Ryan Keller Memorial Hike

We mourned the loss of one of our dear neighbors and friends last September, Ryan Keller, who poured much of his passion and energy into building a wilderness program called Bridge, with his partner Clark Brewer, with the mission to connect Dalewood Middle School youth to local wilderness areas.

On Saturday, March 3rd, friends and family members were invited to hike together on the Tennessee River Gorge Trust trails in honor of Ryan’s birthday (actually on March 4th), and to raise awareness about the Bridge program that Clark continues to build. It was absolutely gorgeous spring-like weather, with bright sunshine, and wildflowers peeping through.

Friends of Glass Street in attendance included Nicole Lewis, Olga De Klein, Cameron Williams, former neighbor TJ Mitchell, Annette Allen, and Whitni McDonald. Overall attendance was around 40 friends and family. It was wonderful to see so many wanting to help underwrite Clark’s continued efforts with Bridge. As Nicole says, “Ryan worked hard to connect kids to nature, so we were so that Clark could make use of camping equipment that has been donated to support some of our past collective endeavors with partners like Outdoor Chattanooga and the National Parks Service. The wilderness is healing. It opens up new worlds, Ryan helped stir that up, and now his spirit lives on.”