Our NPTC Convention #2

NPTC 18th Annual Convention 2020
— Virtual —

Today we attended Our 2nd National Park Travelers Cub Convention! Sort of. It was originally scheduled for 3 days in Washington, DC, with group visits to local National Park Sites, a Friday night dinner, a Saturday night Banquet, and…the Annual Club Meeting.

No surprise, the full convention was canceled (actually postponed a year). But the Club Meeting was converted to a Zoom Meeting/live YouTube Stream, and even had Virtual Stamps! We were able to attend, and glad we did!

Just like the 1st NPTC Annual Meeting we attended (New Bedford, MA on our 2018 New England Summer Trip), it had a couple of National Park Speakers, presentation of NPTC Platinum Awards to people who’ve visited all 419 parks, a National Parks Trivia contest, results of the annual election, and even door prizes. The most special Door Prize was a One-of-a-Kind “NPS/Pandemic” themed piece of Art! (Took us a minute…see the Mask and the “virus”?)

And the Speakers were really good, too:

Megan Springate, National Coordinator,
NPS 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration

In honor of the upcoming 100th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment (giving Women (white women) the right to vote), the First Speaker was Megan Springate. She is the National Coordinator for the NPS 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration, and spoke about the National Park Service’s plans for the Commemoration and the Battle for Women’s Access to the Ballot. A great presentation, which starts at about 0:28 in the Meeting YouTube.

A great resource for more information: NPS.gov/womenshistory

John W. McCaskill, Frederick Douglass NHS

Second Speaker was John W. McCaskill, Park Ranger from the Frederick Douglass NHS, who spoke on African Americans in WW II, and dressed in a WW II Uniform. Also a great presentation, which starts at about 1:10 in the Meeting YouTube. Did you know that there were Tuskeegee Air Women??? One recently celebrated her 100th birthday.

Other Tidbits

The first Platinum Award was given to a family with 2 sons who are the youngest known people to receive the award. Just SEE how many Junior Ranger Badges they have!!!

We are still at the Bronze Level…100-199 parks visited, with 176.

The Trivia Game was fun…50 Questions…here’s a sample of one we got right that most attendees did NOT! How about you? (Note, all 4 options are in the Pacific Northwest Region.)

For more information on the club, visit the National Park Travelers Club Website…or check out other Social Media.