01 Oct Volunteering with the Bridger-Teton

Sometimes life as an RA is more than just business as usual! Although I am a teleworker, I was lucky enough to meet some cool people who work on the Bridger-Teton at the District Office in Afton, Wyoming. They invited me to volunteer for an Outdoor Awareness Event in the town square. The District puts on this event when they have money left over for the fiscal year. They partnered with Friends of the Bridger-Tetons and multiple other federal, state, and local organizations to make it happen. Everything was free for the public; games, arts and crafts, a mini obstacle course, a sandpit, a fire engine, swag, snacks, and information on upcoming Forest Service projects in the area. Most of the stations were targeted towards children, which was great since there were three times more children there than adults!

Me, Woodsy, and our Coworker after making Woodsy Owl hats.

I was in charge of the snacks, both for employees and the public! Because of this, I got to float around to the different stations delivering beverages or snacks throughout the day. In the above photo, I had just visited a station that had lots of stickers, and little kits to make a Woodsy Owl hat. Another station I visited was set up by the Department of Fish and Wildlife! They had several animal pelts of various sizes and asked you to guess the animal. There were different species of bears, lynx, mountain lions, and a few squirrels. One more cool station I visited on a snack run was the atlatl. According to the archeologists who ran the station, an atlatl is a tool used by Native Americans primarily for hunting but possibly for battles as well. The tool’s use goes further back than that, roughly 17,000 years to the Paleolithic era! I am so grateful to have been invited to this unique event, in such a pretty town! It’s these types of fun-filled days that make being an RA extra worth it!

Me and Smokey Bear hanging out at the Outdoor Awareness Event in Afton, WY.