Dutchess County Archery Sessions Are a Bullseye
By: Craig Conway
The Dutchess County Parks Division offers a wide variety of educational programs for residents throughout the county. Primarily, the programs are offered during the summer months due to the children having summer vacation and having more free time. Parents are always looking for fun things for their children to do, especially if it gets them outside to get some exercise. However, since January 11, the Parks Division has been offering archery sessions for children and adults with any level of experience in archery.
The programs that are provided through the Parks Division, “Give children an opportunity to experience and learn about the natural history of our parks.” The archery sessions live up to this mission statement with the classes being held at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, NY. Upon signing up for these sessions, you are able to attend five classes, all held on Saturdays, with multiple time slots that you are able to choose from. Each class is an hour long with all equipment being provided to those who attend. All children must be 8 years old or older with the sign up cost being $60 per person for all five classes. Despite this only being held on Saturdays over a five week span, all seats are completely full.
“The first half of each class is practice, working on basic skills and form,” said Dutchess County Park Naturalist David Beck. “The second half is a game that encourages teamwork and pushes everyone’s skills appropriate to their level. Our focus is on fun and allowing people to approach archery at their own pace.”
The class times will be spent working with the bows and learning how to use them through practice, with each class integrating something new. By the end of the classes, those who have taken the classes will be more comfortable around a bow and will be improved archers. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family in the beautiful Bowdoin Park. The exact dates for the classes include: Saturday, January 11th, Saturday, January 25th, Saturday, February 8th, Saturday, February 22nd and Saturday March 7th with time slots being available from 10:00 AM — 11:00 AM, 11:30 AM — 12:30 PM, 2:00 PM — 3 PM, 3:30 PM — 4:30 PM, and 5:00 PM — 6:00 PM.
While the winter classes are full, Beck did mention that they also offer fall and spring archery programs as well. The spring session will start on March 21st and availability will go quick so be sure to sign up soon!
