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Thank You, Leaders and Instructors!

All club trips are led by members who decide they want to go somewhere, announce the trip details to the group and coordinate trip signups and other logistics of the trip or lesson. Not all trip leaders are experts in the outdoors or particular activities! Trip leaders might find someone to lead the river portion of a whitewater kayaking trip, for instance, but take care of all the details of food, camping, and transportation. Every member is encouraged to try leading a trip. The club has equipment, facilities, and other resources to help you make the trip a success, in addition to the combined expertise of a number of seasoned leaders (email one of these people to start).

Leader Patch As a small token of thanks, the club recognizes members when they lead their first trip and their tenth trip (although, everyone's thankful for any trips you lead, of course!). This is a way to encourage members to take that first step to leadership, but also gives leaders a chance to show pride in their club accomplishments. You must enter your trip on the club calendar to be recognized (select the option that says I'm leading this trip or teaching this lesson.). Currently, first-time trip leaders receive a leader patch and ten-time trip leaders receive a special edition leader t-shirt.

The following Outing Club members are recognized for leading trips and teaching lessons:
First-time trip leaders and instructors
Charles Allhands taught FireCraft on May 4, 2008
David Biel led Hiking at Governor Dodge State Park on April 21, 2007
Laurieann Casey led SAC trip on July 28, 2008
Rebecca Cramer led SAC Attack! on May 3, 2007
Gordon Freeman taught SK1 Lesson (Rescheduled from Day of Instruction) on June 25, 2008
Jessica Fritz taught kayak lake lesson on July 29, 2008
Ruth Genger led Sea kayak Lake Mendota on June 10, 2007
Sean Geygan led Nov 2nd-4th - Camp/Hike Devil's Lake on November 2, 2007
Tanya Hein led Porcupine Mountains Hike/Camp on May 17, 2007
Paul Janda led WW Paddling Hooferland Extravaganza Helge Klockow Visit on July 25, 2008
Ellie Kosmalski led Horseback Riding on May 17, 2008
Doug Lipinski taught Kayak Lake Lesson and Swim Test on June 12, 2007
Andrea McMillen led Bikepacking to Blue Mounds State park (or drive and meet us there) on May 9, 2008
David Nelson led BEGINNER paddle trip on June 21, 2008
Jeff Noltner led Upper Dells Wisconsin River on May 17, 2008
Desmond Oathes led Backpacking Nicolet Natl Forest on May 24, 2008
Mindy Preston led test event on June 28, 2008
Zach Ramirez led 64-mile and 9-mile Road Biking Trip on May 13, 2007
Matthew Snyder led Porcupine Mountains Hike/Camp on June 12, 2008
Christophe Stoelinga led Paddling the Yahara on November 4, 2007
Brett Unks taught SK0 - Sea Kayak Skills Lesson on July 26, 2008
Katherine Von Hoff led Biking the Military Ridge State Trail on June 3, 2007
Dan York led Wausau whitewater course on August 12, 2007
Leaders who have completed their 10th trip or lesson
Lisa Cavern led Concert on the Square on July 18, 2007
Robert Paolino led X-C day/night Blue Mounds trip; additional transportation option on February 2, 2008
Kerem Akartunali led Wyalusing Sea Kayak Trip on July 23, 2005
Patrick Rault led Canoe Lake Lesson & Swim Test on September 27, 2005
Richard Miller led Moonlight Canoeing on July 8, 2005
Kris Stepenuck led whitewater work party on November 2, 2005
Mustafa Ozkaynak taught Canoeing on the lake on September 23, 2007
Gary Sinkler led Elroy Spate trip on August 18, 2007
Timothy Grant taught How to speak Whitewater on April 15, 2008
Connie Lane led Kayak lake practice on August 15, 2006
Doug Stone led Telemark skiing at Tyrol on February 15, 2007
Kennedy Rubert taught whitewater work party on February 10, 2007
Carl Zimm led Sac trip, rolling lesson and cookout at Devils Lake on July 16, 2005

Leader Recognition Criteria

The Outing Club wants to encourage everyone to lead trips and teach lessons, regardless of their difficulty level or degree of preparation. At the same time though, we want you to feel like your Leader Recognition award was earned. To that end, here are a few guidelines to help you determine if you should designate yourself as the trip leader or instructor:

1. Your trip or lesson should include advance preparation, announcement, and, preferably, participant signup. Getting together with a few fellow Hoofers after a meeting is encouraged but not considered a trip.
2. You should be the primary coordinator of the main trip activities. Co-leading is a great thing, but if you're following along and observing more than leading, wait until next time to count yourself as the leader.
3. When in doubt, trust your judgement! We want you to be proud to consider yourself an Outing Club leader. If you think something's more a 'General Announcement' than a trip, it very well might be. If you're organizing a practice session rather than teaching skills, maybe it's not necessarily a lesson. Or, maybe it is...if you're totally confused or still unsure, contact the President or Vice President.

The Leader Recognition awards are intended to recognize personal accomplishment and express gratitude, not fit a strict mold of criteria. Regardless of whether you receive a patch or t-shirt or some other token of esteem, you're efforts are greatly appreciated. Thank you for being an Outing Club member!


The Hoofer Outing Club promotes safe, fun, outdoor and social activities that are open to all. This means we promote diversity, try to accommodate people who are disabled (within budget constraints), and do not allow harassment of any kind. For more information, please email our Accessibility Chair.