If there is truth to the statement, youth is our future; our future looks bright. We had record groups attending our BTC demos. A few demos tallied forty-one participants, and I would  say the approximate average at these demos at this convention was in the high twenties. Lots of action and hands-on activities, all trapping-related. Lots of parents and families are participating. Thanks to many but special thanks to Craig Hilburn, who oversaw most presentations. I thank our presenters for parading the kids around the grounds in the task of locating the demo sponsor. It was a good public display and one that many saw as most promising. In fact, I had tailgaters approach me and want to help with support next year.

Youth had a chance to walk away with many items. Fur grooming brush, lures, t-shirts, fluorescent tape, weasel trap with box, skinning boards, educational activity, and track books. Some of these items were donated by vendors, and if MTA were billed, the money would come out of our Beginner Trappers Connection account. Thanks to our members for donating to this account.

In the past, I had kids, now young adults come back and do presentations. That has been working well. We have future presenters being mentored. This year, we lined up a demo that had 11-14-year-olds presenting 2 minutes of “Tips and Tricks”. The kids presenting loved it! It looks like in the future we will be cultivating more younger age trappers for this style of demo. It’s been over ten years since the board approved this program, and I am waiting for the day that one of our attendees will do a demo for the adults. I think that time is coming soon!

Great convention, lots of families walking the grounds, and lots of kids parading in excitement!
Pass it On, Brian