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Sep. 15, 2003
Program gives inner-city women first taste of the outdoors
By BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
PLATTSBURG, Mo. — You would have thought Angel Bridgewater had just landed a state-record fish.
The second her bobber danced for a bit, then plunged, she let out a shout.
When she began furiously reeling and the small panfish flew out of the water, she let out a louder shout – one that could be heard across the lake.
“Look at this! I got one!” said Bridgewater, 27, a huge smile crossing her face. “My first fish! And it's a nice one!”
On the bank, a group of other women gave Bridgewater a standing ovation. And Ellen Benitz, who had coordinated the special outing, felt a surge of emotion.
This is what she had in mind when she recruited Bridgewater and other women from the inner city for a special trip into the outdoors.
Many of the women had never spent a night in a tent before. Nor had they cooked over an open campfire. Nor had they gone fishing and felt the satisfaction of eating their own catch.
But they did last weekend.
As part of the Women in the Outdoors program sponsored by the National Wild Turkey Federation, the women carved walking sticks, took nature hikes, learned to cook in Dutch ovens and fished at the Hartell Conservation Area.
That amounted to a radical departure from their everyday life – but one that was readily welcomed.
“I had never done anything like this before,” said Bridgewater, who lives in Kansas City. “I didn't know if I'd like it.
“I mean, I had heard people talking about fishing and how much fun it was, but I didn't think it was for me.
“But this is great. I can't believe how much fun this is.”
In the back of the boat, Bridgewater's lifelong friend, Angel Hill, expressed a similar sentiment.
“Angel and I have always had a lot in common,” said Hill, 27, who also lives in Kansas City. “We have
the same first name, and we have the same interests.
“But she had to talk me into going on this. I didn't know about sleeping outside, touching worms and being out on the water like this.
“It just didn't seem like a lot of fun. But now, I don't think I want to go home.
“I think I'm going to come back and do something like this again, maybe with my kids.”
Bridgewater and Hill discovered the excitement of fishing with the help of Joe Bonneau, a fisheries biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. He rowed the boat on a small lake at the Hartell Area, and instructed the women on where to cast.
His reward? Getting to see the excitement of fishing at work.
“Watching something like this … that's what fishing is all about,” he said. “It doesn't take a great big fish to satisfy someone who is fishing for the first time.
“Just feeling that tug and pulling something in, that's what makes their day.”
The Women in the Outdoors program is all about providing such experiences.
The National Wild Turkey Federation started the outreach mission in 1998, hoping to draw more women into outdoors sports. It began with 18 programs across the nation that year, outings in which women were instructed on the basics of fishing, camping, hiking and other pursuits in a non-intimidating setting.
Today, more than 50,000 women have gone through the program. And 380 events were planned for this year.
For Benitz, the program has literally been life-changing. She was one of the students in the first year, an avid hunter who wanted to meet other women who shared her interests.
She became so enthusiastic about the program that she became the regional coordinator for the National Wild Turkey Federation's outreach efforts, and began recruiting women to participate.
“We try to show women that they have a place in the outdoors,” said Benitz, who lives in St. Joseph.
Past events have included women from every walk of life. But for this summer's program, Benitz targeted inner-city women who had never been exposed to the outdoors.
She put the word out through family-services organizations and soon was receiving phone calls from interested women.
One of them was Clara Meneses, 54. Though she had never tried camping or fishing, she decided to attend with her daughter, Lisa, who works for one of those family service groups.
“It gave us a chance to bond,” Clara said with a smile on her face
She had quite a weekend. From the start, she knew she was in a different world.
“When we were camping, I couldn't get to sleep,” she said. “I kept thinking about all the spiders and snakes out there. Or that a big wolf was going to come into the tent.
“But I settled down. It was so peaceful and beautiful out there.”
She enjoyed a similar eye-opening experience once she went fishing with fisheries biologist Tory Mason.
As others in the group cheered, she hooked a big channel catfish and screamed when she saw what she had on the end of her line.
“I had no idea there were fish that big in here,” she said as she landed the 3-pound fish.
She beamed as she posed for photos with her catch and vowed that she would be back.
But she concedes that she still has a way to go before she's proficient in the outdoors.
When a worm wiggled off her hook, she stared at it for a second, then turned to an onlooker and said, “That's the bad part about fishing — you have to touch these slimy worms.
“Will you pick it up for me?”
