News & Stories

Welcome, New Adventures Director!

By Annie Harvieux, Intern

Anthony in Tenn“The Foundation is not a typical non-profit,” says the job description for the recently hired Loppet Adventures Director. Few statements are more ambiguous than this, or more true. Rather than crunching numbers behind a desk, the Loppet Adventures Director is charged with the gargantuan but vital task of bringing together Minneapolis community members of all ages and backgrounds and instilling in them a love of the outdoors. Along with administrative tasks like hiring coaches and coordinating with other Loppet programs, the Adventures Director is responsible for coordinating Loppet Events that range from small, relaxed functions like the Waffle-Loppet to much larger endeavors, like the Foundation’s Minne-Loppet program and middle school ski teams, Loppet Adventure and ski camps, member activities, outings and adults clubs.

Though it’s a big job, the Loppet Team has found just the right man: Anthony Taylor. Taylor first came to the Loppet through his involvement with the Major Taylor Cycling Club, which collaborates with the Loppet youth programs for rides. “The amount of support we [at Major Taylor] got from the Loppet was amazing,” says Taylor, “And after that I started as a coach for the Nellie Stone Johnson team and I really began to see all the work that the Foundation does, and then my child went to Adventure Camp so I really had the experience of benefitting from all the things that the organization does.”

Taylor says he became interested in being Adventures Director as he worked with the Nellie Stone kids, and describes the experience as “eye-opening, it has really helped me realize the importance of connecting our youth to the outdoors and active lifestyle.” He describes the kids he works with as “typical kids that are active in a positive way, but it masses in a negative way because of a lack of interest or lack of an outlet. The team, and the work with skiing, biking, canoeing and just being outdoors they do, gives them an outlet for their energy and also a creative outlet so they are able to be more focused in life and in the classroom, which translates to better behavior and classroom performance.”

Taylor comes to the Loppet from a background of 20 years of heavy involvement with the Major Taylor Cycling Club. He looks forward to the Foundation because, as he says, “the Foundation is a family of people: volunteers, participants, the team itself, all people who actually live the lifestyle they advocate, and the service this community of people offers is an immersion solution for people to get healthier, and re-connect to our families and communities and the outdoors.” He also states he is excited to help the Loppet’s mission grow around the Twin Cities.