FAIRMONT — The Pheasants Forever Chapter 49 of Martin County is gearing up to host its annual Youth Conservation Day for children and their families. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 24th, at the Martin County Fairgrounds.

The event promises engagement and education on wildlife conservation and pollinators, as well as free meals, horse rides, arts and crafts, bounce houses, vendor booths and more.

Pheasants Forever is a non-profit organization that consists of ‘chapter’ groups across the United States. Pheasants Forever aims to conserve the abundant population of wildlife (including pheasants and quails), and a diversity of outdoor habitats through enriching community experiences and activities with nature.

President of the Martin County Pheasants Forever, Joe Maidl, has served the organization in Fairmont for 10 years as committee leader. Maidl began his affiliation with the Pheasants Forever chapter by assisting with the annual spring banquet as a volunteer in 2003 before he gradually transitioned to that of an official committee member and finally to his current role.

According to Maidl, last year the Youth Conservation event was well-received by the public with approximately 180 children present at the fairgrounds along with their families to learn more about pollinators, conservation and the chapter’s mission to provoke children’s interest about outdoor leisure and hobbies.

This year, Kinship of Martin County joins the educational nature-based event and will be providing hotdogs for the free meal at the event.

The event is planned about five months to one full year in advance, and much information about the organization is communicated by word of mouth or the organization’s activity on social media, including its Facebook page.

Maidl noted that the Pheasants Forever chapter focuses primarily on providing children with outdoor experience, especially to children who have lacked previous experience with nature activities such as fishing and hunting. In addition, the Martin County chapter encourages and accepts assistance and support of all kinds from community supporters.

“Membership climbed within eight years,” Maidl reported that both feedback and support have increased notably as families perceived their events and community outreach positively.

New members of the Pheasants Forever chapter are always welcome, as supporting hands are constantly encouraged by existing committee members. For those inquisitive, but deem themselves not applicable for a full-time career on the committee, the Pheasants Forever chapter offers several program options to stay involved, connected and supportive of the chapter’s drive while remaining as a volunteer. Inquiries about chapter involvement can be made on the Pheasant Forever website or the official Martin County Pheasants Forever Facebook page.

“There’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes on the committee, so we are looking for a lot of helping arms,” Maidl said.

Following this coming weekend’s event, the Pheasants Forever chapter will host several youth events as the seasons progress later into the year. In the fall, Pheasants Forever will hold a hunting trip for children. In winter, the youth members will be able to go ice fishing on the lakes. One of the organization’s biggest supportive events, The Pheasants Forever 40th Annual Banquet, will be held in April. The banquet event is recognized by the committee as the biggest community outreach and fundraiser for the organization.

Maidl described that children who have no prior experience with outdoor skills and experience are more than welcome to join the Pheasants Forever group, and encouraged. Pheasants Forever hope to provoke children to avoid spending their time indoors, when opportunities to take advantage of natural habitats exist.

“We’ve received a lot of good feedback,” He said, “[The Pheasants Forever committee] hopes we can see kids who have never done this, show up. We want them to be interested and involved with it.”