Earth Day, Rainy Day

For the third straight year Mother Nature tested our mettles by giving us a some challenging, chilly weather for last weekend’s Earth Day celebration! The steady downpour didn’t deter a few dozen hardy folks from coming out and enjoying the day though!

While Tyler wrangled folks for an introduction to geocaching, I camped a-ways up the Meadow Trail under my big blue tarp. What else was under this big blue tarp? A small, but mighty, campfire, and plenty of marshmallows!

Everyone visiting the big blue tarp tent had a chance to hone their roasting skills and learn a few facts about conscious firebuilding. We even had a few return customers from last year, (which was even colder and rainier,) that remembered all the important points and demonstrated their own firebuilding skills.

I, for one, like a good rain. If nothing else, it makes a dry spot and campfire even more inviting!

-chris!

City High Gets Paddling!

Every week, students at City Charter High School get outside with Venture Outdoors. Whether it’s paddling, fishing, biking, or geocaching, the students in City High’s Outdoors Club try it all!

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Sewickley Scouts kayak the Allegheny

This past Saturday,  September 18th, Venture Outdoors Group and Youth Programs led an energetic troop of Girl Scouts on an Allegheny River paddle.  While this is a tried and true route for VO, it was new for all the scouts. Down from Sewickley, the troop seldom gets the chance to experience Downtown Pittsburgh, especially from the river’s perspective. Read more

An evening with ALCOA on the Allegheny

Venture Outdoors would like to thank our friends at ALCOA for organizing an evening paddle with us along the Allegheny River. ALCOA brought an awesome energy with them on August 30th, best shown in their paddling pace!

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Summer Dreamers students leading the way

This summer, the Pittsburgh Public Schools launched the Summer Dreamers Academy: a free, 5-week summer camp created just for students in grades 5-7. Morning activities were focused on literacy with awesome themes like “McDonald’s, Mars and Flying Cars: Spectacular Science,” and every afternoon, students were able to jump into high-caliber activities facilitated by 26 of the best organizations in the city…including VO!

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Kayak, Bike, Connect: Pittsburgh Connections

Last Saturday, a group of 25 students gained a new, insightful perspective of the city that many of them will be calling home. As part of the orientation process, incoming Carnegie-Mellon University freshmen participated in our Pittsburgh Connections program.

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Hikes, kayaks and fishy faces!

This summer, Venture Outdoors’ Group and Youth Programming teamed up with the Providence Family Support Center to provide some great adventures!

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Light of Life Ministries Kayak Extravaganza

On June 18, 2010, a group of wonderful people from Light of Life Ministries joined Venture Outdoors for a morning of kayaking on the Allegheny.  Our trip would take us on a journey up river to experience the city of Pittsburgh from a stunningly gorgeous perspective.  For many of our group members, this was their first time in a kayak.  Our guides are passionate and most importantly patient with all of our guests.  They love to relay the importance of proper technique and safety to every participant.  Almost all of our first time guests pick up kayaking within the first half mile on the water, and swear they will come back again. Read more

Not your ordinary summer school!

Learning in the morning and fun in the afternoon, probably not a typical summer school experience, but this is Pittsburgh Public School’s Summer Dreamers Academy– a free 5 week camp for middle-grade students.

Students spend the morning session in the classroom focusing on literacy, then split up to spend the afternoon with one of 28 organizations experiencing anything from theater or art to sports or outdoor recreation, it’s their choice.

Venture Outdoors is honored to be part of the summer camp, we’re taking the students who signed up for our afternoon adventures geocaching, biking, kayaking, hiking, climbing, fishing and we’ve even got a leadership training and a Pirates game mixed in!

The students are split into 5 groups and spend almost a week learning and doing each activity.  At the end of the week students get the chance to lead their peers in the activity they learned.

So far so good, the summer camp just finished it’s first week, and the students love it! Jodi Weigand of Tribune Review spoke with several camp students, one who said without the camp she’d be at home “doing nothing.”  Read the full Tribune Review article

The camp runs from July 12 through August 13. We’ll keep you updated on how it goes!

Sixth-graders, big fish, and a treasure hunt

On May 27, 87 sixth graders from Steel Valley Middle School visited downtown of the Steel City for an afternoon of geocaching in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, fishing the Allegheny River, and grilling hot dogs. Yum! The classes divided into two groups who switched fishing and geocaching for two hours each.

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