By Daniel Janaro
East Stroudsburg University’s job fair on September 13th, proved to be a rewarding experience for students looking for fun and exciting clubs to spend the rest of their semester, including a newly reworked Outings Club. “The ESU Outings Club is one of the clubs set up on campus designed to promote students interest in outdoor activities and to get them to try new things,” said club secretary, Ryan Roeber.
This year’s itinerary is more ambitious than previous years, and offers many benefits to new members. Where last years incarnation planned very few and minor excursions into the wilderness, the revamped program promises more events, “We offer a lot of programs and trips,” said Roeber. “We plan trips to Stony Acres, camping trips, climbing trips, and backpacking trips.” The Outings Club is also very active during the colder winter months when many clubs hibernate during the season. This winter, the club is planning skiing and snowboarding trips to Camelback and trips to upstate New York.
“This year we are doing different things compared to previous years. We are offering clinics to help teach people the fundamentals of the activities they will participate in,” said Roeber. The clinics present an overview of different techniques used during outdoor activities to acquaint people with the outdoors. “Clinics offer a knowledge base to new recruits, since me and the other officers have enough outdoors experience. We have plenty to share.”
The anticipated hype expected for this year has already been underway. Last weekend the club went on a bouldering trip down the Delaware Water Gap. The trip proved to be a successful outing, as thirteen people attended the event. Within the past week, nine people have signed up as members, all enlisted during the job fair last Tuesday.
The limitations of this year’s budget hinder the possibility of any extravagant activities, but the success of the inaugural outing only helps the club to pursue better and more ambitious trips and events. The school spending budget reluctantly allocated the club with $2,500, about half of the budget of previous years. Attitudes among the members are still very high, and the planning of future events continues. The next event will be a camping trip with a date to be determined soon. The current officers would be ecstatic to host a white water rafting trip if the funds present themselves.
The officers hope that the trips the club has planned will help generate interest among the public and get more students to attend future events, or, at least, visit club meetings. “The outdoors has a lot to offer and is a great way to learn about one’s self,” said Roeber. “It’s probably one of the most liberating experiences a person could go through.”
The Outings Club meets Tuesday afternoons at 2PM in Stroud Hall, room 315.