In addition to my security ecosystem activities, I am also a member of the board of directors at the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center (SVM), https://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org.
I’m not only a board member but also a hike leader and a member of the museum’s financial development committee.
I have always been fond of the outdoor especially hiking, trekking in the woods including vacationing and working in outdoor environs. As a child we lived in upstate New York. I was allowed to wander in the woods where we lived if I came home within 3 long and 2 short blasts of the Studebaker’s car horn within 5 minutes of its honking, the wrath of mom would be avoided. Hard to believe that from that back yard to the next town was over 20 miles of wilderness.
Those memories still bring a smile to my face to this day. Later when in college I returned to the area to work in several resorts in the Catskill Mountains, to pay for school. During time off (although scarce) I would find remote areas to hike, swim and generally decompress. I’ve also traveled three times across the US, once camping and twice in a camper. Each 6 plus weeks on the road. I’ve been to all 50 states and many state and National Parks. Being with nature and outdoors has been therapeutic for what ails me for decades.
My wife and I hiked the Appalachian trail in parts in the spring of 2006 from Front Royal, VA to Asheville, NC and were smitten by the beauty. We later bought a piece of land on a ridge outside of the town of Black Mountain and built the home we have lived in for the past 14 + years.
Although our community has over 5 miles of hiking trails, 2 waterfalls and 12 +miles of roadways I yearned to learn more about the region and its hiking opportunities. I was introduced to the SVM and its hike series. I joined the series and fell in love with the people, places, history. Being the shy guy I am I was asked if I’d like to join the hiking committee. The rest is history, as they say, I’ve been helping with the series for the past 8 years.
Although my consultancy focuses on things in the security ecosystem. Hiking is a passion which helps keep me centered in a world where risks and uncertainties abound. The trail has its share of risks as well. We bring an AED and first aid kit with us and are all CPR and first aid certified, just in case. “Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world a better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth’s beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves “ Ralph Waldo Emerson
