My friend Jim Sullivan shares his experence:

Hi all, My name is Jim Sullivan with Sangamon County CTO.   My family and I attended the Brett Creager Memorial Youth Event at Sangchris Lake State Park on October 14th.  The annual event is put on by the Sangchris Waterfowlers Association (SWA).  The SWA is a group of waterfowl hunters who donate a lot of their time and resources to improve not only waterfowl hunting at Sangchris Lake but also to improve the lake itself.  

This year's event saw 85 young men and women attend to learn more about waterfowl hunting. There were activities that included archery, dog demonstrations, build your own duck call, duck identification, and boat safety.  They also had free food for those in attendance and door prize drawings for ALL the kids who were there. They also had drawings for two guns and several youth hunting opportunities.    

My family and I staffed the CTO table and were able to reach out to kids and their parents to talk about CTO and it's guiding principles of preserving our Faith and our outdoor heritage. I will say based on the conversations I had with parents and kids there is a need and interest in what we do and I find encouragement in knowing that we can reach this young generation.  I spoke with people who lived over an hour away and wanted to know more about how to find or start a CTO chapter in their area.  I met with people who genuinely care about the same principles that CTO stands for.  I have a great hope and faith that God will guide our chapter and make it successful. 

Jim Sullivan

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future".Franklin D. Roosevelt