From Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center:
3/17/2014 Update: Event date is June 7
The Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center (HODC) in Eden, MD, will host the 7th Annual National Get Outdoors Day from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, 2014. This event encourages healthy, active outdoor fun and is free to attend, thanks to the Hazel Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore.
Exhibitors from local outdoor organizations, parks, and museums will team up at the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center to offer hands-on outdoor experiences for families. Prime goals of the day are reaching currently underserved populations and reconnecting our youth to nature. Kids can learn about archery, firearm safety, fishing, wildlife watching, kayaking, hiking, and more. Parents can learn about organizations that help kids develop safe and healthy habits while exploring our great Delmarva outdoors. Free lunch will be offered to all and free t-shirts will be provided to the first 400 kids.
The pilot effort of National Get Outdoors Day was launched on June 14, 2008. Building on the success of No Child Left Inside and other important efforts to connect Americans – and especially children – with nature and active lifestyles, national conservation organizations agreed to lead an inclusive, nationwide effort focusing on a single day when people would be inspired and motivated to get outdoors. Last year, over 50 official GO Day sites across the nation from the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center in Eden, MD, to the Big Bear Discovery Center in the San Bernardino National Forest welcomed thousands of new faces to the joy and benefits of the great outdoors.
The Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center was the vision of Richard F. Hazel, Eastern Shore philanthropist and former president of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Salisbury. Mr. Hazel loved the outdoors. More importantly, he loved seeing kids connect with nature at his “farm” on Cooper Road in Eden, Maryland.
An avid sportsman until his untimely passing in February 2008, Mr. Hazel spent much of his free time at his 500+ acre preserve. With his friends and family, he maintained the property as a haven for wildlife, including white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and endangered Delmarva fox squirrels. While he enjoyed his quiet mornings hunting alone on his farm, Mr. Hazel truly enjoyed lending the property to scouts and youth groups for a variety of daytime activities and overnight camping experiences. The HODC is proud to carry on this tradition today.
For more information about National Get Outdoors Day, please visit: http://www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org.
For more information about the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center, please visit: http://www.hazeloutdoors.org
Maryland Outdoor Life 