Building community in the great outdoors

While living in Northern Virginia, Dan Taggart used to drive an hour each weekend to get to his favorite hiking trails.

The beautiful trails of Southwest Virginia were, in fact, one of the things that drew him to Virginia Tech when he moved in August 2021. 

“I found multiple trailheads within 10 minutes of my house and some of the most scenic views in the state are nearby,” said Dan Taggart, senior human resources manager in the Division of Auxiliary and Business Services.

Four years later, Taggart now facilitates a thriving hiking group called Weekend Hikers in collaboration with Hokie Wellness. 

“In the beginning, I relied heavily on group members and work colleagues to identify the hiking destinations. Then I found alltrails.com and was excited to see just how many hiking trails are already mapped nearby," said Taggart.

He now establishes a spring and fall hiking schedule for each year on the Hokie Wellness website. Summer and winter hikes happen too, but those tend to be selected on a week-to-week basis. 

The group’s first meetup happened in partnership with the Blacksburg Newcomers Club at Pandapas Pond, which is where Taggart likes to start most hiking seasons — it tends to be an easier trail to get to know newer hikers. Typically, Weekend Hikers’ group trails are anywhere between 4 and 8 miles, and some trips include Cascades, Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs.

Taggart said his commitment to being a Hokie Wellness Wellness Champion inspires his hiking group, “The two are definitely intertwined. Meeting people with a shared interest in hiking incentivizes me to hike regularly and find people to join me on the trail.”

Wellness Champions are employee volunteers who support Hokie Wellness by promoting well-being programs to departments, colleagues, and friends. Hokie Wellness typically recruits Wellness Champions in October of each year. However, employees are welcome to reach out at any point to share interest in volunteering.  

Weekend Hikers is one of 25 and growing community interest groups highlighted by Hokie Wellness. The groups currently fall into nine categories, ranging from arts and crafts, to parent meetups, volunteer-focused groups, and more. 

“The impact of quality connection with others on our health and well-being cannot be overstated. That being said, it can be really difficult to find community, especially if employees are new to the area. Our goal with interest groups is to help employees focus on what they love to do , and through this, we know they will find a community of people who enjoy the same things," said Dave Andrews, associate director of employee wellness.

While a few interest groups are managed by Virginia Tech and specific to employees, most are managed by members of the larger community and like Taggart's, open to all. Those interested in joining Weekend Hikers can go to the group’s Google page and request an invite. Taggart sends emails each Tuesday or Wednesday with details of the upcoming hike. His email list currently has over 250 members, and all are welcome to use the list to arrange their own hikes. 

Hokie Wellness invites leaders of existing interest groups to reach out for promotion on its website and monthly newsletter. Employees who would like to start their own group can fill out a form found on the Hokie Wellness website. Currently, the groups highlighted are all based in the New River Valley, but they welcome the support of employees from other campuses to help them grow in other areas.

As Weekend Hikers continues to grow, Taggart embraces new members, "I really enjoy seeing the hikers making connections with each other,” he said. “Some hikers join the group specifically looking for others who are interested in being outside. Occasionally, I’ll hear a group member say to another, ‘Wait, weren’t you in my office building for a meeting last week?’ That informal community building has been great to see happen organically.”