It's the end of the year and time to look back on 2006. It was a great year for Venture Outdoors...with a lot of change and growth. The staff and board of Venture Outdoors thank each of our volunteers, members, donors, partners and participants for their help in bettering VO and the Pittsburgh Region. Reminisce with us and look forward to an even better 2007!
January 1
Venture Outdoors rolled into 2006 as an official 501(c)3 non-profit, breaking away from its former parent organization, the Tides Center. Founder Mike Schiller stepped down as our Executive Director to blaze new trails (now in Seattle near Mt. Rainier). Wes Posvar, VO Board Member took over as interim ED for the following 6 months while a new ED was being found.
January 16
The 4th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Park, a co-coordination between Venture Outdoors and the SCA, brought over 300 kids and adults together to celebrate diversity of people with a diverse number of outdoor (and indoor) activities.
Join us as we celebrate the 5th annual MLK Day in the Park!
(Sign up to be a volunteer by contacting Allison Ruppert: 412-255-0564 x26 or aruppert@ventureoutdoors.org by January 12.)
February 12
Member's Winter Party at Ohiopyle.
Featuring the 3rd Annual Camp Stove Cook-off!
It was one of the few weekends where we had a substantial amount of snow.
April 13 & 14
The 4th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival expanded its stay in Pittsburgh for 2 nights with different films showing each night.
May 20
6th annual Venture Outdoors Festival draws over 5,000 people to the North Shore. This year featured a new addition to the Kayak Pittsburgh fleet, the hydro-bike, which our former Mayor Bob O'Connor tried out himself.
June 3
KP's second location, Kayak Pittsburgh North at the North Park Boathouse opens for business.
June 25
Venture Outdoors Birthday Party
On this day we celebrated 5 years of getting people outside.
The Boogie Hustlers helped us rock out at the North Park Boathouse!
July 10
The Home Run Derby sent over 20 baseballs into the Allegheny River...which sent Pittsburgh into the limelight as a kayaking destination as the flurry of paddles and bodies literally dove after their piece of All-Star history.
July 17
New Executive Director, Erik Lingren took over as head of Venture Outdoors.
August 2006
Once again, Venture Outdoors was cited as one sign that Pittsburgh is a great place to recreate. Pittsburgh was highlighted in the National Geographic Adventure Magazine as the top Adventure City in the U.S.
October 28
Both locations of Kayak Pittsburgh closed for the season with record numbers.
November 15 - 17
The VO office received a face-lift, as staffers replaced furniture and rearranged to provide a more efficient working environment and more space for classroom sessions.
December 13
The Holiday Housewarming party was well attended by the VO staff, board, volunteers, and friends.
December 31
Venture Outdoors will once again be running the Snowshoe Wonderland part of the First Night celebrations in Downtown Pittsburgh. Contact Allison (412-255-0564 x26 or aruppert@ventureoutdoors.org) if you want to Volunteer!
