Teens to Trails, the 7-year-old nonprofit organization that supports high school outing clubs across Maine, went distinctively outdoorsy with its first fundraising party, Bow Ties and Bean Boots.

“This is really our first crack at a fundraiser,” said Carol Leone, founder of Teens to Trails (T3). “We wanted to be a little bit dressy, but also a little bit fun with the Bean boots.”

Longtime T3 supporter L.L. Bean brought its bootmobile to the event at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough. And the nearly 200 guests were comfortably attired in bow ties, dresses and outdoor footwear – perfect for playing croquet and bean bag toss, ordering dinner from food trucks and roasting marshmallows for s’mores while the Gunther Brown band played roots rock.

“It’s a great Maine experience,” said Liz Kreitinger of Portland.

“I was very literal,” said Jess Vogel of Portland, pointing to her Bean boots. “For the first time, this is great.”

“I think they’ve put together something incredible,” said June Finnegan of Edgecomb, a friend of the Leones.

Finnegan was talking about the party itself but also Teens to Trails, a project that was born out of the Leone family’s grief. The youngest of two daughters, 15-year-old Sara Leone, an outdoorsy student at Wiscasset High School, was killed in a car accident in 2005.

“When we lost her, we were trying to get up in the morning and think about something we cared about,” Carol Leone said. “Wiscasset High School had an outing club, and we realized that outing clubs are the key to energizing teens in the outdoors. School is the center of their universe.”

The goal of Teens to Trails is to establish an outing club in every high school in Maine. Since 2007, T3 has worked with about 90 of the state’s high schools, about half of them. School outing clubs apply to T3 for financial support through its grants program.

“I think their entire program started on adrenaline,” said Laurie Gilman, events coordinator for L.L. Bean. “I don’t think they thought for a second that this wouldn’t be a successful organization. And they’re actually getting hundreds of kids going to conferences.”

“We go on a lot of hikes, and we try to do two camping trips a year,” said Phoebe Keyes, a senior in the Brunswick High School outing club. “I think an outdoor setting is one of the best ways to get to know people in real life.”

“I wouldn’t be who I am today without the outing club,” said Andrea Chim, a recent graduate of Portland High School. “I never really knew what I liked to do. I didn’t have a passion. But then other students taught me skills I didn’t have before, and then I could teach other students. You test your boundaries and comfort zones.… I love to see the joy on their faces when they make it to the top of the mountain and look out.”

Andrea inspired her younger sister Annika, a Portland High junior, to get involved. “I didn’t think I could make it all the way up the mountain, and when I did it was a revelation to me that I could,” said Annika Chim. “We didn’t have any sleds, so we slid down the mountain in our snowpants!”

T3 has awarded Portland High School’s outing club $500 a year for the past three years.

“What we’ve been able to do with $500 has been amazing – and otherwise couldn’t have been done,” said outing club adviser Gerry White, who teaches art at the school and is a registered Maine guide.

Portland High students come from about 40 countries and speak 26 languages, White said. From that diverse student body, more than 100 students have chosen to participate in outing club activities – including hiking, sea kayaking, mountain biking, sledding, ice skating and even three-day canoe trips. Every event is free or low-cost to students.

Many schools don’t fund outing clubs, and because they’re not spectator sports or competitive, not everyone sees how transformative they are in the lives of teenagers, explained Mckenzie Smith, partnerships coordinator for Teens to Trails.

“It’s crucial to child and teen development to get them outdoors,” said Katie Brooke of Portland, whose partner Ben Guerette is a T3 board member. “Not everybody plays football after high school, but anybody can take a walk in the woods.”

“You learn so much about yourself though a good strenuous hike,” added Dan Guerette, Ben’s father.

“For kids who don’t grow up with an outdoors lifestyle, it’s hard to get that going,” said Janet Wyper, community relations manager for L.L. Bean. “Carol and her crew are amazing. We have been providing cash and products to support their work with outing clubs.”

L.L.Bean has provided tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, headlamps – “anything that can help move their work forward,” Wyper said.

Carol and Bob Leone received the L.L. Bean Outdoor Heroes award in 2011, and this year the White House selected Carol as a “Champion of Change: Engaging the Next Generation of Conservation Leaders.”

T3 took another step forward this year, forming the Association of Maine Outing Clubs (AMOC) to share ideas and experiences – as well as gear – among clubs.

“What Teens to Trails is doing is really innovative, and we’re really excited about it,” said Zak Klein. Klein and Hannah Quimby – of the Quimby Family Foundation that has supported T3 since 2009 – are ambassadors for Outdoors Empowered Network, traveling cross-country in a van. But they made sure to attend Bow Ties and Bean Boots, properly attired.

The outdoor party raised $12,000 to support outing clubs.

“The Leones have a wicked pull,” said Nick Sampson, an outdoorsy type from Yarmouth who checked out a meeting in their living room six years ago and now chairs the Teens to Trails board. “It just hit home with me. It was so warm and welcoming.”

Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer based in Scarborough. She can be reached at:

amyparadysz@gmail.com

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