Artie Hidalgo

Do you know Artie?

Artie lived in Cuba until 1961 when, at 10 years old, he emigrated with his mom and brother Ray (Monge) to Hell’s Kitchen in NYC. Artie spent 36 years as an employee of the MTA Department of Buses, beginning as a mechanic and advancing to Assistant General Manager. Upon retiring, Artie sought to learn the art of stonework so he volunteered with Eddie Walsh of Tahawus Trails and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference working over 1,000 hours in his first year. Most of these hours were spent on the Bear Mountain Project, a relocation of the Appalachian Trail. Artie’s work with Eddie, his extensive reading on trails and stonework and his extensive on-the-ground experience rounded out his expertise in the art of designing and building sustainable trails.

In 2011, Artie co-founded the Jolly Rovers with the goal of creating a group of highly skilled volunteers to do stone trail work. Artie helps plan, design and oversee projects, trains crew members and teaches trail building workshops. Artie teaches crews as far south as Puerto Rico’s El Yunque’s Forest, as far west as Arkansas and as far north as Maine. Artie works with a wide range of volunteers, novices and experienced, as well as young and old, teaching workshops. Artie’s trail awards include: Ridgefield Arts Society Award for rebuilding historical stone walls at Weir Farm, National Park Service Award Volunteer of the Month, National Forest Service Award for Trail Layout, National Service Award for Trainings, Mohonk Preserve’s Gregory Switlik, Sr. Volunteer Achievement Award,

Artie has worked with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the DRAFT Crew in N.C, Tennessee Back Country Horsemen, Weir Farm Historic Site, and other trail crews, as a  professional and volunteer. At Mohonk Preserve in the Hudson Valley, Artie (with Linda Shekita) founded a Trail Builders Volunteer Crew, which is currently led by our very own Chris Hoey.

If someone happens to not recognize the name Jolly Rovers, they often do know the name, “Artie.”