By Polly Lynn
KILLINGTON — On Saturday, Nov. 1, the newly established Killington Outdoor Adventure Club (KOAC) held two information sessions for interested members at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. About 20 like-minded athletes attended and shared their enthusiasm and ideas for the club. It was a great turnout, said founding members Suzanne Ellis-Leonard and Hannah Abrams.
The goal of the club is “to support our community by bringing together people of the greater Killington area who share common interests in outdoor activities,” Ellis-Leonard explained, saying she got the initial idea after seeing ten women who hardly knew each other hiking up Killington with Abrams one night under the full moon. “I thought, ‘yes, this is it. This is what the Killington community needs, a way for the people to connect,’” she continued.
This idea became the KOAC missions statement: “to facilitate the pursuit of amateur outdoor activities (of all types) for people of all skill levels, which promotes social networking and community building.”
KOAC is an all-volunteer organization that is a non-affiliated with any other organization or commercial enterprise. Events will include things like hiking, downhill skiing/snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, etc. — the club is open to any and all suggestions for proposed activities by members of the organization. Any member will be able to lead an event simply by posting the event details in a calendar online (currently in the works.) Anyone can join the events, however, non-members will be asked to join after a couple times participating. Membership is $20 for the year, which covers basic organization costs.
During the Saturday information sessions, interested members proposed additional activities they’d like to lead or join, and have since started posting events on the KOAC Facebook page. The next information session will be held at 5:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 1 at the Sherburne Memorial Library.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/KOAC802.
