Show You Care
Take A Soldier Fishing
Thursday, October 04, 2007
by Burnie Haney (reprinted by permission by
BassFan.com)
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Photo: American Bass Anglers
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(Burnie Haney, ABA district 124 director, is
retired from the U.S. Army and was instrumental in organizing the below event.)
Back in August, the BassFan Army ran an article
about the American Bass Angler's (ABA) Take a Soldier Fishing program. The first
of those three events concluded on Sept. 16 at Henderson Harbor. N.Y. on Lake
Ontario. Since I helped organize and run the event as the local area director
for division 124 of the ABA American Fishing Tour, I'd like to tell BassFan Army
members about what a success the event was.
On Sunday, Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were hosted for a day of
fishing by the ABA, the Henderson Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and the Ft. Drum
Morale Welfare and Recreation Office.
ABA anglers brought the bass boats and the
Henderson Chamber garnered nine charter boats to get everyone on the water for
the day.
The morning started with light winds and
bluebird skies that offered a picturesque setting on Lake Ontario.
As the soldiers arrived, they were greeted with
a free annual membership to the ABA, and each received an IM8 XPS spinning combo
and tackle pack compliments of Bass Pro Shops of Auburn, N.Y. We owe a big-time
thank-you to promotional manger Mr. George Fiorille for making that happen.
Other contributors were the Ft. Drum Sergeants
Major Association, ABA Division 124, Berkley Gulp!,
Vertical Lures, D&W Lure
Co. (makers of Parasite products) and West Marine in Watertown, N.Y.
The Soldiers were paired up two per boat. They
launched, then returned for final weigh-in at 3 p.m. The awards ceremony began
with cash prizes given out to several categories of catch – the best five-bass
limit, best team limit of any size or kind, biggest smallmouth, biggest
largemouth, biggest northern pike, biggest sheepshead, biggest rock bass,
smallest fish, and best bag of pickerel.
When the catch awards were complete, the ABA
gave out door-prizes consisting of tackle bags, fishing reels, hats, and gift
certificates. The biggest cheers came when ABA president Morris Sheehan arrived
onstage to give out 15 $100 Gander Mountain gift cards.
The Henderson Harbor Chamber of Commerce kept
the grills fired up and served free hotdogs and hamburgers throughout the day.
As one of the event coordinators, I can tell you
that when we initially planned this event, I knew it was a good thing and the
right thing to do. I just didn't realize how right it was until it was all said
and done.
At the end of the day, we had 152 soldiers with
smiling faces, and every one of these young Americans went home knowing their
local community and the ABA genuinely appreciates them and the sacrifices they
make for us on a daily basis.
People often ask what you can do to show your
support for the military. Well, events just like this one are exactly what you
can do. If you do an event like we did, the military will see and feel
first-hand just how much we appreciate them and our of all volunteer fighting
forces.
