Wapiti Talk | Elk Hunting Forum | Elk Hunting Tips
 

Youth Outdoor Activity Day Wrap Up

Moderators: Swede, Tigger, Lefty, Indian Summer, WapitiTalk1

Youth Outdoor Activity Day Wrap Up

Postby Tigger » 08 27, 2018 •  [Post 1]

I posted awhile back about the event that we hold in Alexandria MN. Here is a recap of how it went!

Youth Outdoor Activity Day 2018 has come and gone and what an event it was! We again set an attendance record with 2,212 kids in attendance! Counting the parents, we had 3,760 attend the event and if you add in the 290 volunteers, we had over 4,000 people! But beyond the numbers (yeah, I know, everyone likes the numbers!), we made a significant impact on the outdoor lives of these kids. For example, the Other Things in Our Lakes activity featured 6 small swimming pools stocked with fish, turtles, frogs and toads and other slimy creatures. We literally had hundreds of kids at a time touching and picking them up and they wouldn’t leave! It was fun to watch the parents who were ready to move on, but the kids wouldn’t leave! Some of the more popular of the 46 different activities included the ATV course, rock climbing wall, crossbow shooting, trap shooting, archery, BB guns, outdoor cooking, fire building, mountain biking, muzzleloader shotgun shooting, casting station, bow fishing, and the free ice cream (well, the ice cream wasn’t an activity, but it sure was popular!).

I lost track of how many times I was thanked for putting on such an amazing free event, but it was easily in the hundreds. The smiles on the kid’s faces and the mud on their clothes was a testament to the day they experienced. I will never forget seeing a small girl clutching a fishing rod she had just won just after the event started. Later, toward the end of the event, I saw her again and she still had a death grip on that fishing rod! I have no doubts she will put it to good use. In total, we gave away over 3,700 pieces of outdoor equipment along with over 2,000 tee shirts and 4,500 hot dogs!

This day was not only about the kids. We enticed over 150 adults to try archery or trap shooting for the first time or one of their first times. Getting the parents to shoot with their kids will only help to pave the way for future participation in those activities. This year was also the debut of the Next Steps booth which was designed to get information into the family’s hands on how to further their participation in activities that they were interested in pursuing (for example, fishing regulations, a map of public fishing piers, or info on State Park programs). As successful as it was, we already have plans to enhance this booth further next year.

Eric Morken of the Echo Press has already posted his article about the event and it can be found here (with video): http://www.echopress.com/sports/outdoor ... rd-numbers

I will leave you with a message we got on our website after the event:

First, Thank you.

What an incredible experience! We found out about this event at the Swift County Fair one of the conservation booths had a brochure.

The Youth Outdoor Activity day was incredible! My husband and I enjoyed it as much as our son. The hands-on activities, ATV course, demonstrations, conversations, and experiences has Gavin completely ecstatic about the outdoor opportunities (and he found out he's actually really good at being a sportsman) and he can't wait to try bow fishing and even fly fishing. Things that We has parents have never done either! So, we will learn together.

We deeply wanted to Thank each volunteer, business and contributor for making the day so special. It was organized, educational and FUN.

To make matters even more spectacular, we found out this is an annual event that will always fall on His birthday weekend!

Again, THANK YOU ALL.
User avatar
Tigger
Rank: An Elk Nut
 
Posts: 2420
Joined: 01 12, 2015
Location: Minnesota