NATCHEZ — This Saturday, where the wild things are is at the David Steckler Multi-Purpose Building.

The facility will host the fourth annual Wild Things Environmental Educational Festival from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pete Smith, president of the Friends of St. Catherine Creek Wildlife Refuge club, said this is the first year the event will take place at the David Steckler building.

“Last year, and 2007, we had it at the Vidalia campground,” Smith said. “We had a one-year lapse with no expo in 2008, and I’m not sure where it was held in 2006.

“We like it because it’s accessible, and visible from the highway. We’ll mostly be in the parking lot, because we’re going to have a lot of outside stuff for the kids.”

And getting children outside is the main point of the event, Smith said.

“We hope they take away an appreciation for the outdoors, and spark their interest in finding out more about the outdoors. With video games and that sort of thing, a lot of kids don’t get out of the house. We want them to be appreciative of what God made.”

The event will hold many games for children, including an archery tournament and a bear obstacle course. It will also host informative sessions on things like snakes, alligators, leaf rubbing and spider education, Smith said.

“We’re also going to have MDOT host a rollover session, where they show people what happens to a person when a car flips,” he said. “There will be a dummy inside, and the car will be mounted on a trailer.”

In addition to sparking interest in the outdoors, Smith said the event is also a fundraiser for a building project at the St. Catherine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

“We’ve been raising money for the last few years to build an educational building on the refuge, where we can bring in a busload of kids from the schools, and educate them on birds, wildlife, the outdoors, those kinds of things,” Smith said.

“A lot of people don’t know, but the refuge here has 25,000 (acres), with lots of things like bird watching, hunting, fishing… just all kinds of things you can do. It lets you get out and see things that you won’t see downtown.”

Food and beverages will also be served at the expo, Smith said.

“We’re going to sell burgers, hot dogs are sausage dogs. Just come out and enjoy the day. It’s going to be a pretty day, and we’ll have something for everybody.”