Brown County Chapter Izaak Walton League

05/27/2026

Don't forget that this year's annual teddy bear hunt is on Sunday June 7th. That is coming up quick. We have two Events pages set up where you can find a link to purchase tickets for either the first or second session. We have lots of tickets remaining as of today but they tend to sell out fast during the week leading up to the teddy bear hunt so be sure to purchase your tickets soon.

You won't want to miss this year's hunt. We have an extra special treat this year. We will be trying something new and serving soft serve ice cream. After all, it is dairy month.

In addition to hunting for teddy bears (and many other types of stuffed animals), we will have several arts and craft activities for the kids. We will also have fishing. In short, this is a fun family event where families can connect with the outdoors.

Check out our Events page for more details and spread the word to your family, friends and co-workers.

05/17/2026

We had a bird hike this morning at Osprey Point as part of our Family Adventures in Nature club. Several people joined us for an early hike despite the cooler temperatures and dreariness. Based on how engaged our youngest participants was, we have at least one young person who is likely to become a birder. We saw or heard more than 20 different bird species including oven bird, gray catbird, song sparrow, yellow throated vireo, rose breasted grosbeak, Osprey, red-winged blackbird, mallards, Baltimore oriole, and northern parula.

05/16/2026

The Brown County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League held its annual awards banquet this past Tuesday, May 12th. We recognized several of our members and supporters for their conservation efforts and support of the Brown County Chapter. We also awarded a $500 scholarship to one of our recipients who was able to attend the banquet. This year's award recipients are:

Tobin Award: Amie Aagaard
Brown County Chapter Ike of the Year Award: Russ Schisel
Bill and Betty Fisk Award: Bob Hoekstra and Jodi Labs
Virgil Muench Award: Van Zeeland Landscape & Nursery
Scholarship Recipient: Peyton Schroeder

Congratulations again to this year's award recipients. We could not accomplish as much as we do every year without members and supporters like you. Thank You!!

05/14/2026

It is hard to believe that it is already the middle of May. That means the beginning of our youth archery program is right around the corner. This year's program starts on Wednesday June 3rd.

The youth archery program is open to children ages 8-18 and is conducted at Osprey Point. We shoot archery every Wednesday evening through at least the end of August. In order to accommodate as many children as possible and ensure safety of all participants, we run two one-hour sessions, with the first session being at 6:00 pm and the second session at 7:00 pm. The Chapter provides all of the equipment so families do not need to own a bow. This allows youth to try out archery without the outpouring of any cash for equipment that they may or may not use in the future.

We have certified instructors who work with the children each week. This is intended to be a fun environment for children to learn to shoot archery, as well as not create unnecessary stress or additional pressure for families. Therefore, children are not required to be there every week. Families can attend the Wednesday night sessions as their schedules permit.

All children participating in the youth archery program must be members, either part of a family membership or as a youth member. We also charge $2.00/week or $20/season as a participation fee. This small cost is to help us defray the cost of arrows and targets.

Please reach out to us via Messenger or email Jodi Labs at [email protected] if your child(ren) are interested in participating in this year's youth archery program.

05/14/2026

The Brown County Chapter has been busy this year and we have a couple of events coming up over the coming weeks including our next Family Adventures in Nature (FAN) club outing which is scheduled for this Sunday May 17th at 7:00 a.m. and our annual teddy bear hunt which is scheduled for Sunday June 7th.

This Sunday's FAN club outing is a family bird-a-thon wherein we will have a friendly "competition" to find the most species of birds at Osprey Point during a 2-hour window (7:00 - 9:00 a.m.). We will have binoculars for families, as well as volunteer members to help you spot and identify birds.

We have created Events for both events so please check out our Events page for more details, including a link to purchase tickets for our teddy bear hunt.

We hope to see you at one or more of our events this spring.

04/28/2026

As we prepare our hives for the new nuc of bees we will be getting soon, we harvested the honey that was remaining on our bee hives. We made this a membership activity that brought out several of our members including some of our families with younger children. What a great way to expose the children to the idea of beekeeping. It looks like everyone had a great time helping out and learning how much work goes into harvesting the honey.

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!! We hope you are able to find time to get outside and connect with nature. While you are outside enjoying one of your favorite places, look to take some action that would leave the place better than you found it (e.g., pick up some trash).

04/14/2026

We wanted to let everyone know that the road and driveway into Osprey Point are flooded over and thus there is no access into Osprey Point. We suspect that Osprey Point may be flooded for the next day or more with the increasing water levels in the East River, plus more rain is projected over the next several days. Please stay safe and do not enter high water areas.

02/27/2026

We have several spots remaining in tomorrow's Family Adventures in Nature (FAN) Club outing. We are holding a fly tying class with some friends from the Green Bay Trout Unlimited. This event is friendly for both youth and adults. So if you are looking for something to do tomorrow (Saturday) morning, join us at Osprey Point. We will be set up at 9:00 a.m. We hope to see you there.

Send a message to learn more

02/26/2026

THANK YOU! We never imagined that we would raise in excess of $50,000, let alone more than $58,000 and that is before any matching funds.

The funds raised during the Give Big Green Bay campaign will greatly assist us in maintaining Osprey Point for the benefit of the public and carrying out our mission to connect more people with the outdoors. We also will be able to complete more work on our natural playground this year.

We want to extend our thanks and appreciation to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation for their efforts in organizing the Give Big Green Bay campaign. The Greater Green Bay community is greater because of the Foundation's efforts. We also want to thank the Green Bay Packers and other community leaders for the matching funds they contribute, funds that amplify the giving by our community members.

We hope everyone learned a little more about the Brown County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League over the last few weeks and we hope to see people at Osprey Point over the coming weeks and months.

Again, thank you for everyone's support. We truly appreciate it.