Four northwest Iowa organizations are co-sponsoring a “Winter Women in Nature Day” on Saturday, January 11.
“It’s going to be down in Oneota Park at Oneota Cabin down in Spencer,” says Amy Heibult of the Dickinson County Nature Center. “Women 18 years and older can join us. The cost is only $25. It includes lunch and a stainless steel water bottle.”
One of the morning sessions is about something
that comes from North American maple trees.
“Women can learn about how maple syrup is made and the tools that go into the process of collecting sap,” Heibult says.
In the afternoon, participants can choose from one of two outdoor activities. “Ice fishing at Scharnberg Park or a snowshoe walk and animal tracking adventure,” Heibult says. “Hopefully we have enough snow for the snowshoeing, but either way we’re going to be getting out and seeing what animal signs we can see.”
Registration for the event closes next Wednesday, January 8. It’s sponsored by the county conservation boards in Clay and Dickinson County, the Iowa Lakeside Lab and ISU Extension. According to the Outdoor Recreation Association, 55% of Americans over the age of four engaged in some outdoor activity last year — an all-time high.
(By Ed Funston, KILR, Estherville)