JAKES Event Gets Children Off the Couch and Away From Video Games
By Adrel Langley, Florence Morning News, S.C.
Aug. 4–The only sound interrupting the wind blowing through the trees, birds calling in the distance and water trickling down Lynches River this past Saturday was the sound of children’s laughter.
The Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Education and Sportsmanship (JAKES) group of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) managed to get about 25 children from ages six to 14 out of bed on a Saturday morning in the middle of the summer.
By 9 a.m., about 45 people gathered at Danny Rodgers private landing on Lynches River in Southern Florence County.
Mike Norton, with NWTF, said the program is a non-profit organization to benefit wild turkeys and get children participating and having fun.
“Just be quiet and look at Mother Nature,” South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ Game Warden, Benji Byers told the group before they embarked on their five-mile journey.
“I’ve always loved nature and if you slow down and realize it’s not a race, you can see so many more things than you can sitting in front of a video game or riding down the road,” he said. “This is a beautiful stretch of river.”
“The most important piece of equipment in your boat is your life jacket,” Byers said during a brief lesson on boating safety. He cautioned participants to always wear their life jackets, telling them that if anything goes wrong while on the water, the last thing anyone needs to be doing is looking for a life jacket.
He cautioned the group not to panic if their kayak or canoes turned over during the trip.
“Just stay close to the boat. Don’t try to swim to another boat and get in, because you’ll turn that boat over too,” he said. “There are enough adults out here who know what they’re doing that someone will be there to help you.”
After being fitted with life jackets, it was time to hit the water and Barry Frick with River Rat’s Canoe Rentals, who hosted the event, took over and began loading participants into canoes.
As boats filled with rowers, eels and gar fish could be seen along the banks.
“This just tickles me to death to see all these young people out here on the river,” Frick said.
Like Byers, Frick expressed his deep love of nature while pointing out wildlife to the group. He also said he has seen more owls than normal on the river this year.
About half-way through the journey, canoers took a break at a sand bar in the middle of the river.
“I saw a baby white tail deer,” said 9 year-old Tyler Moore of Florence. Moore was excited that his father, Brian, had brought him on his first canoe trip.
Others had seen egrets, snakes and various fish. As the children played, a family of domesticated ducks dredged for food in the shallow water nearby.
During the second leg of the trip, a group of nine, very noisy geese joined the party as the boats floated down stream.
Frick said he last cleared fallen trees from this section of the river at the beginning of July in preparation for July 4th canoe rentals.
Frick said he hopes to retire and do the canoe business full-time in about 10 years, but now he can accommodate groups of 40 with a two-week notice and smaller groups are welcome anytime. He recently took an instructor course so that he can work with the Girl Scouts.
As the group reached River Rat’s Canoe Rentals at Indigo Landing, they were fed lunch and enjoyed more playing in the river.
Norton said the event wouldn’t have been possible without BB&T, Irby Street Sporting Goods and South’s Finest sponsoring it and River Rat’s Canoe Rental hosting and guiding the excursion.
Chris Matthews with NWTF said he hopes the group can make the canoe trip an annual event and has other activities throughout the year to get children interested in the outdoors.
Participants were also given t-shirts, a one year membership to JAKES and wildlife identification guides. For additional information about JAKES, visit http://www.nwtf.org and for information on River Rat’s Canoe Rentals, http://www.riverratscanoerentals.com.
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Copyright (c) 2008, Florence Morning News, S.C.
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