Jim Sexton grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and spent much of his time in the wilderness – hunting, fishing and trapping. When he moved to coastal Virginia as an adult, he found himself missing the mountains and regularly traveled to western Virginia to hike sections of the Appalachian Trail.
Jim joined the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club (TATC) – the club responsible for maintaining the A.T. in his area – in 1993. Since joining, Jim has taken on several volunteer roles. He is a TATC leader; he was President of the club as well as Trails Supervisor and Trail Section Leader. Now he is active in outreach and communications for his club, editing the newsletter and serving as TATC’s webmaster; he has also been working on developing promotional materials, including a redesigned brochure and a video to be posted on their website.
The volunteer work Jim enjoys most, however, is the time he spends rebuilding and maintaining the A.T. Jim makes several maintenance trips each year, and has volunteered for ATC’s Trail Crew several times, helping on more intensive trail building projects. With his wife Christa (they met while coordinating a brunch for TATC’s semi-annual family work trip) Jim coordinates other volunteers who participate in trail maintenance work trips.
Jim volunteers because he feels “everyone should do public service and give back in some way” though he also enjoys his time as a volunteer. TATC and the Appalachian Trail have certainly benefited from Jim’s skills and dedication!