<< Back 10/9/02 Society marks 25th anniversary of trail SMN The public is invited to attend the annual fall meeting of the N.C. Bartram Trail Society on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Hampton Inn Conference Room in Franklin. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the trail building and maintenance of the 80 mile long trail that commemorates the travels of 19th-century naturalist William Bartram. The guest speaker will be Gail Fishman of Tallahassee, Fla., whose topic is “William Bartram and Other Kindred Souls.” Fishman has recently written a book titled Journeys Through Paradise: Pioneering Naturalists in the Southeast, published by the University Press of Florida. She’ll discuss William Bartram, the French botanist Andre Michaux, and Alexander Wilson, acknowledged as the “father of ornithology” in this country. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the meeting room of the Hampton Inn in Franklin (near Wal-Mart on the U.S. 441 bypass) for socializing and refreshments, followed by a short business meeting. Gail Fishman will speak at 10:30. The afternoon hike will be on the new Greenway along the Little Tennessee River in Franklin. For more information on the meeting, the trail club or its monthly workhikes (usually the second Saturdays of each month) for maintaining the Bartram, Trail through the Nantahala National Forest, check the website at www.ncbartramtrail.org or contact club Vice President Ina Warren in Brevard at 828.862.4079.