By Sue LeBar
BARRYVILLE — On Saturday, Sept. 26, the Sullivan County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited hosted a Sportsman’s Night Out at Cedar Rapids in Barryville.
The event invited parents and their children, as well as hunters, to a fun evening with unlimited food and chances to win great prizes for the hunting and fishing seasons. All of the proceeds from the event went to support the wetlands and waterfowl conservation efforts of Ducks Unlimited.
“This is just a no thrills Sportsman’s Night Out and there are all kinds of great prizes up for grabs,” said Peter Scalia, who is the State Vice Chairman for Ducks Unlimited. “We had it here at Cedar Rapids in the outdoors just to have a great evening of fun and get everyone ready for the upcoming seasons. It is great to have the kids come out and participate as well and we had over 75 parents and kids here, which is a great turnout.”
Ducks Unlimited began in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when the North American Drought plagued waterfowl population, which plunged to unprecedented lows. A small group of sportsman joined together to form the organization that is now known as Ducks Unlimited with the mission to establish habitat conservation.
With that mission in mind, Ducks Unlimited is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization.
Currently, Ducks Unlimited volunteers have hosted more than 4,500 grassroots fundraising events with every dollar used toward conservation.