Hello Members of Women Outdoors!
It was nice meeting new friends and seeing old friends at The Gathering in August 2023. It was a great time where participants were able to select from new activities like a tubing trip, starting a night crawler (worm) farm or enjoying the night sights from a telescope, as well as offerings which have traditionally been available: songs around the campfire, paddling & paddling skill development, biking, hiking, birding, swimming, bike maintenance and repair, a wonderful talent show, silly skits, and more. Brava to Sandy Z, who organized registration, housing, food & schedule and to Becky F for managing the kitchen during the event; I think participants agree they both did an outstanding job on these large assignments and we appreciate their service. Thank you both!
If you are interested in helping plan The Gathering 2024, please email us at gathering@womenoutdoors.org
The Board of Directors for Women Outdoors (WO) held our annual retreat October 27-29 and we were thrilled to welcome two new board members: Jennifer MacKenzie, Regional Contact for Connecticut, and Jennifer Hodges. The Board worked hard planning, elected officers, reviewed the annual budget and established champions for Board committees. The Board parted at the end of the retreat dedicated to two goals: welcoming & safety, with some exciting plans for the new year and beyond.
The Board continues to focus on providing a safe space for women to gather and enjoy the outdoors. That safety includes three areas: (1) WO is committed to providing a welcoming environment so that whether someone is an expert or newer to being outdoors, all feel welcome, accepted and appreciated, (2) WO is committed to welcoming all women regardless of age, class, ethnicity, race, health, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, religion, physical size, education level, job and function, equipment/newness of their gear, personality traits, and other differences, and (3) WO is committed to providing safety: meaning the leader has some knowledge and experience (although not necessarily an expert), and is able and prepared to help someone newer to the activity to participate safely which, based on the event and current conditions, might include postponing for a more opportune time.
All positions in Women Outdoors are volunteer. Event leaders are volunteers and will continue to provide and have participants sign a release of liability for each event as is our current practice. Event leaders are the backbone of WO; if you are interested in becoming an event leader, please reach out to your Regional Contact (RCs and email address can be found on website).
The board left the retreat re-committed to growing and diversifying WO. If you know a woman who might be interested in joining WO, please share the information; this has proven to be one of the best ways to grow any organization. As you probably know, WO has a policy that a woman can participate in 3 activities to “try out” WO prior to joining.
We have a small but strong group working with Sandy Z on refreshing the WO website which Sandy Z lovingly created with help from others and has maintained for several years. Our Diversity Committee continues to meet monthly to discuss, research and plan.
Some members of WO participate only in local events while other members participate in events offered by different regions or “national” events. WO has two significant “national” events currently planned: Craftsbury and White Mountains 4 Day Getaway. And Women Outdoors Online Fun Times (WOOF) events will be starting soon!
Thank you for your trust and support. We look forward to an exciting new year in WO!
Margaret
