Celebrate your love for the C&O Canal by sharing your personal story about the Park. Each story will take a look at a person’s relationship with the C&O Canal. Whether an NPS ranger, a volunteer, or a visitor, everyone has a story to tell about the canal! If you want to share your story, fill out the form below, email it to us at [email protected] or post it on your social media feeds with the hashtag #MyCanalStory. We could use your story here on our website!
Tammy Giberson: TowpathGO Fundraiser, Canal Community Days Volunteer, and C&O Canal Lover
Tammy Giberson at Canal Community Days
There’s a place tucked into Maryland that is also tucked away in my heart: the C&O Canal NHP. From humble beginning to roaring majesty, the Potomac River creates the perfect setting of history and harmony. On July 4, 1828, groundbreaking ceremonies for the C&O and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were held only miles apart. The two companies would have an intertwined relationship for over 100 years. Ultimately the Iron Horse would live on while the mule drawn boats would survive only in pictures and memory. If the canal was almost doomed from the beginning, why bother to continue building? Why put in effort and resources for a lesser option? I am drawn to this place because life sometimes seems like it has the same challenges.
I rediscovered the Towpath in a time of my life that felt like failure. All my well paved good intentions and plans had blown up into gravel. The hard packed trail was the perfect metaphor. Slowly my perspective shifted from the ground under my weary feet to the trees, the river, the birds. The life. Suddenly one day it dawned on me that while the original purpose of the C&O Canal was no longer relevant, it did not mean that it was not valuable. That shift in thought about the park translated into my life. I was “this” before; I am “that” now.
Photo Credit: Tammy Giberson
The Iron Horses of job, home maintenance, and the endless list of daily chores can peacefully coincide with the quiet guidance of faith, family, and friends. The first rolls on because it must; the second travels because I choose it.
So how do I show my love to a place? How do I represent the person I’m becoming to the area that is helping create a new me? Volunteer. Take every opportunity to serve. I can be part of organized events like Canal Days. Sometimes it’s simply showing up with the sun, trash bags in hand, to scavenge debris left behind by others. I can talk to people while I’m out adventuring about the history of our location. I’m always hopeful I’ll instill a sense of respect or gratitude into the next generation. I travel with a toy fox as a mascot and an ice breaker. Zee gets a lot of attention!
TowpathGo gives myself and others the chance to adventure and advocate at the same time. It’s not about just putting in miles. It’s raising tangible funds for practical upkeep. Romanticizing the past does not take us into the future. We live in the present. We can act now. I can act now. If many people do one small task and/or donate a few dollars then that many more people can enjoy the park.
Photo Credit: Tammy Giberson
I want to preserve the C&O Canal NHP for future generations. Maybe there is another who, like me, will find their way back to wholeness in the stillness. In the beauty. I want some wayward traveler to visit and know their life has purpose. Has meaning. Has value. The C&O has taught me these things. I want to share that love and joy.
