Kids are still interested in the environment
Its January and snow is starting to fall softly on the back porch. The celebration of New Year’s Day is over and thinking of the past is inevitable. Time to reflect on the past five years.
The George Block Conservation Scholarship started five years ago, when I commented to my friends that we should find out if any of today’s youth are interested in the outdoors. I was skeptical as I hadn’t seen many young people out and about in the woods.
I can remember my father getting out his Iver Johnson 16-gauge shotgun and taking me along on his many hunting trips. We hunted all kind of things in those days. My father was not the kind of hunter of today but hunted for meat. I learned by being outdoors. He loved to fish and catch turtles, which he made into soup. In those days we all were expected to learn to hunt. I knew so many young hunters then.
Today there are so many gadgets. I was sure kids today would no longer be doing outside activities and decided to find out if it was true. Five of us gathered that first year to figure out how it should be done. We put flyers out in various gun shops and sportsmen’s clubs. The date was set for the end of the year, and we honestly weren’t even sure what we expected of our applicants. I knew I wanted it to be true that the youth of today still had some interest but honestly, I wasn’t expecting what happened next. In October, we had no one and I was still out trying to canvass businesses to donate. Because it had never been done, we weren’t sure what to tell the businesses we were doing but some kind supportive souls got it and donated.
November made us sweat as we waited, unsure what we would get. In December, I received a couple of entries. I remember reading them both and calling everyone involved. I was so excited as the first two entries were good. The kids seemed genuinely interested in the environment. One of the people who had an entry called me and asked what did I want them to write about? I remember calling all members to come up with the answer. We set a date to meet and collect all entries to read as we all had received an entry. The day of the first reading of entries was exciting. We all had a few entries and they were great. They were diverse – some kids were farming and writing about conservation practices, some hunted and trapped, some wrote about projects they did and awards they achieved through the scouts, some were overachievers who had loads of achievements, all were interested in the earth and conservation. Since the application had some faults, the entries were very different.
We learned so much about today’s youth. They are interesting and intelligent. My heart that first year woke up to the fact that youth today are interested in hunting and outdoor sports. I remember being at the Crown Center Sportsmen’s Show and giving out the award to an elegant well-spoken young applicant who wowed her judges. Some of our entrants over the past five years wrote great essays that would sway one of our members and we would argue a bit. More than one tie occurred, and we would start over, re-reading the entries.
Over the five years, we learned to expect great entries. As we stretched out our reach to find more kids, we discovered that people were interested in what we were doing.
In came COVID-19 and we thought maybe it might be time to stop but we found a way around it. This year, things have been a mess but still we are receiving entries and donations. The quality of the entries is what still impresses me. This year there are so many reasons to be depressed that I thought it might be nice to share one reason to be glad. Glad the earth is in good hands. Glad young people today understand what true conservation practices are and still can be found outside on a beautiful day walking the fields and streams of Washington and Greene County.
It might be snowing, and the virus is taking a toll on us all, but the scholarship and all its good work continues.