Women - Shoot, Paddle, Rope & Cook in the Outdoors

12:00AM / Friday, October 28, 2005Print Story | Email Story

The Lee Sportsmanâ€™s Club proved to be a beautiful setting for the Southern Berkshire Chapter of the Nation Wild Turkey Federationsâ€™ Women in the Outdoors event, held at the club on September 24th. Twenty women, all over the age of 14, gathered from throughout the tri-state region of MA, NY and CT to learn how to shoot, rope, paddle & cook as part of the NWTF Women in the Outdoors Event. â€œFun was had by allâ€ stated one of the three key program organizers, Dawn Goodrich of Lee, MA, who was joined in organizing the event by Mary Smith of Lee, and Laurie Lee Sawin of Otis. Women were introduced to a number of interesting activities, including the safe handling of pistols, shotguns, rifles, muzzleloaders and archery equipment. Individuals learned from qualified instructors how to shoot moving clay targets with a shotgun (women had the opportunity to experience both Skeet & Trap shooting). They also learned how to hit the bulls-eye with a rifle, pistol or bow and arrow, and how to load, shoot and care for a variety of muzzle loading firearm. The hands on archery presentation by Patsy Leader, owner of Shooters Highland in Valatie, NY allowed them to experience the use of compound bows as well as traditional archery equipment. They received instruction on the selection and safe use of archery equipment and its application in both target shooting as well as hunting situations. Kayak instruction was presented by PJ Hunt, manager of the Expeditions Outdoor Sports Store in Great Barrington. The women had the opportunity to paddle a variety of kayaks while learning the basic of kayaking in flat water. Additional programs were presented in tree-stand basics, turkey calling, stamping, cowboy roping and outdoor cooking. Outdoor cooking featured an interesting presentation titled: Trashcan Turkey. Here the women learned to cook a whole turkey outdoors using a metal trashcan. The trashcan was in essence converted into a convection oven by piling hot coals around the trash cans edge. In about one hour and twenty minutes a whole 15 pound turkey was perfectly cooked and ready to eat. The program achieved the following goals in many ways. All the women in attendance said they had fun while learning how to handle firearms safely. They also learned the importance of responsible wildlife management. Programs like this convince women that they can truly enjoy the outdoors. These women specific events have also proven to increase womenâ€™s comfort level and participation in outdoor related pursuits, a key goal of the program. The NWTF developed The Women in the Outdoors program to increase womenâ€™s participation in outdoor activities, and it has proven to also serve as a networking activity that brings men and women with similar outdoor interests together. Women interested in the program can get more information from their local NWTF chapter. Chapter information can be found on the www.NWTF.org web site. Or contact one of the organizers whose information is shown below. For more information on future Women in the Outdoors Events please contact: Dawn Goodrich at 413-243-6145 thegoodrichs@earthlink.net Mary Smith at 413-243-2710 Ssmith570@adelphia.net Or Laurie Lee Sawin at 413-269-0226 Darrylldee@gillanet.net Or visit the NWTF website at www.NWTF.org

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North Adams Officials to Revote School Committee Members

Staff reports06:31PM / Friday, October 09, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City and school officials will meet a second time to vote in two new members of the School Committee.

The joint convention of the City Council and School Committee will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall conference room and via Zoom.

Damon Grimes and Paul Moriarty were jointly elected on Monday to fill two seats vacated by resignation. They were two of four candidates standing for election.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee, said she had received in inquiry about the votes, which were done by secret ballot.

"I have been advised that voting by ballot was not permissible in this circumstance," she said, after consulting the School Committee's attorney Adam Dupere and city solicitor KP Law.

To ensure the validity of the votes and conduct of the election, the joint convention will reconvene and formally confirm the selection of Grimes and Moriarty.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of having to reconvene," the mayor said in a statement. "My intention in using a ballot was to address concerns raised following our previous convention, when some members expressed discomfort with publicly voting for or against individual candidates.

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