On Saturday, Sept. 25, New Echota Historic Site and Friends of New Echota will be holding an outdoor festival for all ages as part of SAVE My State Parks Day.

“New Echota is not just a boring, outside museum,” said president of programming chairperson, Donna Myers. “I’ve had kids on these tours that have said they didn’t want to come. However, they ended up having a great time! It’s a big open space to run around, so it’s really great for kids.”

Myers said it’s a day to preserve the New Echota Historic site and enjoy the big, outside landscape that will showcase Cherokee jewelry, spear throwing demonstrations, and refreshments. There will be several morning and afternoon demonstrations by local civic and nonprofit groups.

One tasty event that organizers are anticipating is the Dutch oven cook-off challenge, which take place at 1 p.m. It will feature local boy scouts and girl scouts will show off their outdoor cooking skills.

Each group will have to cook and present one meat, bread, and dessert. Groups will be judged on the taste, ap-pearance, and presentation of their meals. Any scout group can join, elementary through high school, and judges are still needed.

A beekeeper will demonstrate the bee lifestyle and the Department of Natural Resource’s winged ambassador bird caller will show flight demonstrations of wildlife at 10:45 a.m. Local firefighters will teach about all the func-tions of a fire truck all day long.

While having fun, children and adults can still learn about local wildlife and different cultures through field trips New Echota offers through the school systems.

“All of this information ties into the Georgia curriculum, making it a great school field trip,” states Myers. “If a social studies teacher would take their students out there, this information would apply to what is being taught.”

The event is sponsored by Coca-Cola and is free to the public. However, some presenters may be selling items, so consider bringing extra cash.

SAVE My State Parks is an acronym that stands for support, advocate, volunteer, and explore. New Echota needs help and support from the public, and it is a great place to learn and explore new things. Those interested in help-ing out even more, can call the number below.

Future New Echota events include Frontier Day on Oct. 16, and Christmas Candlelight Tour on Dec. 4.

New Echota is located at 1211 Chatsworth Hwy NE, Calhoun. For additional information, call 706-624-4344.