Q-MoB 3rd Annual LGBTQ Pride Paddle @ Kripalu (Stockbridge, MA)

6/21 Q-MoB 3rd Annual LGBTQ Pride Paddle @ Kripalu (Stockbridge, MA)
Sunday,
1:30-4:00pm Kayaking Trip
4:00-4:45 Optional Post-Paddle Stretching
5:30-7:00pm Optional Group Dinner in Kripalu World-Famous Dining Room
57 Interlaken Rd
Stockbridge, MA 01262

This Naturalist-Led easy mindful kayak trip for all-levels LGBTQ+ & their families, co-sponsored by Q-MoB & Kripalu Yoga & Wellness Center, will help beginners learn basic kayaking skills, and everybody to have fun explorng and learning about the historic Stockbridge Bowl, a prehistoric lake and its many eco-systems. The trip will be a balance of education and mindful appreciation of this beatiful web of life we are apart of. After the paddle adventue we invite you to a brief optional post-paddle easy yoga stretch session, followed by a group dinner in Kripalu's world-famous dining room with a buffet of incredible dishes that will appeal to many dietary preferences and restrictions (dinner is included in the donation you made for the kayak trip).

PARKING: Checkin at the Main Reception Desk to get your badge & parking permit (you will need driver license and your plate number). Then park and we recommend walking or hiking down to the lake front (this will take about 15-20mins). The Kayak trip will begin promptly at 2:30pm, so we recommend arriving at 1:30pm to give yourself plenty of time to get checked in, parked, and take a walk down the hilll to the lakefront.

RAIN DATE: 6/27, 1:30-7 PM

INSTRUCTOR BIOS

Tracy Foster is a 1000-hour certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Mindful Outdoor Guide trained in water safety, and Certified Paddlesports Leader. Tracy’s intention is to lead yoga and mindful outdoor experiences that nurture and support connection to presence, well-being, gratitude and joy. In her yoga and meditation classes, workshops, and guided Forest Bathing experiences, Tracy invites us to explore the balance between effort and surrender, as we cultivate grounded strength, embodied ease, and kind generosity of spirit. Yoga is an awakening and a sacred journey home to deep compassion for true self and all beings.

Jennifer Boyce is a Certified Mindful Outdoor Guide trained in water safety.

Bart Church is Q-MoB's Outdoor Recreation Director & Certified Wilderness First Responder, and a Certified Therapeutic Yoga Instructor. He has been leading LGBTQ outdoor recreation activities for more than 20 years because he believes it is so much easier for queer people to build community with their body, nature, and their queer neighbors when they take time to enjoy and be awed by the web of life.

DONATIONS: To pay for kayaks, paddles, Personal Flotation Devices, compensate the experienced kayaking guides/naturalists, and your included dinner, and help pay for insurance, we ask everyone who can to make a tax-deductible donation:
* $35/person If you donate online in advance
* $45/person if you donate with cash or check at the Event (no debit/credit cards)
* $25/youth 10-17 if you donate online in advance
* $30/youth 10-17 if you donate at the event with cash or check (no debit/credit cards)
* $55-$75 From those who can be generous and want to help underwrite the costs of families, low-income beginners, and others in-need
* $0-$34 Scholarship Request: Online Donation (if any)
* $0-$44 Scholarship Request: Donate at the Event (cash or check made out to Q-MoB; no credit/debit cards)

RAIN DATE & CANCELLATION POLICY: Our raindate will be 6/27, 1:30-7p. If you wish to withdraw less than seven days prior to the program, refunds cannot be issued. If we cancel the program or shift to the rain date and you cannot make it then, you will be refunded in full.

