FRIEDENSBURG — Women participated in a variety of outdoor activities Saturday at the 14th annual Women’s Outdoor Day at the Friedensburg Fish and Game Association.
“The main goal is to introduce these women to the different outdoor activities they can enjoy that they may not have time to with kids,” Dennis Scharadin, secretary of the Schuylkill County Sportsmen’s Association, said. “A lot of times women don’t get the opportunity to do these activities.”
The free event, sponsored by the Schuylkill County Sportsmen’s Association, started at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. Attendees were able to try activities such as fishing, archery, shooting various firearms, canoeing and kayaking.
Pistol shooting was added this year after many requests, Scharadin said. The pistol shooting replaced last year’s events of black powder shooting and fly casting. He said they try to change up the events each year to keep things different.
Mothers who brought their children to Schuylkill County Youth Field Day wanted to do the activities, as well, Scharadin said. So, starting in 2000, Women’s Outdoor Day has been held in August. Girls and women over the age of 16 are able to attend the event.
Women’s Outdoor Day was inspired by Youth Field Day. The Schuylkill County Sportsmen’s Association has held Youth Field Day since 1994 for children between 10 and 15.
“There is no age limit at this event after 16. We have people of all ages attend,” Scharadin said.
During Women’s Outdoor Day, participants go to each activity station and can decide which events they want to do.
“A lot of the time, those women will see others doing the event and end up wanting to anyway,” Scharadin said.
A group of friends, who said they met through line dancing and call themselves the Cowbell Bandits, attended the outdoor day.
Of the nine Cowbell Bandits, this was the first year Heather Strouphauer, 26, and Tammy Fuller, 50, both of Pine Grove, attended the event.
Strouphauer and Fuller said the outdoor day was fun to do with friends and they plan on attending next year.
Many groups of mothers and daughters attended the event to bond, Scharadin said.
Ashley Dixon, 27, of Lewistown, said she drove from two hours away to attend the event and spend time with her mother, Denise Logan, 47, of Cressona.
Becky Shire, 22, of Deer Lake, also attended to spend time with her mother, Michele Yob, Schuylkill Haven. Yob said her other two daughters, Mary Shire, 26, of Nashville, Pennsylvania, and Liz Reber, 24, of Auburn, had to leave early but also spent the morning with their mother and sister.
Scharadin said the event is not only for women, but also led by women. All instructors at the event were women, with the exception of one male instructor who replaced a woman who couldn’t attend.
Robin Tracey, environmental education specialist at Locust Lake State Park, Barnesville, said she volunteered to instruct canoeing and kayaking.
“Most of the women have done pretty well today,” Tracey said. “No one has ended up in the pond yet, anyway.”
She also teaches kayaking classes at Tuscarora State Park, Barnesville.
Theresa Santai-Gaffney, register of wills and clerk of the Orphans Court, was the fishing instructor and said she hasn’t missed a year of the event.
She said, “It’s a beautiful place and has such a great host.”
Santai-Gaffney said there are normally 60 to 80 women who attend each year, and she attends the event each year “to be outside and enjoy the scenery.”
She said she hopes that the program will spread across Pennsylvania.
Susan Long, 50, of Pottsville, said she would tell others to do the event because “it’s a good time.”
The Cowbell Bandits also joked that it was nice to have the men of the Schuylkill County Sportsmen’s Association cook for them. The group agreed that the men worked very hard to put the day together.
About 50 of the 65 preregistered people attended this year.
“We are always hoping for more, but we are happy with what we get,” Scharadin said.
Scharadin said the event is free each year thanks to funds raised at their annual banquet and at the Schuylkill County Fair. He said they raffled off a kayak at the fair this year.