GRANDMA GATEWOOD: OHIO'S LEGENDARY HIKER

In 1955, when she was 67 years old (and had already raised 11 children), Emma Gatewood became the first woman to ever thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail solo! Before she died in 1973 she had hiked the AT several times, completed hikes in Oregon, Vermont and Pennsylvania. She was a charter member of the Buckeye Trail Association which has The Grandma Gatewood Trail named after her.

Emma is the subject of our newest project. In November, 2011 we premiered a storytelling program about this amazing woman and now we continue working to complete the project by creating a video documentary about her. We are in the process of raising funds to do a video and a first-person character program about this remarkable Ohioan. We will be working the Peter Huston of FilmAffects on the video.

Our Kickstarter campaign to raise $3,500 has exceed its goal! This money will be used as seed money as we apply to larger corporations and foundations. Special "Thank you" to all who have pledged! It's not to late to back this project as we are just beginning our fundraising activities. Simply download the donation form at the bottom of this page or click the donor button to make a payment through PayPal.

We are grateful to the groups that supported Phase 1 of this project. We received a planning grant from the Ohio Humanities Council to study the feasibility of such a project, a grant from the National Storytelling Network Member Grant for development of a storytelling program (as listed above) and a grant from the Buckeye Trail Association to help with the whole project. We are also grateful to our individual supporters: Mr. Stephen Adams, Lisa Brohl, Mr. Matthew Collings, Ms. Karen Farmer, Ms. Diana Gott, Ms. Linda Heiden, Jennifer Rooney, Ms. Nancy Sager, Ms. Pat Thomas, Mr. Al Weigl and Mr. Richard Yelenik. Special thanks to our volunteers who offered assistance in other areas: Michael Higgins, Carolyn Jack, Rod Knight, Kelly Lawrence, Bill O'Brien, Jeff Satterfield, and Holly Tomasch.

We will be posting more information about this exciting new project as it becomes available. In the meantime, if you have any stories or memories of your own about Emma Gatewood that you would like to share as we research her life, please contact us.

If you would like to support this project with a tax-deductible donation, you can send a check made payable to Eden Valley Enterprises; 1250 East River St., Elyria, Ohio 44035 (download a convenient PDF form) or pay online with PayPal by pressing the "Donate" button below. (As a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) or the Internal Revenue Code, all donations are tax-deductible. You will receive an acknowledgment for tax purposes.)

If your company would like to be a corporate sponsor, you can download this special form. For additional information or to discuss special corporate sponsorship benefits, contact us.

You can also shop AND support this project at ShopForYourCause. Simply register on the site, choose Eden Valley Enterprises as your cause, and shop! Any purchases made through this site, will provide a donation to Eden Valley -- it's that simple!

Additional information about the project:

See Video Clips from interviews with Emma's Family and keep up with our progress on our blog.

First Woman Thru-Hiker Of The Appalachian Trail by Linda Patton.

"With An Old Woman's Grace" a song by Mike Petee.

See a picture album from Lucy Seeds, Emma's daughter.

See a picture album from Gallipolis, Ohio where Emma lived.

Read an excerpt from our storytelling program about Emma.

The Ohio Humanities council is a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities

National Storytelling Network

Buckeye Trail Association

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