just a few of the reasons that hundreds of Eastman employees spend thousands of hours preserving the Appalachian Trail.
For Ed Oliver, it’s the sense of accomplishment he gets from a job well done. “It’s great to see what you’ve accomplished at the end of a day and know you are doing it to preserve nature.”
Ed is an Eastman retiree and has been working on the preservation of the Appalachian Trail for close to 30 years. He has put in over 10,000 hours of work on maintaining the trail.
Located throughout the eastern half of the United States, the Appalachian Trail is a continuous path that stretches from Maine to Georgia. The trail covers a distance of about 2,175 miles. The Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club proudly maintains over 134 miles of the trail from Spivey Gap, North Carolina throughout Tennessee and into Damascus, Virginia.
Generations of members of the Hiking and Canoeing Club have been maintaining Eastman’s section of the trail since 1947. The club’s volunteers put in over 10,000 hours annually towards trail maintenance that ranges from tasks such as cutting weeds to large construction projects where new sections of the trail are built.
The work that these club members are doing to preserve the Appalachian Trail is an example of the commitment Eastman men and women have to a sustainable environment and to preserving the natural beauty around us. The numerous volunteer hours logged by the club to maintain the Appalachian Trail is a prime example of real dedication to environmental stewardship.
The club currently has over 575 members including Eastman employees, retirees and affiliates. Participation in club activities is welcome and has resulted in many new volunteers helping to maintain and protect our environment.
“I enjoy getting out with friends that you’ve known for years and building friendships with the younger members that come out and give trail maintenance a try,” Oliver says.
Members gather together several hours per year to share their love of nature, maintenance projects and stories of years past. Club Steering Committee Chair Jake Mitchell recently joined Eastman and says the location of the company really drew him here.
“I started backpacking in college after I realized my football and baseball days were over,” Mitchell says. “After a few local trips, I learned more about the trail and immediately fell in love with it,” he says.
“Prior to graduation, I started my job search and Eastman was high on my list,” Mitchell says. “I quickly discovered that Eastman sponsored one of the 30 clubs that maintains the trail and that was a big pro for the company.”
“I encourage employees to come out and give it a try because they may really like it,” Oliver says.
