Crookston resident Fred Parnow, President of Get Kids Outdoors, is a busy man making sure kids have a chance to get outdoors!
Get Kids Outdoors had an ice fishing house on the Red Lake River in Crookston and said it was a big success. “We were really, really pleased,” said Parnow. “The community, not just Crookston but families in surrounding towns, used it 41 times in two months. We thought that was phenomenal.” Not really knowing what to expect as far as numbers that would use the house and how the house would fare with numerous people coming and going, Parnow was really pleased with the results overall. “We want to thank all those people and all those families; they were very respectful,” says Parnow. “You get concerned about vandalism and things like that, and there was not a scratch on it. It was just awesome. So, obviously, it was a successful program.”
Get Kids Outdoors and three camps in Minnesota are collaborating to provide scholarships to get kids out exploring nature on a fun-filled wilderness trip. “With the foundation, our mission here again is to provide opportunities for kids for outdoor activities and learning. Learning in the classroom and learning, hands-on activity,” says Parnow. “We are offering a scholarship for kids through our foundation, Get Kids Outdoors, and we have identified three different camps and a couple of cases. They have facilities for 150, 300 kids, depending on the camp.” Some of the camps we spoke about are year-round camps that offer programs to schools. With summer just around the corner, though, Parnow wanted to talk about the options these camps offer to kids as warmer weather approaches. “What we are talking about here is they have different camps that kids can go to. There are girls camps, there are boys camps, there are co-ed camps, there are camps for eight-year-old kids all the way up to 18 and 20,” says Parnow. “There are camps for kids and the parents, like a family camp, and it’s pretty well all outdoor activity based type camps, and it meets the mission of our foundation.”
Get Kids Outdoors is offering scholarships for three different locations.
Lake Trails Base Camp, on Oak Island on Lake of the Woods. “It’s primarily a canoeing camp, and it’s about a six-day trip,” says Parnow. www.laketrails.org
Wolf Ridge, which is north of Duluth. “It’s what they call a residential, environmental learning center; there are actually five of them throughout the entire state. They’ve got 15 to 20 different camps for kids and families. The subject is the same. It’s outdoor learning. They have classroom portions of it, and they have outdoor field trips right on Lake Superior.” www.wolf-ridge.org
Deep Portage Learning Center, which is located in Hackensack, near Walker. “They have summer camps for kids as well; here again, each camp is quite specific to the interest of the kids but is very broad their whole campership time through the summer,” says Parnow. “So, we are encouraging parents and families to look at these three different camps and their locations and gather more information about the specific programs.” www.deep-portage.org
Once families have taken a look at the three camps and all they have to offer, Parnow would like to hear from those who are interested. “Our foundation, we are willing to support, through scholarships, so to speak. In some cases, they call them camperships. We want people to look at these camps, give us a call, and we will discuss individually what their thoughts are and where we can go, what level we would provide some scholarship support for the kids to go to these places,” says Parnow. “What they are going to learn at these camps, it’s just phenomenal. My wife and I have been to the Deep Portage Camp by Hackensack, and they have classroom facilities that are all environmental, nature, and wildlife learning topics. Then, they go on field trips. So, it’s a mix of classroom training, education, plus outdoor field trips pertaining to the topics they just learned about.”
Parnow encourages parents to get online to look at the three camps and then get a hold of him at 218-280-6344.
