The details of the events are posted on Meetup. If you would like to join an event as a non-member, please contact us to RSVP and get details.

Our monthly meetings are every 4th Tuesday of every month. Anyone is welcome to attend. We offer both in person and Zoom options based on the current health advisories.

We welcome speakers on various outdoor related topics at every monthly meeting. If you have expertise on a topic or know of someone who does, please contact us.

Jul
16
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Jul 16 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Jul
23
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Jul 23 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Jul
25
Tue
Monthly Meeting, July 25
Jul 25 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Our TOWN-Austin monthly  meeting occurs each month on the fourth Tuesday.

Our agenda is typically the following:  bring your brown-bag dinner or a snack; we gather at 6 pm & socialize; 6:30-7:00 greetings, introductions, business, outings reports and planning; 7- 8 speaker; 8 – 8:15 adjournment and cleanup.

Our speaker will be Dianne Odegard from the Austin Bat Refuge who will talk about Living Among Bats.

Though among the most poorly understood and needlessly feared of all animals, the almost 1400 bat species worldwide are beneficial to human interests as diverse as agriculture, forestry, tourism and medicine. Whether consuming vast numbers of damaging insect pests (saving agriculture across the U.S. an average of $22.9 billion a year), pollinating plants important to local economies or dispersing seeds critical to restoration of rain forests, bats are undeniably important, and unfortunately under threat of harm from sources both old and new.

Human fear of bats has existed for centuries, and sometimes seems to be the most intractable threat of all, based almost entirely on myth, exaggeration and misinformation.

Dianne Odegard is President and Co-Founder, along with her husband, Lee Mackenzie, of Austin Bat Refuge, a non-profit organization focused on local education and outreach, and on rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned bats.

She studied graphic art in college, but has always been fascinated by bats, and by the various ways humans respond to them. Working for Bat Conservation International from 2005 until June of this year, she immersed herself in bat biology, bats and public health, bats in buildings, and in conservation education for children and adults. She has shared her knowledge with a wide range of audiences in Texas and beyond as BCI’s urban bats specialist.

Dianne and Lee share their home with Zoey and Zuzu, BCI’s retired Ambassador Bats (African straw-colored fruit bats) and, as state-permitted wildlife rehabilitators, with as many as 60 native Texas bats of nine different species.

Join us and bring a friend!

Jul
26
Wed
Kayaking Lady Bird Lake
Jul 26 @ 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Time for kayaking!

Lifejackets/PFDs are mandatory for this outing!

We meet at the Rowing Dock on the s. shore of Lady Bird Lake, behind Zilker Park (www.rowingdock.com) between 5:30 and 6, planning to be on the water by 6 pm in the sleek new boats with great seats and working footpegs.  $15 (cash preferred) will rent your boat, paddle, and lifejacket as we head upstream toward Tom Miller Dam, or downstream to admire the skyline and downtown buildings.

If you are new to TOWN or haven’t been out with us in a while or have an afternoon open, you can’t find a better way to enjoy the heart of Austin than on a cool, leisurely paddle on Lady Bird Lake.  Two hours of scenery, sights, and enjoyable chatting to your fellow-TOWNies and their guests, followed by a social hour enjoyment on dry land at venues such as Shady Grove, Maudie’s, Rudy’s Barbecue . . . and the Four Seasons.  Not kidding, but not usual, either.

If you have your own boat, you can put in behind the Rowing Dock at no charge.  We will help you tote it from your car to the small dock.

Jul
30
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Jul 30 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Aug
6
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Aug 6 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Aug
9
Wed
Kayaking Lady Bird Lake
Aug 9 @ 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Time for kayaking!

Lifejackets/PFDs are mandatory for this outing!

We meet at the Rowing Dock on the s. shore of Lady Bird Lake, behind Zilker Park (www.rowingdock.com) between 5:30 and 6, planning to be on the water by 6 pm in the sleek new boats with great seats and working footpegs.  $15 (cash preferred) will rent your boat, paddle, and lifejacket as we head upstream toward Tom Miller Dam, or downstream to admire the skyline and downtown buildings.

If you are new to TOWN or haven’t been out with us in a while or have an afternoon open, you can’t find a better way to enjoy the heart of Austin than on a cool, leisurely paddle on Lady Bird Lake.  Two hours of scenery, sights, and enjoyable chatting to your fellow-TOWNies and their guests, followed by a social hour enjoyment on dry land at venues such as Shady Grove, Maudie’s, Rudy’s Barbecue . . . and the Four Seasons.  Not kidding, but not usual, either.

If you have your own boat, you can put in behind the Rowing Dock at no charge.  We will help you tote it from your car to the small dock.

Aug
13
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Aug 13 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Aug
20
Sun
Hike in Barton Creek
Aug 20 @ 7:30 am – 9:30 am

LeaderMarshaK

Distance:  4 -5 miles at a very brisk pace

Difficulty:  moderate to difficult

Meet at Marsha’s house before 7:30 am.  Group will finish before 9:30 as Marsha needs time to prep for church.

Water is required as well as good walking shoes.  Sticks are also helpful.

Dogs must be on leash.  Prepare to pick up your dog’s poop.  Furnish water for your dog.

Contact MarshaK via email by Saturday evening if you wish to walk with her.

Aug
22
Tue
Monthly Meeting, August 22
Aug 22 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Our TOWN-Austin monthly  meeting occurs each month on the fourth Tuesday.

Our agenda is typically the following:  bring your brown-bag dinner or a snack; we gather at 6 pm & socialize; 6:30-7:00 greetings, introductions, business, outings reports and planning; 7- 8 speaker; 8 – 8:15 adjournment and cleanup.

Our speaker is John Tomocek, PhD. from Texas A&M University.  An expert in the identification and use of wildlife signs, Dr. Tomecek will be presenting on identification of animal tracks and scat.  His talk will focus on species native to the Austin area, how to differentiate between species, and what we can learn from wildlife signs.

Dr. John Tomecek, from Texas A&M University, is an assistant professor of wildlife science. He is a native of the Austin area, and attended UT Austin for his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. His research focuses on management of carnivores, wildlife diseases, and mediating human-wildlife conflicts.

Join us and bring a friend!