WATSONVILLE — The eighth annual Monterey Bay Youth Outdoor Day is slated for May 12 and 13. The free, family-oriented event, which takes place at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, will include scores of exhibitors who will be on hand to help youths get acquainted and excited about such activities as water sports, archery, fly fishing, mountain biking, rock climbing, health and safety, conservation, disc golf, scuba diving, kayaking and horseback riding, said event coordinator Elyse Destout, owner of Photography by Elyse.
“Parking, admission, all activities, and all the shows are free,” Destout said. “The only thing with a cost is lunch, if you choose to do that. We encourage kids ages 5 to 16 year olds to participate but the event is for the whole family.”
Youth Outdoor Day founder, Russel Maridon, who describes himself as an avid outdoorsman, and is a member of the Fish and Game Commission, said he drummed up the idea because he grew up enjoying a wealth of outdoor activities. He said he has become increasingly aware of how many youths now spend much of their time glued to TV and computer screens and are overweight.
New this year, MBYOD is teaming up with several non-profits to make the event happen. The Watsonville Police Assistance Board will be doing all the cooking on Saturday and raising money for their K-9 department.
“We are also working with Food What from UCSC and they will be doing a free salad bar and educating the youth about healthy and sustainable foods that can be grown at home,” Destout said.
“For the past seven years I have been organizing this amazing event and have had the opportunity to connect with incredible local groups and businesses,” Destout said. “We all share the common goal of getting our youth to realize the wonderful, and in most cases free activities, we have right here on the Central Coast. A big part of my efforts the past few years have been to connect with organizations that also teach families about conservation and sustainable, healthy living. We all need to believe that the youth in our community will shape our future, and it is up to us to show them how to take care of themselves and our community.”
For information email Elyse Destout at HYPERLINK “mailto:el***@mb***.org” data-original-string=”ar+Ri3G0qeEQyB9jTXE/LA==” title=”This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.”
el***@mb***.org
or call 840-5547 or visit HYPERLINK “http://www.mbyod.org/”www.mbyod.org. You can also watch their video: HYPERLINK “https://vimeo.com/78352451”https://vimeo.com/78352451
