Tuxedo Trail Angels celebrate 25 years

The Tuxedo Trail Angels are celebrating 25 years of delivering fresh water to the Appalachian Trail (AT) that passes through the northern part of the Town of Tuxedo. This continuous activity began in 1999 when Edie Sonne of Tuxedo Park hiked the entire 2,197-mile trail from Georgia to Maine. She told her family about the Trail Angels along the way who provided water and other essentials for the hikers. As a result, her mother, Sally Sonne, organized a group of friends to help her do the same for future hikers.

Gallon jugs of water are left by an old oak tree, up a fairly steep bank off an unnamed road (this, to protect the purity and privacy of the place) from May through October. Water is the elixir of life for hikers who sometimes trek more than 20 miles a day in heat or rain or whatever hits them. The eight Trail Angels operate with a schedule, depending on demand. A journal for the AT through-hikers to sign and send messages is left with the jugs of water by the trail. The expressions of joy, appreciation, relief and sometimes pure ecstasy give the “angels” the kind of satisfaction that can best be achieved by helping others and they realize they can never stop the water delivery to the Appalachian Trail.

Edie, who will be at her old home in Tuxedo to join in the celebration, is married now and lives in Seattle and hikes with her family on some impressive trails and mountains out there. Sally is in her 80s, looking forward to many more years of organizing the Tuxedo Trail Angels. In the meantime, they are happy to celebrate this milestone.