MAEOE's Annual Wildlife Weekend
An adult get away weekend to escape the winter blues. Learn new things and enjoy the warm and embracing atmosphere of the RAM Center.
Food, fires, and festivity all in one weekend while you learn a new skills in an outdoor education retreat. This year MAEOE is offering three different tracks and all have outdoor component built in.
Wildlife Weekend Overview
Plan to arrive on Friday, February 9th around 5:00 p.m.
Get settled in your room and meet your roommate.
Head to the dining hall for a light meal before meeting your classmates and instructors on Friday evening.
Continue your adventure Saturday and Sunday through noon.
Have a full lunch before hitting the road.
Two nights lodging and six meals are included for Wildlife Weekend.
Workshop pricing
MAEOE Member: $295/person plus your class materials fee*
​
Non MAEOE Member: $345/person plus class materials fee*
* See track descriptions for class material fees
Session 1: Snowshoe Making 101
Enjoy Michigan winters with a pair of snowshoes that YOU make yourself.
Craig Kasmer, Interpreter at Hartwick Pines State Park, has been offering amazing snowshoe workshops for many years but this one includes an opportunity to go snowshoeing at one of Michigan’s favorite state parks.
After a brief introduction to snowshoes, you will learn the step-by-step process to lace your own Green Mountain snowshoes with a kit that includes everything but patience.
In the afternoon Saturday, take a break from weaving and make the short trip to Hartwick Pines State Park where Craig will allow you to borrow park “shoes” to traverse the trails.
​
​
You will be back in time for a hot meal, a fire and refreshments on Saturday night. Sunday wraps up the workshop as you continue to create your own snowshoes.
Workshop supply fee: $180
Includes snowshoes/lacing/binding
Session 2: Geology Potpourri
This session is perfectly designed for a Michigan winter learning weekend with a mixture of amazing education and hands on activities.
The RAM’s almost Geologist In Residence, Steve Tchozeski, will take you on a billion year timeline. Learn how Native Americans in the Great Lakes region used and traded rocks and minerals.
Go on a simulated Arkansas quartz dig and keep what you find. Dig for fossils as well and learn the secret behind selecting and cracking geodes.
This class even shows you the finer art of jewelry making with the materials you have mined in class. Steve’s energy, style and information have kept him an alluvial fan favorite for years.
Learn geology, be entertained and take stuff home!
Workshop supply fee: $15
Session 3: Finding Your Way
Learning an exciting and efficient way to use a compass, test your skills with a course through the North woods and learn how maps and compasses are used together to prevent a navigational nightmare.
This isn’t a 2-hour compass class, but a 10–12-hour exploration of true/magnetic North, using a map with a compass, how the Land Ordinance of 1785 shaped the world we live in today, how to write the legal description and much more.
A combination of outdoor compasses exercises, map and compass activities, a navigational road trip and yes, a woodland experience in the snow, combine for an educational and skill driven weekend course.
Instructor Kevin Frailey, long-time navigation instructor says, “take this class or get lost.”
Workshop supply fee: $35 (optional)
Silva Compass
