The History Corner by Pete Steurer

25 years ago: CMC was honored with a prestigious national award by Holiday Magazine for the club’s efforts in conserving the natural wilderness beauty of America. The award citation stated that the club was chosen “for devising constructive alternatives to the proposed transmountain highway across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, thus preventing the bulldozer from again intruding into wilderness beauty.” The award was presented to then CMC president Bernard Elias and club member James Hollandsworth at a ceremony in Asheville. Noted conservationist Michael Frome was a member of the selection panel and gave a presentation following the formal procedure. According to Bernard, for a number of years the award trophy was annually passed on to the CMC member who had hiked the most miles.