A TRAIL, A CLUB, AN ARBORETUM: A PRICELESS LEGACY

by Rita Floriani

Dr. Harry Rentschler stood atop a grassy knoll, gazing out at the trees and fields and meadows in the panoramic view before him. As pretty as that scene was, even more impressive was the long, blue ridge less than 10 miles away that filled the northern horizon.

Looking as far to the left and as far to the right as he could from his hilltop vantage point, he studied the Blue Mountain. The year was 1917. Dr. Rentschler had just bought the surrounding 34 acres of property on which he stood. As he stared at that distant ridge, could he have envisioned what would happen up there just nine years later?

Born in 1869 in the little town of Bernville, just a mile away, Dr. Rentschler grew up with a love of the outdoors. After graduating from medical school in Philadelphia, he lived and practiced medicine in the city of Reading. There, he formed a bond with other outdoor enthusiasts and told his fellow hikers about an eagle’s nest up on the Blue Mountain.

One day, Dr. Rentschler and his friends left the city in search of the nest, heading up the rocky edge of the Blue Mountain above the town of Shartlesville. They did not find any eagles in the nest, but by the time they had made their way up the challenging southern slope of the mountain, they realized they didn’t want this to be their one and only visit to that boulder-filled overlook.

They decided to form a club. They called it the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club, and their first official hike to the Eagle’s Nest was held on October 12, 1916.

Comprised of Reading-area businessmen, their outings were described in the local newspapers.

In 1926, ten years after the BMECC was founded, the club was visited by Professor Eugene C. Bingham of Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The professor told them about Benton MacKaye’s vision of a footpath along the Appalachian Mountain chain. Professor Bingham asked the club if they would build a portion of the skyline trail in Pennsylvania. The club members accepted the challenge, and they subsequently built 102 miles of trail on the Blue Mountain, spanning from the Lehigh River to the Susquehanna River. Dr. Rentschler used his 1917 Physician’s Memorandum to record notes about every work trip that occurred between 1926 and 1931, the time it took to create the footpath.

As part of his estate planning, Dr. Rentschler willed his property to the club that he helped found, the club that he loved, for use as an Arboretum. In 1988 and 2012, two trail shelters were constructed on the Rentschler Arboretum's grounds: the Eagle’s Nest Shelter and the Rausch Gap Shelter, respectively. After construction, both shelters were then transported up to the Appalachian Trail. The Eagle’s Nest Shelter was filmed by the news media as it was picked up at the Arboretum by a CH-54 Sky Crane Helicopter from Fort Indiantown Gap, and flown up to its permanent home on the mountaintop.

Today, the small clubhouse on Dr. Rentschler’s former property, the Arboretum (see photo below) serves as the BMECC’s headquarters, and the location where meetings are held, where trail maintenance tools are stored, and where the club’s historical archives are preserved. Nearly 100 years of memories and records are included in the archives: minutes of meetings, programs from special events, newsletters, membership lists, photos, maps, newspaper articles, and even Dr. Rentschler’s 1917 Physician’s Memorandum.

Sadly, sometime between September 26 and October 3, 2014, the clubhouse was ransacked by burglars. The trail crew’s chainsaws were stolen, as well as a brand-new reciprocating saw, a generator, and other valuable maintenance tools. The locks on 2 of the 3 metal filing cabinets had clearly been tampered with. Once the theft was discovered, members of the Archives Committee temporarily removed the club’s most important historical records to a more secure, off-site location.

Concerned about the club's archives a member of the Archives' Committee of the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club packs up some of the club's signs to move them to a secure off-site location after a recent burglary.

Right: Concerned about the club's archives a member of the Archives' Committee of the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club packs up some of the club's signs to move them to a secure off-site location after a recent burglary.

As volunteers gathered at the Rentschler Arboretum to discuss the missing items, they stared out at the same tranquil fields and meadows that Dr. Rentschler himself had gazed upon nearly 100 years earlier, before there was an Appalachian Trail along the ridge-top. They spoke of their club’s proud history and heritage, of the 65 miles of the Appalachian Trail that the BMECC maintains, and of the generous legacy of the Arboretum that Dr. Harry Rentschler had left behind for future generations.

And, at nearly the same time, they echoed their shared sentiment: though the stolen tools will cost over a thousand dollars to replace, the BMECC’s archives – thankfully still safely preserved -- are priceless and irreplaceable.

KTA's Note: In 2016, the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary. KTA members can celebrate with the BMECC a bit early, in conjunction with the 2015 KTA Spring Hiking Weekend at Camp Swatara!