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Our 40th Gathering - September 2019 


Get Ready to Have Fun and Celebrate 40 years of Women Outdoors!

This is a big one for Women Outdoors!!!! This year, the organization turns the big FOUR-O! That's right, this nonprofit, nature-loving, outdoors-roaming, adventure-seeking, 100% women-run nonprofit has been getting together at our National Gathering every year for four entire decades, bringing women together to laugh and learn, to sing and play, to make new friends and cherish their old ones, from all across the country. It's three wonderful days of fun, laughing and learning, and we'd be overjoyed to have you with us to celebrate our history and to pay homage to the women who built this organization.

This year, we'll be returning to our new home in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. Whether you hike, bike, kayak, swim, gaze at the birds or at the stars, paint, play the ukulele or drum or you name it, sing, start campfires from scratch, scale walls, write or read, the Women Outdoors Gathering has something for almost everyone. Come sing happy birthday with us and to us—to ALL of us, be you a long-standing member or new to the group!

Announcing the Jan Brown Memorial Scholarship Award

We are thrilled to announce that in this, our 40th year, we are introducing a scholarship to honor the memory of Jan Brown. Jan was one of our beloved founding mothers. She was an historian and office manager whose contributions to Women Outdoors were vast: Jan tracked our organization's history and publications, as well as kept a comprehensive bibliography of books written by and about women's voyages and adventures in the outdoors that has now been donated to Mount Holyoke College, along with our Women Outdoors archives. She was a world traveler who visited far-flung lands and regaled us all with her marvelous photos and stories. To pay tribute to Jan's countless contributions and her inspiring life, we will be awarding a full scholarship to attend the National Gathering. The winner will be announced at the Gathering. Don't miss the announcement, timing to be determined—the recipient won't know until you ALL know!

RIP, Jan, we love you, and we miss you. This year, we are also hoping to pay homage to as many lifetime members as we can. We've been reaching out to individually ask them to please join us this year. They are the rocks that we build on, so please, if you know some of these special Women Outdoors members, urge them to join us at this very special gathering.   Read More about Jan




The Berkshire Outdoor Center's Becket Camp

The YMCA operates multiple campuses in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains in Becket, Massachusetts. This year, we'll be staying at the Becket Campus. 

We'll all be together at the historic Gibson Hall lodge. Steps away will be boating and swimming on the gorgeous, pristine Rudd Pond.

DAYTIME ACTIVITIES

The activities at the Gathering are a combination of volunteer-led workshops and offerings from the Berkshire Outdoor Center and its staff. Favorites include the hike to see, up close, the dam and lodges of the American Beavers that live on the ponds in the Berkshires; lantern making workshops with our creative maven Monica; kayaking and canoeing instruction with our ACA certified instructors Bonna and Deb; boating on the pristine, 100-acre Rudd Pond; a night walk where you'll learn things about pirates and eyeballs that you well may never have known; a challenge course that will include a climbing tower, high ropes, and a zip line, and much, much more!

Do you want to be part of the "much, much more?" If you're interested in leading a workshop, please go to our Programming & Activities page (link below) for instructions on how to submit your title and description.

Leaders of workshops accepted by the Gathering Committee will receive a $35 rebate on their registration fee.

Programming & Activities


EVENING ACTIVITIES

Evening features this year will include the Women Outdoors annual meeting, our ever-popular and typically hilarious and/or jaw-dropping Talent Show, a campfire with s'mores and a sing-along, and dancing.



Accommodations

The two-story Gibson Hall lodge, devoted to Women Outdoors' exclusive use for the Gathering, sleeps a total of 78. Check out the floor plan. As you can see, the rooms surround a massive, two-story, central auditorium. It's all made of old, dark wood. We've been calling it the Harry Potter House!

Gibson Hall has electricity, heat and hot water, with shared bathrooms.

Room assignments are first come, first served. We have a total of 17 rooms that can be doubles, triples, or quads. When you register, you can request your roommates. If no preference is given, we will match you up, filling double rooms first (unless you have a preference for 3 or 4 in a room). If you require a private room, send us an email to: gathering@womenoutdoors.org.

Tenting Option: Do you prefer to tent? Tenting is the same price as lodging in Gibson Hall. Tents may be pitched adjacent to Gibson Hall with use of the facilities (restroom/shower) at Gibson Hall. You may select this option when you register.

dining

Meals will be served in the camp's beautiful dining hall, on the shores of Rudd Pond. The meals include a fabulous array of options, with pastas, chicken, vegetables, delicious steaks, and vegetarian options at all meals. The mouth-watering selections are accompanied by an extensive salad bar, fabulous desserts and snacks, fresh fruits and coffee, tea and drinks, as well as hot vegetarian options.

Make sure that when registering you fill out the optional form for those with food allergies, and get it back to us by the deadline so that the kitchen staff can accommodate you!

You can find that form in the  PAPERWORK  section at: 

Gathering Resources


Registration Details

Lodging Friday to Sunday – 3 Days / 2 Nights

Includes 7 meals, 2 nights lodging, and all activities:

  • Friday: Lunch, Dinner
  • Saturday: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
  • Sunday: Breakfast, Lunch

Adult/Youth age Over 13 - $341

  Summer Sale - only $317

Kids aged 5-13 - $265, age under 5 - Free

Friday, Saturday OR Sunday – 1 day

Includes 2 meals, day and evening activities:

  • Friday: 9 am - 9 pm, Meals: Lunch, Dinner
  • Saturday: 9 am - 9 pm, Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Includes 2 meals, and day activities:
  • Sunday: 8 am - 5 pm, Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Adult/Youth age Over 13 - $80

Summer Sale - only $59

   Kids aged 5-13 - $55, age under 5 - Free

Please register and pay by July 31, 2019.

After that date, fees go up $25 for all registrations.

Some partial scholarships are available. To apply for a partial scholarship to the Gathering, download this form and return your completed application no later than August 21 to the Gathering coordinator at gathering@womenoutdoors.org.

Please note: Gathering attendance is for Women Outdoors members only. If you are not a member, please Join Now or Renew your membership!

Register Now

More Info / Contact

More Information:

For required/optional Paperwork, Packing lists, Check-in/out times, etc. Be sure to visit this page to fill out the required form after you have registered!

Gathering Resources

For detailed information on our programs and activities, including a daily schedule. 

Check out our Photo Gallery. Have you attended past Gatherings? We'd love to see your best photos of attendees and activities.

Photo Gallery from Past Gatherings

Need help?

For General questions: gathering@womenoutdoors.org

For Registration questions: gatheringregistration@womenoutdoors.org

For Workshop questions: workshops@womenoutdoors.org

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