Kids Conservation Day

The Annual Kids Conservation Day originated in 2022 with just over 30 children and families. In 2023, the event more than doubled in size.

The Willow Creek Sportsman’s Club held their 2nd Annual Kids Conservation Day on Saturday, September 16, 2023, at the Corydon Township Volunteer Fire Department. Kids Conservation Day is an annual event that runs all day long where children are invited to participate to learn about outdoors, recreation, safety, and conservation. Lunch was provided for parents and children and a gift bag was provided for each child. Each bag included a water bottle, healthy snacks, and stickers. Each family was given a copy of a child’s book from Kevin Lovegreen, who is a well-known outdoor enthusiast who inspires children to read, write, and enjoy the outdoors.

Participation increased drastically this year, almost tripled in size. There were 78 children who attended and participated in various stations from many community partners including the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, United States Forest Service, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Fin & Fly Adventures, and the Corydon Township Volunteer Fire Department. Stations were a wide variety of focusses including invasive species specimens, habitat management, fly fishing, archery hunting, firearm safety, wilderness survival, and more.

This event gave children an opportunity to learn about numerous topics in a fun and interactive way. Children began their day with a firearm safety seminar and were then broken up into groups by their age. Each group of kids started at a different station and rotated every 20 minutes with lunch being served in the middle of the day. Concluding the event, kids were invited back to the main meeting area to be entered into drawings and provide feedback on their day. With parental consent, children who participated in the event were entered into a drawing for a youth shotgun, youth compound bow, and a fly-fishing rod donated by Gage Brien, Larry Yeager, and Brian Minich. Every child left the event with a bigger passion for the outdoors and a smile on their face.

To help raise funds to make this event possible and successful, the club received donations from local donors, local businesses, club members, and received a quarterly impact funding grant from the United Way of the Bradford Area. These generous sponsors allowed us to host this to families & children in the community to participate at no cost to them.