WHAT TO BRING:

1) Sliding Scale Tax-Deductible Donation (amounts listed above can be paid: online, cash or check made out to “Q-MoB Inc”) if you did not already donate online when you registered,

2) Raincoat/Windbreaker

3) Water bottle (not glass),

4) Snacks (in double ziploc bags),

5) Shoes that can get wet and won’t slip on wet surface (e.g., closed-toe sandals, water shoes, old sneakers/boat shoes, NOT crocs),

6) Bathing Suit & tee shirt that will dry quickly (not cotton) & if it is predicted to be windy & cooler, bring a fleece or long-sleeve baselayer that will keep you warm even if it gets wet,

7) Water-proof Sunscreen,

8) Sunglasses, secured with strap,

9) (Optional) Hat with a brim & cinch to protect you from sun, wind & getting cool,

10) (Optional) Cell Phone in Dry Bag or Double Ziplok Bags

WHAT NOT TO BRING:

1) ALCOHOL OR MOOD-ALTERING SUBSTANCES: Because minors are invited to this event and because alcohol or mood-altering substances can endanger everyone's saftey in kayaking, we expressly forbid both alcohol, cannabis products, & other mood-altering substances at this event, and ask people not be inebriated or high at the event.

2) CELL PHONES: All guides will have cell phones to use in an emergency, but they are not available for casual use, and we recommend leaving your cell phone in your car so you can have maximum fun on the trip and not be distracted. If you do not have a dry bag or double ziplok bags to store your cell phone in while on the water, we strongly recommend you leave your cell phone in your car and NOT bring it on the water.

WEATHER: Before you leave home, please check the weather for the hike location so you will know current conditions and how to dress for them. Please let us know your cell phone number when you register so we can text you 1-2 hours before the event should an unexpected weather threat arise that causes us to have to cancel or postpone the activity.

ABOUT THIS

This hike is part of a series of Q-MoB LGBTQ outdoor recreation activities (hiking, biking, paddling, walking, swimming) funded by the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation (MOOR) Inclusive & Accessible Events Grant Program and several grants from the (South Berkshire Fund, Central Berkshire Fund, Barrett Fund for North Berkshire) and is designed to:

1) reduce isolation and build community connections between LGBTQ people in the Berkshires & Western Mass; click to learn about the many activities that have already been scheduled

2) build a diverse capacity in the LGBTQ community to regularly lead & offer outdoor recreation activities throughout the year; please if you'd like to learn how easy it is to help lead outdoor recreation activities for the LGBTQ community

3) educate the community about the natural & human history of important recreation sites, as well as how the native flora & fauna are responding to climate change & human use/restoration so the LGBTQ community will fall in love with those places and the organizations that maintain them and thereby participate in stewarding & enjoying those sites. Please call us at 413-344-8162 if you know LGBTQ or allied outdoor experts who know the ecology and/or history of any of the amazing Berkshire recreation sites and might want to get paid a small stipend to co-lead.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE if you would like to learn how you might volunteer or even get paid to help coordinate this series or co-lead a particular outdoor recreation activity, or just give us a call with your ideas and feedback: 413-344-8162.

OR: Please donate $10-$20 to help assure Q-MoB can continue to offer more than 20 monthly activities & multiple resources & services to rural queer people all over the region. If you attend 2 or more Q-MoB events/month, please consider becoming a monthly sustaining donor member. By donating $25, $50, $75, or $100/month you can help to sustain the incredible variety of activities, services, and resources Q-MoB provides and assure all of these activities are accessible to men regardless of their age, income, or ability, and best of all you can avoid having to donate at each and every event you attend. Monthly Sustaining Members pay only once a month and then can attend all our activities with no further donation.

ACCESSIBILITY: We design our recreation activities so they are relatively easy & accessible to ambulatory adults with average strength, but if you have moblity challenges and want to know our capacity to support you, please or give us a call 413-344-8162. We are a very small non-profit with very limited access to outdoor recreation mobility devices and volunteers trained to provide accessibility assistance, but if we know about your needs, we will make our best effort to meet them, and we enjoy making our activities accessible to as broad a range of our community as possible.

REACHING US DAY OF EVENT: If you have trouble finding us, are running late, or decide not to come, please text or call Bart at 413-344-8162 or your HIke Leader David Lindsey, who's phone number will be in your confirmation email.

Event Venue

Kripalu Center For Yoga & Health, 57 Interlaken Road, Stockbridge, United States

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