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A Christian youth hunting and fishing club will hold a fundraising event Saturday at Twin Lakes Baptist Church to support its outdoor programs for area young people.
The Buffalo River Arkansas chapter of Cross Trail Outfitters is hosting the evening at the church’s Hope Center, 2645 Highway 62 SW. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and the program runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The event includes door prizes, raffles and a pie auction. Proceeds benefit youth in the area.
Tickets are $40 and are available at Rivertown Gallery, 3512 Highway 62 W in Mountain Home, or by calling 870-425-3898.
Cross Trail Outfitters was founded in 2004 to mentor boys through hunting and fishing. The group sums up its mission as guiding the next generation to Christ through the outdoors, and organizes its work around three ideas: building men, preserving outdoor heritage and sharing faith.
The club runs year-round rather than seasonally. Chapters host summer camps, weekend outings, sportsmen’s nights and family nights, and members go on real hunting and fishing trips most months of the year.
Boys learn more than how to fill a tag. Chapters teach big game, small game and bird hunting, freshwater and saltwater fishing, and skills like taxidermy and game processing. Members also work with rifles, shotguns and bows, along with baitcasting and fly rods.
The organization leans heavily on private landowners, who provide the ground for outings and camps. Cross Trail Outfitters says it screens and trains adult volunteers, carries liability coverage and adds each new property to that coverage before holding an event there.
From its start, the club has expanded to chapters across the country. Kirk Bouse, a former Missouri state director, has served as national executive director since 2021.
Duane Hada leads the organization in Arkansas as state director. Hada is an Ozark artist who operates Rivertown Gallery in Mountain Home and was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2022.
Hada has said his decision to move into full-time ministry with the club grew out of stories his wife brought home from her work as a schoolteacher, about boys who lacked a father figure in their lives.
For more information about Saturday’s event, contact Hada at 870-404-7999 or [email protected].
