Leading an event

May 2024

We appreciate our volunteers who lead Association events. Hikes, bicycle rides, nature walks, and paddle trips promote appreciation of the C&O Canal and the Potomac River valley. If you are willing to lead an event, that’s great. Here are the steps required.

• Get approval of the event and date from the appropriate committee chair(s). All events need approval from the Program Committee chair, Jonnie Lefebure. If the event is a Nature Walk, clear it with the Nature Committee chair, Paul Petkus.
• Provide event information to the people who manage Association communication channels: Tiffany Ahalt (social media), Bill Holdsworth (website calendar and broadcast emails), and Steve Dean (Along the Towpath quarterly newsletter).
• Be aware of the newsletter schedule. The deadlines for event information are:
  • February 1 for the March issue
  • May 1 for the June issue
  • August 1 for the September issue
  • November 1 for the December issue
• Include the basic information: date, time, place and contact information.
• Consider the potential impact of weather. If the forecast is bad, will you want to cancel?
• Provide detailed information to attract participants
  Instead of:

  Dragonfly walk, 9 a.m., Oldtown. Contact Steve Dean, [email protected] for further information.
  

  Provide more color:

  Join Steve Dean in Oldtown, Md. for an odonate walk to observe dragonflies and damselflies at 9:00 a.m. Oldtown, with its watered section of canal prism, is known for a plentiful and diverse range of odonates.  The walk will take approximately two hours.  Bring water and good walking shoes. A field guide (Stokes – Beginners Guide to Dragonflies is a good basic reference) and field glasses are optional.  Photography is encouraged!  The meeting point is at the Lock 70 parking area and the walk will proceed downstream.  Contact Steve at [email protected] for further information.

• Supply a digital image for possible use in communications.
• On the day of the event, remember to have participants sign liability waivers. You can find them at the bottom of the events/calendar page of the website. A short form is required for most hikes, and a longer form is required for some hikes and other activities such as bicycling and canoeing.