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'Wuda Wooch' goes 'to the outdoors'
BY KENDRA RICHARDS | STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
With a view of Lake Superior from almost anywhere in Duluth, the outdoors looks inviting to many. There is a club at UMD that appreciates the outdoors, and it is available for anyone interested in having fun outside. Wuda Wooch is a sports and recreation club on campus that "provides opportunities for members, as well as non-members, to participate in outdoor activities," according to their Web site.
"The club has been around for approximately 30 years," said Melody McKnight, senior at UMD and president of Wuda Wooch. "The founder was from Ethiopia, as his parents were missionaries. Wuda Wooch is Ethiopian for "to the outdoors!'"
Wuda Wooch is all about activity. The club does a lot of backpacking, canoeing and hiking, and they also have Outdoor Adventure speakers and t-shirt sales.
"This semester we went backpacking in the Bear Loop of the Superior Hiking Trail, hiking in the Porcupine Mountains in the upper peninsula of Michigan and kayaking in the pool with the Kayak and Canoe Club," said McKnight.
The club also did pumpkin carving and had several bonfires. They host different activities after each meeting-making snowshoes is one upcoming activity, and there is a weekend activity at least twice a month.
Wuda Wooch offers great opportunities to have fun and be active, but also helps develop important life skills. "The club helps to learn outdoor skills through experiences, and develop leadership skills by leading trips and taking on organizational tasks-all outdoor experiences are informal and very educational," said the club's Web site.
Since Wuda Wooch has been around for so long, it has its own traditions. "We stay one weekend in a cabin at the YMCA camp called DuNord; this is a skiing, saunaing, games, snowshoeing, hiking weekend. This year we will be extending an invitation to other student organizations to create solidarity across the student body," McKnight said.
The club also has a tradition of participating in Lunar Society Meetings. "The Lunar Society was founded by nuns at St. Scholastica and introduced to Wuda Wooch by the former Vice President Megan Perry. It's essentially a bonfire on the beach to celebrate each full moon," McKnight said.
The hike on Porcupine Mountain that they did this year is also a tradition, along with Wuda Fisk: a potluck formal dinner that happens in the spring. As the end of the semester is approaching quickly, the club already has plans to once again take to the outdoors upon returning from Christmas break.
"There will be more winter camping, skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking in the pool and rock climbing," McKnight said. Wuda Wooch gathers Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. in Kirby Student Center 333. The club costs $5 to cover the events.
