REACH OUTDOORS: CONSERVATION STARS BRAG BOARD
by Shaun McKeon, MUCC Education Director
This week for the reach outdoors blog we are going to launch a new idea. Our idea is to hear from you! Once a month we will be posting a brag board blog and we want photos of you and your kids getting outdoors exploring and enjoying the natural resources Michigan has to offer. Whether you were a past summer camper who harvested your first deer this season after getting your hunter safety card at camp or you are a parent of a kid who loves getting outdoors we want you to share it with us.
We want to see pictures and hear stories about youth who are hunting, trapping and fishing out in the woods and waters all across this great state. The idea behind this is to create an online extension for our future stars program. So once a month, my blog will be all about your stories, and pictures of kids doing what they love to do outside. You can submit pictures and stories directly to me (smckeon@mucc.org) and I will do my best to get them posted online in the blog each month.
Charlie, Henry and Grandpa
To kick off the blog we will share a story and a picture of the Tonne brothers and their Grandpa spending time together fishing:
Dzidra (Grandma Memi) writes this about her grandkids, “Brothers, four year old Charlie and two and a half year old Henry walk the quarter mile of dirt road to a little creek near Interlochen carrying their own poles. The calm pool in the creek holds a few small bass and bluegill, enough to keep the boys excited. At their age we “keep it simple,” with a light weight rod, bobber, hook, and worm. With a little help casting and reeling and a lot of praise for a caught fish. A job well done is shared before the catch is released.” The boys get to enjoy fishing and the short walk through nature as they get to share these trips with their grandparents.”
Before I was MUCC Ed. director, I was catching fish with the family!
The other picture in this article is of my family and I about 7 years ago. This picture was taken during a quick break from college joining my parents and younger brother for a day chasing salmon on Lake Michigan. It represents a great day fishing with the family and is a small piece of how lucky I was growing up to be able to share family time in Michigan’s great outdoors.
These types of brief stories about your outings with a photo or two are exactly what we will be looking for. We want to see and share photos of your kids getting outside! Once again you can send the photos to smckeon@mucc.org and I will post them on a monthly basis.
While we are talking about getting kids outdoors, we are almost ready to start taking applications for the 2015 camp season. More information on the programs that we will be offering this year can be found at mucc.org/camp. Also pictures of many of the activities the campers participate in can be viewed there. With over 350 kids attending camp each summer there are lots of chances to take pictures of kids getting outdoors and learning about conservation in Michigan.
Disclaimer: By sending in a photo or story you are consenting to allow for that picture to be shared on our website mucc.org. You are consenting the right and permission to use pictures of the minor or pictures in which the minor may be included in conjunction with mucc.org or the Michigan OutofDoors Magazine.
