A Year of Change

2006
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!

Thanks to the Outdoors

Thanksgiving…
This year when you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner, remember to thank the outdoors. Without the beautiful outdoors, the feast before you would not exist. Remember the Pilgrims, who without knowledge of their new environment, would not have survived if it wasn’t for the native Wampanoag people.

A Brief History


The Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower to escape religious persecution in England. They planned to settle in the Hudson River region in New York State, which would have been considered "Northern Virginia," but they landed in Cape Cod instead. The Pilgrims migrated from there to Plymouth, where they decided to settle.

The first winter in the new land was harsh and only about half of the original pilgrims survived. In March of 1621, two Native Americans from the Patuxet tribe, Samoset and Squanto, introduced themselves to the Pilgrims, taught them how to plant and fertilize crops, and showed them the best places to catch seafood.

After the bountiful harvest in the Fall of 1621, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people joined together to thank the outdoors for their successful harvest. The celebration lasted three days and included games, music, and a small feast. Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving on an annual basis after this first feast. An annual Thanksgiving was not celebrated until the mid 17th century and did not occur on any set day or necessarily on the same day in different colonies in America.

Pilgrim Puzzler…
(Scroll down for the answer.)

The Pilgrims liked the wild turkey so much; they later wanted to give it what esteemed title?

Celebrate Outdoors…
Want to show your out-of-town relatives how beautiful Western Pennsylvania is in the fall? The Pumpkin Pie Hike is a great way to get some fresh air after the holiday. Come join us for a great hike through the local forests just before they go to sleep for the winter. After the hike we'll finish up with homemade pumpkin pie and other goodies, including our very own Trip Leader Council members Robyn Seminora-Morris and Mary Brenholts specialty pies.

When?: Friday, November 24, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Where?: Settler's Cabin Park

For more information or more activities check out the “Activity Spotlight” or “VO Activities” listing in the right column of our e-newsletter, Contours, or visit our website (www.ventureoutdoors.org).

Give Thanks
This year remember to give thanks to the outdoors. Show your appreciation by throwing trash in a garbage can instead of out the car window, pick up the trash you see to help clean up the outdoors, and remember to recycle and purchase products made from recycled materials. Take care of your environment and remember, every little bit counts!


Thanksgiving Links
The sources for the information provided in this article are listed below, along with some great sites for all your Thanksgiving information.

Thanksgiving/History

The History Channel.com – The History Channel provides some great Thanksgiving information, including myths & facts about the holiday.

Thanksgiving on the Net – This site has tons of great information!

Wilstar: Thanksgiving, Traditions and History – This family site has the wonderful Thanksgiving story and a quiz to see how much you really know about the holiday.

The Pilgrims' 1621 Thanksgiving – This page provides lots of information on the first Thanksgiving, including quotes from some of the Pilgrims!

Wikipedia – This article on Thanksgiving is informative and includes facts about Thanksgiving celebrations around the world.

The Pilgrims

Thanksgiving on the Net: Pilgrims – This article tells how the Pilgrims landed in Cape Cod and survived in their new environment.

The Pilgrim Hall Museum – The Pilgrim Story provides loads of information, articles, and more!

Pilgrim & Puritan History – This University of Virginia site is a fantastic scholarly article containing information on Pilgrim and Puritan history, including Thanksgiving.

Squanto

The Pilgrims & Plymouth Colony: 1620, Squanto – This site provides some great information about Squanto.

Squanto: The Thanksgiving Story - A Unique American who introduces a uniquely American Holiday: Thanks Giving, which, with out him would have never occurred in fact or in spirit.

Wikipedia – This article on Squanto provides tons of information about him and his impact on our history.


PUZZLER ANSWER:
The National Bird of the United States. Benjamin Franklin said, "I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country: he is a Bird of bad moral character: like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, he is generally poor and very often lousy.
The Turkey is a much more respectable Bird and withal a true original Native of North America." (http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/turkey.htm).

For more information visit Thanksgiving on the Net.

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