On September 13-15, 2013 over150 outdoor enthusiasts gathered at the Carl Jensen Environmental Education Center at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, WA to learn or renew their choice of outdoor skills and to share and celebrate their enjoyment of the outdoors.
WOW drew 122 participants from 75 different cities and towns in Washington and Oregon. 25 WOW volunteer instructors and a WOW Logistics Team of 13 coordinated the experiential education and the development of the event. In its 16th year, WOW is still providing this learning for women via hands-on application and practice in 18 different class offerings. WOW continues to stay mission focused: traditional skill building that instills self-reliance, confidence and responsibility in the outdoors. At WOW weekend events, fishing, hunting, shooting and archery techniques are always class offerings. These traditions are an integral part of our heritage and ones WOW will continue to pass on. Other outdoor skills – map and compass instruction, backpacking fundamentals, survival education, herbal and wilderness first aid, cooking and preparing foraged food, wild meat and fish, medicinal plants for trailside emergencies – all of these relate to coping in the outdoors and fortifying a woman’s sense of being prepared to survive challenging situations. Because of a 2013 grant from The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for this weekend workshop, WOW was able to award scholarships to interested women who otherwise would have been unable to experience the WOW program.
Especially motivating was a special presentation by Helen Thayer, a National Geographic explorer and bestselling New Zealand author who became the first woman to travel solo to the magnetic North Pole. Her example and her motto: A Goal without a Plan is just a Dream served as valuable inspiration and a reminder of the ability and initiative within all of us…
Three new additions to the 2013 workshop line-up were a Challenge Course, Soap Making 101, and a special break-out session by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Bruce Richards and his Karilian dog who assists in the capture of bear and cougar. Once again participant evaluations rated our line-up of instructors as outstanding. One women stated it’s “ the combination of skill-building and community !” Another said ”Getting out of my comfort zone was empowering”; and another, “it was the experience of spending all class sessions fully engaged.”
The workshop was a success on several levels but none more important than the women of WOW leaving with a renewed sense of confidence, motivation and investment in their potential…
