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Beaver Brook offers skills weekend

Children of the Earth Foundation is presenting a Wilderness Skills Weekend for families at the Beaver Brook Nature Center in Hollis on Oct. 26-28. The program takes place at the Beaver Brook campsite and fire circle beginning Friday night.

This weekend program introduces the family to the wonders of survival, and helps develop confidence and a love of being outdoors. Some of the skills that will be taught and practiced involve tracking, making a shelter, finding water, building a fire, and finding and preparing food.

Teaching these skills is the mission of the Children of the Earth Foundation and also part of the mission of Beaver Brook Association.

Tom Brown Jr. is the founder of Children of the Earth and Tracker School, the largest tracking, nature awareness and survival school of its kind.

He has taught thousands of people from all over the world about the wilderness and human’s close connection to the Earth. He has published 16 books, including a “Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children,” a “Field Guide to Nature Awareness and Tracking” and “The Tracker,” an autobiography of his life.

This is a new opportunity to attend such a program in New England. Previously, the program has been offered in New Jersey and Florida. Participants will enjoy a guided adventure through the forgotten arts of tracking, nature awareness and wilderness survival living.

Imagine growing up without nature or thinking nature is a manicured park. Imagine a life inundated with electronics – TV, computers, cell phones, Wii’s and iPods – and a life where friends are communicated with more by electronics than in person. Imagine a life consisting of schedules and structure. Imagine the future that this life will bring. This is the world most familiar to many people today.

“Learning wilderness skills opens up a more real universe to people; one where they see their interconnectedness to the natural world around them. They will gain more self-confidence and plus a greater comfort level with the outdoor world. The natural world is the one that sustains us providing food, water and the air we breath,” Beaver Brook Education Director Celeste Barr said.

The fees are $200 for the first person and $175 for each additional family member in the same household. All meals and snacks are included from Friday at 5 p.m. through Sunday at noon.

For more information and videos of this program, visit www.cotef.org. Register by calling 971-1799.

Chick Wetherbee, owner of Earthward in Amherst will facilitate the program.

Wetherbee has taken and assisted with dozens of programs at Children of the Earth and Tracker School as well as teaching survival classes at Beaver Brook Nature Center.

For more information, contact Wetherbee at Earthward or the Beaver Brook office at 465-7787 or visit www.beaverbrook.org.