Stories from the Trails: The Goodner-Daniels Family
The 10th anniversary All Trails Challenge, presented by Newrez is just a few weeks away. Find essential dates, how to become a Challenger, and some new resources to help you explore all 50+ miles of trails in Wissahickon Valley Park and fundraise for their continued care at fow.org/atc!
Today, we’ll highlight an ATC team that used the Challenge to foster an appreciation for nature and enrich their family time.
Goodner-Daniels Family–Aly Goodner is director of the William Penn Charter School’s Center for Public Purpose, which supports teachers’ exploration of social and environmental justice issues. She grew up in Chestnut Hill, frequently going to the Wissahickon. Paul Daniels, owner/operator of the PAPERtrail Bike Cafe in Historic Rittenhouse Town, started riding the trails when the family moved back to the area in 2016. The Goodner-Daniels Family team, which in 2023 placed second in total funds raised, includes daughter Addy, 11, and son Wiley, 9. In 2020 or 2021, Addy took over Team Goodner-Daniels Family fundraising and engagement component, sending updates and thank-yous to their supporters.
Our first ATC was in 2017. Initially, we were just drawn to being in nature in this beautiful part of Philadelphia and being together as a family in this space, connected to each other and the environment. However, we quickly discovered how much you can learn about the city’s rich history by visiting structures like the Looking West and Toleration statues and Valley Green Inn. One of our family’s interests is Lenape history, so while we were exploring this incredible natural space, first stewarded by the Lenape, we made it a priority to learn about indigenous history in the area and continued efforts by the Lenape to steward this land. We appreciate that FOW is engaging people in and making accessible all the stories of the park–we prioritize that with our kids (learning the stories of people) and want to expose them to like-minded organizations.
To people who say they don’t have time to do the ATC, we recommend a more simple approach to this experience. The beauty of this event is that you can enjoy the trails in whatever way makes sense for you. The fact that we’ve been able to do it for so many years as a family with two young kids–and complete 20-30 miles on average each year–is a testament to its flexibility to people’s lives. We don’t overplan our engagement. Instead, we’ll look at our week and see where it’s taking us, then build in hikes by home, Paul’s shop, one of our kids’ sports or music activities, school, or somewhere else we may find ourselves in the moment. We determine that we’re going to go on a hike today–wherever that may take us and for as long as we can manage in that moment–be in nature and appreciate any time we get!
Addy speaks for our family when she says, “I love hiking in the Wissahickon since we get to be surrounded by nature, and I like being part of the ATC because it is our opportunity to help protect this special place in Pennsylvania.”
Thank you to the Goodner-Daniels family for their enthusiastic participation in the All Trails Challenge!