Fifty youngsters ranging in age from 2 to 15 learned about firearm and archery safety at Saturday’s Lake Seminole Spurs Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) JAKES Day at Spring Hill Christmas Tree Farm.

Spurs Chapter President Jack Thomas said JAKES, which stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge and Ethics, teaches youngsters to love and respect the outdoors and always observe firearm and archery safety rules.

He explained that youngsters, divided according to age, go to various stations each JAKES Day.

“We work closely with the Georgia Game and Fish Division rangers who come out to work with us on JAKES Day” he said. “They explain safety rules to the youngsters. For the very young children, we have a wildlife coloring contest.”

One of the stations for the older youngsters teaches them the proper care and use of a BB gun. They try to shoot BBs into the center of a skeet, which is nailed onto a piece of wood.

“At the shotgun station, they try to hit the center of the image of a turkey on a piece of paper and at the archery station, they try to hit the bull’s eye of a target,” Thomas said.

Thomas said that each year the Lake Seminole Spurs hold two banquets, one to raise money for a disabled hunt that they sponsor and one to raise money for the JAKES Day and other projects.