Winning Catch

[John Jarosz]

Tons of thanks to Carl Schenk, Mike "the Facilities" & Mike Rowan for working the Kid's Fishing Derby on an absolutely gorgeous Sat morning..  The kids had a great time & every parent was most appreciative to the NMA for our volunteering to put on the derby.

THANKS, guys!!  Here's the top winner:

[Scott McKee]

Coincidentally enough, I met the young man who won the Derby yesterday in the checkout line at Walmart. He was buying fishing lures with his dad. You've got to love that.

[Mike "the facilities" Fortunate]

It was great..tons of conspiracy this year... we had reports that our #1 fish was adult caught, and that a 11 3/4" bass that would have been #1 was caught across the creek resulting in the child placing #7! Its great to see the parents and kids taking it seriously, and i also noticed many of the kids and parents were return customers! This is a great gig but needs a little more publicity, buts its awsome to see the huge smiles on the kids face when they pick a prize...

Also like to mention that John J runs a great event, and he really engaged the crowd!! Great job John.

[Scott McKee]

I had a parent approach me at the bar on Friday night. He stressed several times how badly he wanted his kid to win the Derby. All the while I'm thinking to myself, really? Is there a bribe looming? I wanted to say, you know this isn't the bass masters classic! I'm pretty sure KVD and Roland Martin won't be competing!

[John Jarosz]

Thanks, Mike...or should I call you "Saucy"?  Most parents, unfortunately, don't get enough credit.  A gorgeous, cool, dry, overcast Saturday, with 1,001 other things to do & they take the time to take their kids fishing.  They're the ones who deserve more recognition than they usually get.

[John Jarosz]

Scott...WOW!!  That's NUTS!!  I think a few forget what this contest is all about.  The kids were between 5 & maybe 12 years old & they won't remember in a month or two if they won or not.  All they'll remember is that they their parents took them fishing & maybe they caught a fish or didn't, but they still had a good time & took something home.

Like Mike said, we had a parent come up to us & whisper that an adult was fishing for the kids, as if she were passing nuclear secrets to us.  I don't care how "mature" an eight year old is, he's not going to sit there in front of a lifeless, unmoving bobber for three hours watching nothing move.  Paint dries faster than that these days & you can re-coat in two hrs.

The kids fish for an hr, go on the swing for 1/2, go back to fishing for another 1/2, then play in the sandbox, then fish again, etc, etc.  They really know how to fish!!  Some of the adults should take lessons from them!

Anyway, I don't know if it's me or not, but the kids seemed happier this year than others (more smiles & giggles) and the parents seemed a lot more appreciative of our volunteer time (the NMA's) than in past years. Maybe they don't get to meet that many volunteers in their lives.  I don't have an answer as to why.  We just do what we gotta do.