From Right to Left: Paul Wylezol, Chair of IAT International Council; Canadian Ambassador to Iceland,Mr. Alan Bones; Dick Anderson, IAT Founder;
Ms. Holter; United States Ambassador to Iceland, Mr. Louis Arreaga; Norwegian Ambassador to Iceland, Mr.Dag Werno Holter
Mr. Louis Arreaga, United States Ambassador to Iceland, hosted a reception for all the attendees at the IAT International meeting held in Reykjavik, Iceland June 14-18, 2012.
The event was held in the Ambassador’s residence in downtown Reykjavik and was attended by about forty of the participants in the IAT meeting. The Canadian Ambassador to Iceland, Alan Bones and the Norwegian Ambassador, Dag Werno Holter, also participated in the reception.
An informal social time in the garden was followed by a welcoming and congratulatory presentation by Mr. Arreaga and additional greetings by; Ambassador Bones, Ambassador Holter, former Appalachian Trail Executive Director, David Startzell, IAT International Chair, Paul Wylezol and IAT Founder Dick Anderson.
Social gathering in the garden
Dick presented Ambassador Arreaga with a small, framed map of the locations of Appalachian terrains around the North Atlantic.
Dick Anderson with Ambassador Arreaga
The speeches were followed by a wonderful opportunity for attendees from both sides of the Atlantic to meet each other face to face, in many cases for the first time, over coffee and light food. It also gave everyone a great opportunity to explain more about the International Appalachian Trail to the Ambassadors.
It was a wonderful way to kickoff our first meeting outside North America and we all thanked Mr. Arreaga for hosting the event.
The pictures accompanying this story were taken by several people including Will Richard, www.wilfredrichard.com, Walter Anderson, and Don Hudson of the Maine, USA Chapter.
