Calling All Outdoor Women of Paradise
The Kittitas County Field & Stream Club (KCFSC) was organized in March of 1919, making it the oldest such family hunting/fishing/outdoor club in Washington State. At that time, women and kids were generally as deeply involved in making and processing the family’s game, fish, livestock and produce as were the men. The Club – in keeping with its byline, “Working Today for Tomorrow’s Wildlife” – is re-establishing, and updating, some very timely partnerships. We want your help, as we approach our Centennial.
Time was, in my family and all the others I knew, hunting, fishing and outdoor tales were passed along from anyone handy. When we made our trips from East Wenatchee, Washington, over the Cascade Mountains to Tacoma, in the 1940s, Grandma Minshall always had a tale about how she and Grandpa worked together to feed their kids. As I grew, my aunts and girl cousins were as involved in the hunting and fishing part of feeding our family community as were the men.
After my blessed mother passed, I wrote about our mothers’ roles in helping us develop outdoor interests – and lives. In my case, my mother often noted that, when she saw a certain look in my face and eyes, she just opened the door, stepped back, and reminded me to be home for supper.
As my own family grew, hunting, fishing and gathering were family events, with sons and daughters all trained in needed skills, and always up to their elbows in making and processing meat and food. I think this held true for a lot of families in the West – and still does for some. But somewhere in the latter decades of the 20th Century, for whatever reason, women as a whole became less active in the hunting, fishing, gathering parts of our connections to Nature.
That is now changing. Women are the fastest growing segment of the hunting, fishing, shooting and outdoor sports movements. Recently, women made up half of the Club’s hunter ed classes, and Edward and I noted that a third of the handgun trainees in our Front Sight class were distaff humans. KCFSC will be sponsoring and supporting new opportunities for outdoor women.
For the first time, Washington Outdoor Women (“Dedicated to helping women achieve confidence and competence in outdoor skills since 1998”) will be offering hands-on workshops on the east side of the Cascades. This new activity will start in Kittitas County. On July 9, 7 p.m. in Hal Holmes, you can help decide which skills and workshops are offered first.
Washington Outdoor Women (WOW), is a program of the Washington Wildlife Federation. A variety of workshops are offered, open only to adult women and led exclusively by women “dedicated to teaching women and girls traditional outdoor wilderness skills in relevant settings.” A stated goal is that women leave the workshops ready to own their next adventure.
The annual WOW Weekend Workshop is the program we most hear about. This is its 21st year and it happens September 14-16 at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, Washington. Women instructors will teach 20 different skills to women at all skill levels and at an appropriate pace. Participants choose specific classes and experiences (including archery, backpacking, freshwater fishing, big game hunting basics, backyard wildlife habitat, wild foods, Dutch oven cooking, cutting up a carcass, map and compass, and so on). WOW provides expert instructors, all the equipment needed, plenty of take-home resources and networking opportunities – all with a “can-do” attitude.
Several One-Day Workshops are offered, led by certified woman instructors, and nearly all include equipment and supplies. The Snowshoeing Workshop involves coaching, training and practice on snow. The waterfowling day includes time in the field learning traditions, techniques and ethics of hunting waterfowl, along with shotgun handling and shooting at clay targets. The Shotgun/Trap Workshop focuses on the basics of shotgun safety, handling, and technique, with time for shooting clay targets.
Then there is the One-Day Pre-WOW Workshop which offers girls (8 to 13) the opportunity to sharpen their interest in the outdoors.
Jen Syrowitz is the new Executive Director of the Washington Wildlife Federation and Washington Outdoor Women. Here’s what she wants you to know: “Washington Outdoor Women (WOW) is a unique educational program of the Washington Wildlife Federation (WWF). By developing a deep and satisfying connection with nature, understanding outdoor ethics, and growing personal confidence through outdoor skills training, women and girls become stewards of – and advocates for – our natural resources, ensuring that wildlife and wild places in Washington State will be here for future generations. Founded in 1998 by Ronni McGlenn, WOW became a preeminent traditional outdoor skill building program. In 2018 I was brought in to oversee the program – offerings will increase and our geographic reach will expand throughout the state. The Kittitas Valley is our first stop! We will be in town on July 9th to share with you more about WOW, and to hear from you about your outdoor skill needs and desires.
We are working toward a future where women and communities in Washington State are empowered by, connected to, and caring for the land that sustains them. Please join us!”
Find out more at washingtonoutdoorwomen.org. Contact Jen Syrowitz at 425-785-3555 or [email protected].
See you at the Ellensburg Hal Holmes Center, 7 p.m. on July 9. Come help shape the future of our outdoor Paradise (and bring your men and boys along).
