CLEAR LAKE, Minn. — Seventy kids and their families spent Sunday, Sept. 13, getting hands-on experience with outdoor activities at the 14th Annual Twin Cities Get Youth Outdoors Day at Wild Marsh Sporting Clays Shooting Facility.
Hosted by the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers & Allied Workers, the event introduced youth ages 9 to 17 to sporting clays, .22 rifle shooting and archery. Each participant received a free rod and reel, and several youths also took home prizes through raffle drawings.
For many participants, the day offered a chance to try something new alongside their families and learn from experienced union volunteers.
Twenty union volunteers representing local electrical workers, roofers and laborers unions helped lead the activity stations and provide firearm-safety instruction. About half of the youth participants were first-time shooters, according to Roofers Assistant to International President Gig Ritenour.
Ritenour said some of the day’s most memorable moments came when kids won raffle prizes and shot on the range.
“For me, it was seeing the excitement in the kids when they break a target or hit a bullseye,” Ritenour said. “Then watching them win a raffle prize and seeing how excited they are about what they won. That’s what makes this event so special.”
USA Conservation Coordinator Maggie Sager said the volunteers play an important role in making the event both safe and engaging.
“Their support is incredibly valuable,” Sager said. “They bring the knowledge and experience needed to make the activity stations safe and educational, but just as importantly, they bring enthusiasm and a willingness to connect with the kids.”
USA Events Manager Chris Piltz experienced that connection firsthand while volunteering at the sporting clays station.
“I was supposed to be range master for the afternoon and travel up and down the sporting clays range just helping where needed,” Piltz said. “One son and his father came up to me thinking I was running a training station. I am a sucker for teaching a kid how to shoot, so we stepped up into the stand to send a few downrange. That turned into about 15 kids, a bunch of broken clays and a ton of laughing.”
Piltz said the experience reinforced why youth outreach is such an important part of the USA’s conservation work.
“You cannot escape the unbelievable feeling of helping a child get introduced to the shooting sports,” he said. “It sticks with you.”
Get Youth Outdoors Day is part of USA’s flagship conservation program, Work Boots on the Ground, which organizes free, community-based youth outreach events nationwide. The program connects families with the outdoors, teaches conservation values and introduces the next generation to outdoor activities.
Get Youth Outdoors Day followed the record-breaking 16th Annual Roofers Twin Cities Sporting Clays Shoot on Saturday, Sept. 12. More than 260 union members participated in the event, which set new records for overall event revenue and day-of fundraising for the USA Shooting Tour.
For Ritenour, the connection between the two events was particularly meaningful. Many of the volunteers who helped introduce younger participants to shooting sports on Sunday had participated in Saturday’s event.
“What’s really cool is when you have those older kids that come to the shoot on Saturday and then turn around the next day and come to volunteer to help the younger kids,” Ritenour said. “You really see that progression.”
Sager hopes the experience gives participants memories and skills they can carry with them beyond the event.
“I hope the kids leave with positive memories, new skills and a stronger connection to the outdoors,” Sager said. “Most importantly, I hope they discover an activity they enjoy and feel inspired to keep exploring and spending time outside with their friends and families.”
Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA): The USA is a union-dedicated, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose members hunt, fish, shoot and volunteer their skills for conservation. The USA is uniting the union community through conservation to preserve North America’s outdoor heritage. For more information, visit www.unionsportsmen.org or connect on Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram.
Work Boots on the Ground (WBG): WBG is the USA’s flagship conservation program that brings together union members willing to volunteer their time and expertise to conservation projects that improve and enhance public access to the outdoors, conserve wildlife habitat, restore America’s parks and mentor youth in the outdoors. The USA’s Work Boots on the Ground program works closely with federal, state and local agencies and other conservation groups to provide manpower needed to complete critical projects that may otherwise go undone.
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