Lessons on the outdoors are combined with play at the annual JAKES Day event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield.
The event, sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division and the Georgia Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, will feature a variety of activities, demonstrations and vendors. JAKES Day is a way to get children involved in the outdoors and engaged in conservation, said Jamie Teal, an event organizer.
Activities will include:
- Fishing, bait and poles will be provided
- Mini boat rides with a Department of Natural Resources officer
- DNR officers will demonstrate how they train dogs and work with them
- Officers will demonstrate the use of a rocket net, a device used to catch a large number of birds so they can be banded or worked with
- Shooting safety demonstrations
- Pellet gun and archery shooting safety
- A live snake show and a birds of prey show
- Bluegrass music
- Free lunch for children, and food available for a donation to adults
"We're cramming a lot in to four hours," Teal said.
The wildlife center's discovery center will be open, and there will be various exhibitors on hand for the event. Door prizes will be distributed, too.
Most festival events will be near the discovery center, but there also will be a planetarium and astronomy demonstration at the visitor center by the Atlanta Chapter of the National Astronomy Club. A scavenger hunt will be conducted at the visitor center.
JAKES is a Wild Turkey Federation program. JAKES stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics & Sportsmanship.
The Wild Turkey Federation will give out T-shirts to the first 500 children at the event, which is free.
