NORTHFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) – On a dirt road in Northfield, Susan Barnard takes charge, leading a group of mostly retired people on a nature hike.
“It’s fun, just getting out here is so much fun,” Barnard said. “The hardest part is getting out of your house.”
She started the Northfield/Roxbury Outing Club five years ago and there’s a tradition at the beginning of every trek — the question of the day. On this hike, it’s “What do you like about February?”
“I noticed on the way home last night, the light was special on the river,” said Carolyn Stevens, a club participant.
The goal is to get a little exercise and a lot of socializing, something especially needed during the cold and dark months of winter.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Barnard leads the group — and I do mean leads. For Stevens, Barnard’s friend of 40 years, the hardest part is getting out the door. “But it’s always good and it’s always beautiful no matter where we go, it’s beautiful,” Stevens said.
On this day they are visiting Cary Giguere’s sugarhouse to find out how the sweet stuff is made. “The steam fills the place, it usually hovers below the beams,” Giguere said.
Barnard was a long-time K-2nd grade gym teacher at nearby Barre Town Elementary. Her style of teaching was anything but typical. “I was different,” she said. “I really believe in quality physical education. I mean, I don’t play dodgeball. I am really teaching hard a curriculum… I wanted them to learn to garden, I wanted them to learn to hike, we ran the track.”
Reporter Joe Carroll: In a nutshell, you wanted them to be a well-rounded person.
Susan Barnard: Yes, I wanted the whole child.
She retired 10 years ago with tears in her eyes. It was also around the time her husband, Bill, retired as a professor from Norwich University. “I’m laid back and you can’t sit still,” Bill said.
“That’s true, I’ve always been a mover,” Barnard added.
She made the moves on him in college. Bill asked another classmate who she was. “‘I just got invited to a sorority dance. Who’s that woman down there who asked me?’” he recalled saying.
The couple have been married for 56 years. Bill, an ornithologist, not only studies birds, he carves them. He’s perfectly happy alone in his workshop. Susan, not so much. “I never walk alone. I always have lot’s of friends around me,” she said.
Back in the woods, the outing club is beating a new path. “This is our first time up here and that’s what’s fun about this group,” Barnard said. She may no longer be teaching students, but her love of learning never gets old. “I love just being with people. Just getting outside, you feel so much better.”
