ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

Roaring River State Park will have an inflow of women on Saturday, as 40 have signed up for the first Women in Nature course at the park, led by the Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center.

Anna Skalicky, naturalist/ resource interpreter at the Nature Center, said signups are full, but women still interested may sign up to be on the wait list should anyone drop out.

“We will have activities from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., doing fly fishing, hiking, nature journaling, archery and atlatl,” she said. “This is the first time we are doing this at Roaring River, but it has been held in other regions.”

Skalicky added the program this year after discussing it with Carrie Byron, incoming park ranger, who suggested it be held.

“I was really surprised it filled up and didn’t except that being the first time we are hosting it,” Skalicky said. “It started with Carrie saying it was a big success at other parks and a way to empower, women with all-women instructors, to hone their outdoor skills.”

Skalicky said there are a couple goals she hopes to accomplish with the class.

“First, I want women to feel confident in the outdoors and in a space welcome for them to learn new skills and work on those skills,” she said. “I also just want to get women outside and doing outdoor activities.”

Ages vary in the signups, with Skalicky saying some older women will attend the class, as well as a local girls scout troop.

“Age 10 is the youngest accepted, so we will have a wide variety of ages,” she said.

For more information on the event, people may visit https://mostateparks.com/event/101001/win-women-nature.