33rd Annual National Gathering 
May 25 - May 28, 2012
Get Ready to Have Fun and Celebrate 33 years of Women Outdoors!
Every Memorial Day weekend, women from across the country come together for the Women Outdoors National Gathering: three wonderful days of fun and adventure at the Sargent Center in southern New Hampshire. Whether you are a hiker or biker, kayaker or swimmer, birder or star gazer, painter or poet, writer or reader, the Women Outdoors Gathering has something for almost everyone. Nature’s Classroom is now leasing the Sargent Center from Boston University so we are fortunate we are able to continue in the place we have come to love.
Daytime Activities
Most of the activities at the Gathering are volunteer-led workshops. Some of the favorites include the hike to the heron rookery to see the fuzzy heads of baby heron, the wildflower identification walk, trekking up Mount Monadnock, and biking New Hampshire’s back roads. Members also offer workshops such as orienteering, knot tying, bicycle repair, camp cooking, drumming and first aid. (Special note: You receive a $20 discount on your registration fee when you sign up in advance to lead a workshop.) Some of the quieter offerings may include chi qong, yoga, painting and crafts. In addition, women can canoe, kayak or swim in Half Moon Pond, explore the many walking trails at the Sargent Center, or challenge themselves with an adventure activity such as the climbing wall or high ropes course.
Here are some of the workshops that were offered at the 2011 Gathering: Invasive Plant Identification; Early Morning Nature Reflections; Hike Mt. Skatutakee; Meal Planning; Japanese Bodywork; Hike around Sargent Center; Hike or Ride to Pack Monadnock; Making Space for Sabbath; Meditating with Nature; Orienteering; Beginner Pilates; Drumming; Hike Mt. Monadnock; Angelspeake; Bike Ride to Quaint Town; Training for Women Outdoors RCs on the WO website; Off-site Paddle (bring your own kayak); the Nature of Prose; Nature Hike to the Rookery.
Evening Activities
On Friday night, the Gathering opens with “getting to know you games” that leave you laughing with your new friends. Get ready to dance after that. Saturday evening features a keynote speaker, followed by a dance with a DJ and board games. On Sunday night, we hold the Women Outdoors annual meeting, followed by our always entertaining coffee house review – a talent show of Women Outdoors members. We often have a campfire, s’mores and sing-along on Saturday and Sunday nights.
2011 Keynote Speakers - Nancy Sporborg and Pat Piper - It's Not About the Hike
We all have mountains to climb. Your mountain may be a 4,000 footer in the White Mountains. But it could also be going to college, getting a job, bringing up children, caring for aging parents, or dealing with an illness. Maybe your mountain is reorganizing a business, tackling a difficult project, losing weight or starting an exercise program. It's your own personal mountain and it is hard.
It's Not About the Hike is a presentation that will bring you into your heart, lift your spirits, and inspire you to climb that next mountain in your life. It is a not a presentation of "look at these two women...see what they did." It is a presentation of "look inside you...you can do it too."
This program is the journey of two 50 plus year old non-hikers who one day decided to climb the 67 mountains in New England over 4,000 feet. Nancy Sporborg and Pat Piper are two ordinary women who went on an extraordinary journey over the mountain summits and into their hearts. This is the story of what they found inside themselves as they hiked over 1,250 miles to the tops of over 190 mountains through all four seasons.
The presentation is an inspirational and motivational program about pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, overcoming our fears, finding our passions and living our lives to the fullest. Learn more about our 2011 keynote speakers at their website, It's Not about the Hike.
The Sargent Center
Nature's Classroom operates the Sargent Center in Hancock, New Hampshire. Located in the Monadnock region of southern New Hampshire, the 800-acre camp features hiking and biking trails and a large lake – Half Moon Pond – for canoeing, kayaking, swimming and relaxing. Perhaps most important, the meals at the Gathering are fabulous.
Accommodations
Women have a variety of options for their stay at the Gathering. Cabins sleep 4 to 10 people in bunk beds and have a living room and a bathroom with hot showers. Dorm rooms sleep up to 6 people in bunks and have a bathroom with hot showers at the end of the hall. Cabins and the dorm are heated and have electricity.
Yurts sleep 4 to 6 people on cots in an open floor plan. The yurts are like round platform tents and are completely enclosed and above ground. There is no heat or electricity in the yurts. Women who want to camp can pitch their tent in the meadow. There is a separate bathhouse with hot showers for the yurters and tenters.
Meals
The Sargent Center prepares delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian entrées for each meal. Desserts are fabulous. Meals from Saturday breakfast through Monday lunch are included in the price of the Gathering. Friday night’s dinner is an additional charge.
Registration Fees
We encourage all women to lead a workshop and receive a $20 discount. Please help to create an exciting program at our national Gathering by sharing your skills.
Fees range from $110-$285, depending on the accommodations you choose and how many days you attend. Some partial scholarships are available. For a complete list of fees, see the 2011 Registration page. [Note: The fees may change for 2012.]
Please note: Gathering attendance is for Women Outdoors members only. If you are not a member, please Join Now or Renew your membership!
