Southlake's Earth Day weekend was a great success!

The Spring Family Campout  and Youth Fishing Competition were an overwhelming success this past weekend! The City of Southlake hosted its largest Family Campout ever with more than 100 participants, which was three times the size of previous campouts. There was a very large turnout for the Youth Fishing Competition as well with over 100 youth registered.

Between the activities offered at the Great Outdoor Days event  and the beautiful weather to enjoy, the participants  had a great opportunity to go outside, enjoy nature and spend some quality time with their family.  There was much for the family to do; knot tying, disc golf, a creature handler, rock climbing, learning how to recycle and even a planting station where kids could plant vegetables to take home and grow. Dallas Dog and Disc competition was also held at  Great Outdoor Days and plan to return next year!

At the campout there was hiking, cooking out, campfire stories from the Library, roasting marshmallows, and this was all before it got dark! Once the sun went down, the flashlights came on for flashlight tag, a talent show and other fun after dark games. The sky was clear and there was even a new moon this past weekend, which made for excellent stargazing Saturday night as everyone winded down for the day. Recreation Coordinator Amy Bennett comments that “This was by far our best family campout! We had great attendance, the families were awesome, the kids had a great time and the weather even cooperated with us! I am excited about the Fall Family Campout and hope we can repeat the success from this spring.” As the families packed up Sunday morning, they expressed how much fun the event was and how they couldn’t wait for the Fall Campout. ” This experience was beyond our expectations and it was so well organized!” mentioned one parent. While another expressed “The kids gave it a 10! See you again in the fall!”

Shortly after the Campout ended the Youth Fishing Competition kicked into full swing. Ages under 18 are encouraged to come out and try  to catch the biggest fish of the day. The City of Southlake along with Texas Junior Anglers stocked the fishing pond at Bob Jones Park with over 500 pounds of Channel Catfish helping make this event a huge success. By the end of the day, our winner for largest fish was over 18 inches long!

Look to join the Southlake Parks and Recreation for their Fall Family Campout in late September. It promises to be an amazing event given this Spring’s success. Also, keep an eye out next April for Earth Day and more fun from the Southlake Parks and Recreation office as they are always striving to make each year better!

For more information, please call (817) 748-8019. Visit the City of Southlake’s Facebook to view more photos from the weekend!