Program gives inner-city women first taste of the outdoors
By BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
PLATTSBURG, Mo. — You would have thought Angel Bridgewater had just landed a state-record fish.
The second her bobber danced for a bit, then plunged, she let out a shout.
When she began furiously reeling and the small panfish flew out of the water, she let out a louder shout – one that could be heard across the lake.
“Look at this! I got one!” said Bridgewater, 27, a huge smile crossing her face. “My first fish! And it's a nice one!”
On the bank, a group of other women gave Bridgewater a standing ovation. And Ellen Benitz, who had coordinated the special outing, felt a surge of emotion.
This is what she had in mind when she recruited Bridgewater and other women from the inner city for a special trip into the outdoors.
Many of the women had never spent a night in a tent before. Nor had they cooked over an open campfire. Nor had they gone fishing and felt the satisfaction of eating their own catch.
But they did last weekend.
As part of the Women in the Outdoors program sponsored by the National Wild Turkey Federation, the women carved walking sticks, took nature hikes, learned to cook in Dutch ovens and fished at the Hartell Conservation Area.
That amounted to a radical departure from their everyday life – but one that was readily welcomed.
“I had never done anything like this before,” said Bridgewater, who lives in Kansas City. “I didn't know if I'd like it.
“I mean, I had heard people talking about fishing and how much fun it was, but I didn't think it was for me.
“But this is great. I can't believe how much fun this is.”
In the back of the boat, Bridgewater's lifelong friend, Angel Hill, expressed a similar sentiment.
“Angel and I have always had a lot in common,” said Hill, 27, who also lives in Kansas City. “We have
the same first name, and we have the same interests.
“But she had to talk me into going on this. I didn't know about sleeping outside, touching worms and being out on the water like this.
“It just didn't seem like a lot of fun. But now, I don't think I want to go home.
“I think I'm going to come back and do something like this again, maybe with my kids.”
Bridgewater and Hill discovered the excitement of fishing with the help of Joe Bonneau, a fisheries biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. He rowed the boat on a small lake at the Hartell Area, and instructed the women on where to cast.
His reward? Getting to see the excitement of fishing at work.
“Watching something like this … that's what fishing is all about,” he said. “It doesn't take a great big fish to satisfy someone who is fishing for the first time.
“Just feeling that tug and pulling something in, that's what makes their day.”
The Women in the Outdoors program is all about providing such experiences.
The National Wild Turkey Federation started the outreach mission in 1998, hoping to draw more women into outdoors sports. It began with 18 programs across the nation that year, outings in which women were instructed on the basics of fishing, camping, hiking and other pursuits in a non-intimidating setting.
Today, more than 50,000 women have gone through the program. And 380 events were planned for this year.
For Benitz, the program has literally been life-changing. She was one of the students in the first year, an avid hunter who wanted to meet other women who shared her interests.
She became so enthusiastic about the program that she became the regional coordinator for the National Wild Turkey Federation's outreach efforts, and began recruiting women to participate.
“We try to show women that they have a place in the outdoors,” said Benitz, who lives in St. Joseph.
Past events have included women from every walk of life. But for this summer's program, Benitz targeted inner-city women who had never been exposed to the outdoors.
She put the word out through family-services organizations and soon was receiving phone calls from interested women.
One of them was Clara Meneses, 54. Though she had never tried camping or fishing, she decided to attend with her daughter, Lisa, who works for one of those family service groups.
“It gave us a chance to bond,” Clara said with a smile on her face
She had quite a weekend. From the start, she knew she was in a different world.
“When we were camping, I couldn't get to sleep,” she said. “I kept thinking about all the spiders and snakes out there. Or that a big wolf was going to come into the tent.
“But I settled down. It was so peaceful and beautiful out there.”
She enjoyed a similar eye-opening experience once she went fishing with fisheries biologist Tory Mason.
As others in the group cheered, she hooked a big channel catfish and screamed when she saw what she had on the end of her line.
“I had no idea there were fish that big in here,” she said as she landed the 3-pound fish.
She beamed as she posed for photos with her catch and vowed that she would be back.
But she concedes that she still has a way to go before she's proficient in the outdoors.
When a worm wiggled off her hook, she stared at it for a second, then turned to an onlooker and said, “That's the bad part about fishing — you have to touch these slimy worms.
“Will you pick it up for me?”
