As a kid, in New York City’s Long Island suburbs, Thyra Sperry walked all the time and rode a bike everywhere, but there weren’t many hiking challenges at sea level. Plenty of beaches but not many wooded areas. Her summers were spent at her Grandpa’s camp in south-eastern Connecticut, near West Rock. There, she hiked on cow paths and the low hills to get an ice cream.
Later, after graduating from the University of the City of New York with a B.A. in Political Science, a Masters in Education, and some teaching experience under her belt, Thyra moved to a rural area in Central Pennsylvania, with its downhill skiing and Penn’s woods hiking. She loved spending times outdoors, as a respite from work.
After reading a newspaper blurb about an “ice cream hike” led by the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club, Thyra eagerly signed up for the hike - having no idea that this would lead to meeting many new friends and eventually hiking almost half of the Appalachian Trail.
Thyra soon became involved in trail maintenance on Peters Mountain, volunteering a few years later when SATC needed a Vice-President. Later, as President of SATC, Thyra began to attend Keystone Trails Association's Spring and Fall Hiking Weekends. Encouraged by other hikers in the Mid-Atlantic Region, she soon found herself on the Board of the Appalachian Trail Conference, and subsequently served ten years as Mid-Atlantic Vice Chair, and on the Executive and Human Resources committees. Somehow, Thyra found time to backpack New Zealand’s famous Milford Trek and the Abel Tasman Trail.
After chairing the 2001 biennial ATC Shippensburg conference (with the support of 12 Pennsylvania A.T. trail clubs), Thyra understood the importance of KTA. Trails were being severed by development or new ownership, and it was time to focus on the challenges of protecting hiking trails and lands in Pennsylvania. When KTA changed its structure to have a Board of Directors, Thyra was on it - and later, became President.
During Thyra's service on the KTA Board of Directors, she worked hard to bring KTA to the forefront of the Pennsylvania hiking community, and helped to establish Keystone Trails Association as the strong, state-wide advocacy organization that it is today. She helped grow KTA by hiring a full-time Executive Director, and played a key role in the planning and implementation of KTA's largest annual event to date: the Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run.
Thyra's contributions to KTA have been invaluable, and the staff and volunteers of KTA - along with hikers across Pennsylvania and surrounding states - appreciate the time and effort she put into this organization over the past decade.
Even though Thyra passed the Presidency 'torch' (or trekking pole?) to Wanda Shirk at KTA's October, 2013 Council Meeting, she says she is as committed as ever to KTA's mission, and that she will continue to help Pennsylvania's trails in any way she can.
Thyra writes: "We are so lucky to have thousands of miles of hiking trails in Pennsylvania at our doorsteps. It’s wonderful to have the National Park Service property and unlimited hiking right out my back door. I can see the White Rocks side trail , leading to the A.T. from my deck. Life is good in the woods on South Mountain. It doesn’t get any better than this."
Happy Trails, Thyra!