The 17th Annual Wilderness Day Camp burst to life on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery in Celina, Tennessee (145 Fish Hatchery Road). From 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., kids ages 7 to 14 enjoyed a full day of hands‑on outdoor adventure, wildlife learning, friendly competition, and unforgettable experiences.
Participants rotated through a lively lineup of stations including:
- Water safety and a fast‑paced life‑jacket relay race
- Bat biology and habitat exploration, plus a bat-themed scavenger hunt
- Animal identification using real pelts they could touch
- Fishing and fly‑fishing instruction followed by real stream fishing
- Archery safety with a chance to shoot a bow
- BB gun safety and target practice
- Trout biology, hatchery operations, and feeding live trout
A huge thank‑you goes to our partners: Friends of Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery, Friends of Dale Hollow Lake, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff at Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery.
After checking in at the main hatchery building, youth kicked off the morning with Melissa Briggs with the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery, who shared the story of why the hatchery exists and how its trout program supports Tennessee’s ecosystems. Children were able to see trout eggs and examine delicate sack fry up close.
Despite a rainy start, Desmaray Brown with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers brought energy to the day with water and boating safety lessons. Her life‑jacket race had children cheering as they raced to put on jackets correctly, sprint to a marker, and return before handing off to the next teammate.
Children then headed outdoors with Jason, the local bat enthusiast, who introduced them to the world of bats, their habitats, and the essential role they play. He also showed how to make a bat house and where to properly place it in the trees. A bat‑themed scavenger hunt added fun and discovery, followed by coloring and crafting handheld bat masks and receiving bat‑related goodies.
Next, Desmaray led an animal‑identification lesson featuring local wildlife and real pelts, giving kids a unique tactile learning moment before breaking for lunch.
Lunch—provided by Friends of Dale Hollow Lake—was a feast of hotdogs with all the fixings, apples, chips, cookies, and drinks. Over 60 hotdogs were cooked, and not a single one remained!
After lunch, Paul Boyce with Friends of Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery taught fishing and fly‑fishing basics, and children eagerly put their new skills to use. While they fished, Tanner Harvey with Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery added 386 rainbow trout to the stream, thrilling the young anglers as they caught and released fish.
TWRA followed with archery and BB gun stations, teaching safety first and then guiding every child as they took aim at targets.
To wrap up the day, children toured the hatchery with Melissa Briggs, learning how trout grow from tiny sack fry to 8–10-inch fish ready for release. Children got the rare opportunity to touch live rainbow trout and then each received a bucket of feed to help nourish the hatchery fish.
The Annual Wilderness Day Camp once again delivered a successful, joy‑filled event that met all its goals. As Paul Boyce—local fly‑fishing enthusiast and one of the camp’s founders—shared, the program began in 2009 to honor the late Celina United Methodist Church minister Russell Cain, who founded the Hatchery Friends group in 2007. What started as a tribute has blossomed into a beloved community tradition that reconnects youth with the outdoors every year.
Beyond Wilderness Day Camp, the Friends of Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery helps bring outdoor learning to the community year‑round through trout tanks in schools, fishing rodeos, educational booths, and youth programming. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the group relies entirely on donations and fundraising to continue its mission.
Organizers hope this year’s camp inspires every participant to build a lifelong connection to the outdoors, conservation, and the natural wonders of Tennessee.
