Bill Gifford started out leading trips for Sierra Club 50 years ago as a leader and chair for our Local Outings program. After attending a couple of trips with National Outings, the Northwest subcommittee chair asked if he would like to lead. The rest is history!
According to Bill, the special “something” that makes Sierra Club Outings so unique is the shared experience and companionship. Though he has done a lot of solo hiking, which certainly has its own charms, these adventures are even better when shared. There have been seven couples who met on Bill’s trips and eventually married, and countless lasting friendships forged.
Reflecting on the years he has dedicated to our program, Bill says that “the Sierra Club Outings program is the second best thing I have done with my life,” the first being his family. “I thank the Sierra Club for the opportunity to lead. If I have made any contribution to the Sierra Club, so much the better. But I think it is I who owes Sierra Club for the opportunity, for all of the people I’ve met, and friends that I’ve made. There is a saying ‘friends are the family we choose.’ I’ve made a lot of friends through Outings and some of those have, in turn, become family. I am very grateful for the people and experiences of some 95 trips.”
Thank you, Bill, for your many years serving our program.
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