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Volunteer

Featured Volunteer – Andrew Pearman

How long have you been a volunteer?
I've been a disc golf volunteer at Patapsco since August 2020.

What do you do for employment?
Software development, but for very small company so I get to wear many hats!

How long have you lived in the area?
Over 25 years. I grew up in Eldersburg, MD and now live in Jessup.

Do you volunteer other places besides Patapsco Valley?
Not at the moment, since so much of my time is focused on the Patapsco Valley Disc Golf Club.

What is your favorite thing about Patapsco?
Easily the disc golf course and community. I love getting to play my favorite sport in a beautiful state park. The course's design is incredible and can challenge every skill level, from amateur to top-tier professional players.

What volunteer projects are you in at Patapsco?
Disc golf course maintenance and event planning. I work with Ranger Myers and other park staff to communicate maintenance needs for the course, and I help the club manage disc golf events.

Describe one of your favorite volunteer memories with Patapsco?

In May 2021 with help from Ranger Myers and Ranger Lombardi, we got stone dust out to eight tee pads to resurface them. With the help of 12 disc golf volunteers we were able to resurface the tee pads and clean up the fairways. The course looks better now than it has in years, and the Maryland disc golf community has noticed!

Why is it important for you to volunteer?
After visiting Patapsco almost every day between 2019 and 2020, I wanted to give back to the park. In 2020 I noticed a sharp increase in how many people were there to play disc golf, so I knew it was time to organize efforts to get the course back into shape. I also love to help build clubs and communities, so why not do it for my favorite pastime?

How can park visitors learn more about disc golf, or disc golf volunteering?
Come out to the park's "Open House" event on March 26, 2022 in the McKeldin Area! The Patapsco Valley Disc Golf Club will be there teaching visitors how to play.

Message from Park Manager

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Do you love the outdoors? Do you get excited about sharing your love of nature with others? Perhaps you have some spare time, and would like to share a little with our park and park visitors.

Volunteers are the heart and soul of Patapsco Valley State Park. They are involved in just about every aspect of park operations. Our volunteers do so many fantastic things within the park. On any given day you can find our volunteer rangers running daily operations, and our volunteer naturalists leading hikes or doing nature crafts. Perhaps you will encounter a member of our volunteer mounted patrol while you are out on the trails, and on that very same hike you might meet our trail maintenance volunteers or even one of our Adopt-a-Trail families. Don’t be surprised to see one of our volunteer photographers snapping pictures of people and nature within the park. If you stop in our visitor center or our nature center you will more than likely meet one of our volunteer docents who will be thrilled to share interesting information about the park.

Do you think your talents are not suited for a park? We have graphic designers, marketing specialists, artists, carpenters, plumbers, stone masons and seamstresses that all have volunteered to help create brochures, build decks and benches, promote our programs to media and even sew curtains for our mini-cabins.

So if you have a little extra time to spare, I invite you to join the Patapsco volunteer family. We would love to have you as part of our team!

To search for volunteer opportunities at this state park and all of the state parks in Maryland, please click here to apply as a volunteer with Patapsco Valley and then click on opportunity search in the volunteer menu on the left side of the page.

We look forward to having you join our volunteer family!

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