Introducing to all of you, my wonderful friends, the new Brooksville Outdoor Conservation Alliance!
This started, as a few ladies, Michelle Payne, Courtney Volberg and Tammy Hinkle, decided to host a squirrel hunt to give kids something to do, which blew up into the most widely successful squirrel hunt in the history of squirrel hunts…. Well, in Brooksville, anyway.
Now with their latest collaboration, they are scheduling hunting and fishing opportunities as well as educational events and seminars for area youths to put down the video game controller and get outside. Michelle Payne shared, “We are excited to announce that through our efforts with the Brooksville Annual Squirrel Hunt Competition, we have organized Brooksville Outdoor Conservation Alliance, Inc. (BVLOCA) as a Florida non-profit organization dedicated to educating and encouraging youth involvement in outdoor recreation.
Our organization strives to promote and educate safety, preservation of the historical culture of the State of Florida, and conservation of the environment through land, water, and wildlife management practices.
BVLOCA will provide unique opportunities and programs to include youth hunting and fishing activities and competitions, outdoor recreational events, land and water conservation activities, education and safety.”
I had a chance to ask Courtney Volberg, what inspired her to act on this idea. “It’s really all about the kids. They just don’t have the opportunities to get outdoors. My husband and I are involved in the Foster Care program and so many of the kids there have never had these types of opportunities.”
Tammy Hinkle echoed the words of her cohorts in that with her too, it’s all about the kids. I asked her how they find the time. “You just do. We stay busy and if something is important to you, you stick with it.”
Now there’s an awful lot of folks in the world that talk a lot about becoming active in their community, but very few, it seems, do. Enter this trio of awesomeness…. Who put words to actions! It makes me awfully proud to call them my friends and to lend a hand with providing some of those hunting opportunities they’re pursuing. Such as the hunt that started it all, the Brooksville Annual Squirrel Hunting Championship! The 2023 hunt date I’m told has been placed on the calendar again for next February. It has brought hundreds into the field and thousands to the hunt headquarters for the celebration and awards. It’s become an incredible event, providing not only hunting opportunities for our youngest outdoorsmen, but as well pouring many, many thousands of dollars into our local economy. A beautiful win, win!
Thanks again for visiting with me this week here at the Hernando Sun. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. God bless and good hunting!
