Tom’s Auto & Marine in Tamaqua will begin offering classes about the outdoors.

The first will be held from 6-8 p.m. April 18 when John Bondura of the Schuylkill Headwaters Association will speak about clean water trout fishing and trout identification.

Other classes will follow, according to Tom Banditelli, owner of Tom’s, 250 S. Greenwood St.

“When my father was alive and running the store, he used to have classes here all the time - fishing classes, hunter safety classes, boating safety classes,” Banditelli said. “It was always his idea to get more people to see the store” which carries a variety of outdoor essentials.

Banditelli is hoping to host classes on a regular basis with Bondura, who is chairman of the Schuylkill Headwaters Association’s Fish Committee.

“It’s for anybody that is interested in the outdoors and fishing,” Bondura said of the inaugural class.

He will have a PowerPoint presentation for part of the event. He’ll also bring four mounted trout.

“I’ll be using those as teaching devices for parts of fish and to show the difference between some of the trout,” Bondura said. “I’ll be able to show their characteristics.”

He said that the program will be “pretty neat.”

Upcoming classes will be announced on Tom’s Auto & Marine’s Facebook page.

The class is free but pre-registration is a must. To register, contact Tom’s between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 570-668-5066.