Are you suffering from “Nature Deficit Disorder”?

Even as the weather improves in Warren County, people are generally spending more time indoors with work, chores, computer games, TV …

The Northern Allegheny Outdoor Women’s Association (NAOWA) has the cure.

The group will present its annual “Women’s Outdoor Workshops” (WOW) Saturday, May 30, at Chapman State Park

NAOWA is a group of women (and men) “who are passionate about the outdoors,” explained member Penny Lester. “Our mission statement says it all: ‘Fostering a love and appreciation of the outdoors and our community through education, recreation, conservation and wellness’.”

The day of workshops will be a “great opportunity for women to learn a new skill, find others who are interested in similar activities, or just to try something they’ve always thought about doing,” Lester said. “Classes are 75 minutes in length and are taught by instructors who love to share their passion with others. We’ve had women who have attended a class, gone home to talk with their family members, and they have all decided to try the new activity. Our ‘corner of the world’ has so many opportunities for enjoying the outdoors, and we want everyone to get a chance to do so!”

WOW, now in its third year, benefits Chapman State Park, where its held, and area schools.

“In 2013, we provided $1,500 in funding to build an educational kiosk at one of the Chapman trails,” Lester said. “The kiosk was built by students at the Warren County Career Center. We also provided eight $250 grants to Warren County School District (WCSD) educators and club advisors who utilized the monies to promote outdoor education in the form of GPS units, EcoLab improvements at Eisenhower, building of nesting boxes for Northern Saw-whet owls, SCUBA diving education, trout raising supplies, and educational field trips. In 2014, we purchased five new picnic tables for Chapman, plus enough additional lumber to repair up to a dozen additional tables. We also awarded six $250 grants to WCSD groups for such activities as the construction of an outdoor butterfly garden, bulletin board for outdoor activities, field trips, Earth Day celebrations and Ecolab activities.”

Registration is limited to 200 participants, so sign up soon. Last year 198 people participated, and coordinators are expecting the same great response this year.

Participants will have plenty of assistance in trying new areas of interest.

“We have approximately 125 volunteers and instructors at the park that day,” Lester said, “so we limit our participation to make sure everyone can be accommodated and space is adequate for all.”

Although the focus of the day is on learning new skills and getting outside, making friends is important too.

“We are gratified to see that individuals come by themselves and immediately make friends, while others come as a family (we have a number of two-generation groups) or as an office group,” Lester added.

Registrants can pre-select four classes they want to take (along with four alternate classes), and registrar numbers each registration in the order in which they are received so the “early birds” always get their first choices. With 29 different classes, it would be hard for anyone to be disappointed. See the list at right.

Hard copies of the registration forms are available at the Warren Public Library, the Warren County YMCA, Allegheny Outfitters, Allegheny Fly-Fishing and online at Facebook and at business.wccbi.org/

events/details/women-s-outdoor-workshops-478. Registration deadline will be May 16.

“Many of our instructors have been with us for all the years at Chapman,” Lester said, “and are always so gracious in their response when we ask them to return. Some of our instructors teach the same class, while others like to vary their offerings. For 2015, we have a number of new classes: Aimee Loree will be presenting Yoga, Diane Scarcella and her sister Eileen Goodling will be offering a Women’s Drum Circle, our artist Kim Slocum will be offering Watercolor Painting in Nature, Chapman Educational Specialist Jen Moore will be helping the women build Squirrel Boxes, gardener Josie Gerardi will be featuring Gardening with Bulbs, Beverly Leonhardt will be the leader for Campfire Singin’ and Piper VanOrder will be introducing Kayak Fishing. We will also be offering our traditional classes that are always popular: Archery, Bird Watching, Catchin’ and Cookin’ (fish), Dutch Oven cooking, canoeing and kayaking, shooting sports and self-defense … plus lots more!”

A chicken barbecue lunch is included in the $40 registration fee. John Beard and his volunteers will also cook his “Critter Beans” (“We never know exactly what those critters might be,” Lester said) over an open fire all morning. During lunch, Pat Leach will show her MY WEE RV; there will be some vendors and nonprofit organizations with information tables; and Park Ranger Tyson Martin will talk about year-round activities at Chapman. There will also be a special quadrathlon scavenger hunt. As in past years, there will be special musicians who have their jam session in the lunch tent.

At the end of the day, all participants and volunteers will gather for a fun time with raffles and games.

“As soon as we bid ‘good-bye’ to our participants, we start planning for the next year, as we always get great ideas for classes and instructors from our participants,” Lester added.

Participants should plan to be at Chapman between 8 and 8:30 a.m., and the day will end at approximately 5 p.m. Minimum age is 14, and teens age 14 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. The event will be held rain or shine, so participants are encouraged to dress for the weather.

NAOWA also plans other collaborative efforts such as the Sasquatch Trail Run (held at end of October at Chapman) and the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (held in downtown Warren). Both of those events are in collaboration with Explorer Troop 12. Everyone associated with the organization is a volunteer.