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Outdoor Adventure Center opens

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ROBIN GRAEFEN/TheThreefoldAdvocate
The Outdoor Adventure Center is located next to the gym and provides students with the opportunity to rent various equipment.

The Outdoor leadership ministry program now has its own building.

The Outdoor Adventure Center, located in the old Sager Cabin, helps make outdoor adventures easier by offering gear for JBU students, staff and faculty and their immediate family to rent. Mountain bikes, kayaks, canoes and equipment for camping and backpacking are all available at the Outdoor Adventure Center.

Throughout the year, the leaders at the center will host trips and clinics that are intended to equip people for their outdoor adventures.

Greg Robinson, associate professor of outdoor leadership ministry, said the center will benefit both the campus and the Siloam Springs community.

“JBU touches so many people in Siloam Springs. The healthier and more engaged our members are, the benefit to the city grows as well,” Robinson said.

Robinson said the center is also a great advancement for the outdoor leadership ministry program. The center provides the equipment and learning labs for students in the major. Through the Outdoor Adventure Center, outdoor ministry majors will get hands-on experience as they lead trips and help with clinics.

Jake Onnen, junior outdoor leadership ministries major, is looking forward to using the center to prepare for his future.

“Whereas the nurses, engineers and business majors have their own building, now we have our own building. It’s just a little more fun!”Onnen said.

Emily Tumilty, junior outdoor leadership ministries major, said she is excited to use the skills she has learned in the classroom to show her peers what outdoor leadership is really about.

The trips led by the outdoor leadership students is a way “for students to meet new people, get out of their comfort zone and experience new things,” Tumilty said. “Going on these trips will create community and bring people together who otherwise may not have met.”

Onnen said students involved at the center lead trips to introduce hiking, backpacking and more. To date, they have watched elk, and hiked at Hemmed-in-Hollow, Whitaker Point and Lost Valley. Their next adventure involves backpacking near the Buffalo River in April.

Memberships for personal use of the center can be purchased on the website. Members can request to rent equipment through the website as well.

Outdoor leadership ministry majors said they plan to host open houses in the Sager Cabin throughout the semester.

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