Dear Iowans -- As you may have heard, the national club's first outings leader training session of '02 will be held here in the middle of the country, just north of Kansas City. Everyone who's attended one of these sessions elsewhere around the U.S. has come away really impressed with the content and the presentation (one activist in the St. Louis area is planning to come again and bring half a dozen of her friends). The only downside is that, with the holiday season, not too many people have heard about the event, which is coming up March 1-3 at Camp Shawnee, near Parkville, Mo. (easy to get to via I-29 and I-35.) Several of you should have gotten a mailing from San Francisco by now, though I'm not sure how well your deadlines mesh with this event. Each of you is certainly urged to sign up yourself. But what would also be valuable would be for you to think for a moment of those who currently lead outings -- backpacking trips, canoe trips or conservation outings to points of interest to group members -- and also those who are the next generation of outings leaders. The session is only $45, and that includes room and board and a T-shirt, as well as the training session itself. The easiest way to sign up is to log onto the Siera Club Web site and register online. Here's the link to a page with a sample agenda and other information, as well as the registration form -- http://mitchell.sierraclub.org/outings/Training/index.asp If you have any questions, please give me an E-mail or a call (816-561-0575). I'm looking forward to seeing all of you in Parkville the first weekend of March. -- Scott - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]