[at-l] Back in Damascus (plus Goodbye Mr. Thomas)

[Mara Factor]

Weird!  I was at Thomas Knob Shelter on the 24th (the day of the funeral) 
having started the section from Dickey Gap back to Damascus on the 21st (the 
day he died).  It's just strange to hear about Thomas' death after having 
just spent the night at the shelter.

I'm back in Damascus now, having done the section from Dickey Gap back to 
town over the last five days.  I'll probably be here a few days as I've been 
fighting a cold and it's been dragging me down while on the trail.  Plus, 
not all the mail I was expecting here has arrived and with the holiday on 
Monday, nothing else will get here until at least Tuesday.

I was at Trail Days - saw most of the people on the list that was posted 
previously, too...  It was interesting to be here again as a current hiker, 
not just a former hiker and ALDHA volunteer.  I still don't think I'm 
thruhiking this year, but I did march with the 2007 crowd in the parade.  
You never know...

Mara
Stitches, AT99

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit my Travels and Trails web site at:

http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





>From: "Carla & Dave Hicks" <daveh at psknet.com>
>Reply-To: Carla & Dave Hicks <daveh at psknet.com>
>To: "~~~AT-L List" <at-l at backcountry.net>
>Subject: [at-l] Fw: [PATH] Goodbye Me. Thomas -founder of the Mt. 
>Roger'sClub--john boy
>Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 22:10:37 -0400
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <JHARTPENCE at CAROLINA.RR.COM>
>To: "PATH" <path-list at path-at.org>
>Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 9:58 PM
>Subject: [PATH] Goodbye Me. Thomas -founder of the Mt. Roger's Club--john 
>boy
>
>
>This was sent to us be Ed Clayton from the Mt. Roger's Club. Ed is usually 
>at
>Konnarock with us in march and April--john
>
>Friday, May 25, 2007
>Goodbye Mr. Thomas
>The article below, titled "Goodbye Mr. Thomas," appeared as a column by Joe
>Tennis in the Bristol Herald Courier on Thursday, May 24, 2007.
>
>
>
>- + -
>
>Monday night, the lights burned bright on the porch at the David O. Thomas
>Activity Building.
>
>And, there, I thought about how David Thomas must have paced this porch in
>Washington County's Cleveland community.
>
>But never again.
>
>Earlier that day, Mr. Thomas died.
>
>Here, last year, was the last place I had seen him alive. Here, too, this 
>man
>had once taught agriculture, from 1946 to 1954. His students loved him. 
>Some,
>in their 70s, told me how their teacher would act like one of the boys - 
>and
>play football with them in the field.
>
>Those students, in 2006, honored Mr. Thomas by placing his name on a
>gold-and-black plaque that now hangs outside the door at the Cleveland
>Community Center - or what they call the "David O. Thomas Activity 
>Building."
>The retiree, at age 89, accepted the honor of having his name on that 
>building
>with mist in his eyes.
>
>Earlier in 2004, I remember Mr. Thomas's smiling face as he approached me 
>with
>a handshake in Abingdon and told me he had been reading my articles for 
>years.
>That's when I first met him.
>
>Yet, likewise, I had also admired his work - at the Thomas Knob Shelter, a
>three-sided structure along the Appalachian Trail at Mount Rogers. The avid
>hiker helped build that shelter, along with other volunteers. And, probably
>with the same humility that he had in Cleveland, Mr. Thomas accepted the 
>honor
>of having his name placed on the Thomas Knob Shelter.
>
>Another time, I visited Mr. Thomas and his wife Nerine, at their home near
>Spring Creek. There, he told me the story of how his father had lost the
>family's land when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) flooded it to build
>South Holston Lake in 1950.
>
>Ironically, just a few days after the gates closed at South Holston Dam, 
>Mr.
>Thomas's father died from a series of strokes. Now it seems ironic that the
>younger Thomas died as a celebration of the Appalachian Trail, in nearby
>Damascus, faded last weekend.
>
>Mr. Thomas loved that trail. He had worked for decades to maintain a 
>protion
>in what is now the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Few at "Trail 
>Days"
>in Damascus may have known him. But it's a given thousands have stopped at 
>his
>shelter - just as I stopped, Monday night at the David O. Thomas Activity
>Building.
>
>I bid you fairwell sir.
>Happy trails.
>
>Posted by Ed Clayton at 8:34 AM 0 comments
>
>
>
>Tuesday, May 22, 2007
>David O. Thomas Obituary
>ABINGDON - Mr. David O. Thomas, a resident of the Cleveland community of
>Washington County, Va., passed away on Monday, May 21, 2007.
>
>He was retired from Sperry-Unisys, where he worked in Human Resources. He 
>was
>a member of the Cleveland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Thomas will always be
>remembered for his love of the outdoors and for his work on the Appalachian
>Trail.
>
>He is survived by his loving wife, Mrs. Nerine Bower Thomas of Abingdon; 
>his
>daughter, Mrs. Yolanda Thomas McQueen and husband Richard of Abingdon; and 
>his
>son, David George Thomas and wife Marilyn of Huntsville, Ala.
>
>Graveside services for Mr. David O. Thomas will be conducted at 11 a.m. on
>Thursday, May 24, 2007, in the Cleveland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, with
>the Rev. Tom Musselman officiating. The family will receive friends from 
>6-8
>p.m. at the Frost Funeral Home on Wednesday.
>
>In lieu of flowers the family asks that contributions be made to the 
>Cleveland
>Presbyterian Church, c/o Mr. Robert Berry-Treasure, 18076 Cleveland Church
>Road, Abingdon, VA 24211; or to the Cleveland Community Center, c/o Mr. 
>Bobby
>Smeltzer, 25247 Watauga Road, Abingdon, VA 24211, in memory of Mr. David
>Thomas.
>
>The family asks that friends meet at the cemetery on Thursday for the 
>service.
>Online Condolences can be submitted to the family at 
>www.frostfuneralhome.com
>Frost Funeral Home, 250 E. Main St., Abingdon, (276) 628-2131, is serving 
>the
>family of Mr. David O. Thomas.
>

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