In the Woods

Summer is over and the kids are back in school — and already they may be chomping at the bit, what with all that time now spent indoors. Never fear parents, help is on the way.

Sassafras Earth Education is about to start up their fall programming. For those for whom Sassafras isn’t a household name, this is an organization started by Saskia Vanderhoop dedicated to getting kids outdoors both for the sheer pleasure of the natural world and to learn more about it. The activities vary with the different age ranges but all have in common a connection to the world outside from general crafting, to hiking and tracking animals, to building outdoor structures, to sleeping outdoors under the stars even during winter in a snow home built that day. Friends and family are invited to join their kids for outdoor potlucks cooked over a roaring fire.

To find out more about these programs, their days and times, visit sassafrasmvy.org or call 508-645-2008. Or better yet, check out their open house on Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Living Local Harvest Festival. Just look for the roaring fire.

Evidently Ms. Vanderhoop does not subscribe to the notion that it is just a kid’s world and we adults merely act accordingly, by playing chauffeur, that is. Once the kids have gone outside to cure venison jerky in the woods of Aquinnah, say, it’s time to kick up one’s heels and head out onto the dance floor with Ms. Vanderhoop’s Island salsa group which is also about to begin another season.

Classes meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning in mid-October. There is a place for beginners, intermediates and advanced dancers with all classes taking place at either the regional high school through ACE MV or Camp Jabberwocky. Latin dance parties are also sprinkled throughout the season.

For a full list of classes and registration information, visit islandsalsa.com or call Ms. Vanderhoop at 508-645-2008. She’s a one-stop-shop to help you get through the Island off-season.