This year our Club inherited the long running Kids Fishing Derby from the Conservation Club. With their expert guidance and the help of many sponsors and even more volunteers, we are very pleased to report the event was a complete success.
Over 200 entrants aged 3-13 and their guardians registered. We had to expand the designated fishing area just to be able to accommodate everyone! The Club was there early to unload the U-Haul and setup the pavilion. People arrived early and after registering picked out their spots. By the 8:00am start time we were off and running.
Fishing went on to 10:30. Then we started early lunch, with our Club production line serving a seemingly enless stream of free hot dogs, cookies and juice boxes. We had one person making the hot dogs, two putting them in buns, and three more putting on condiments. The line up went half way around the park. We got everyone fed quickly so we could move on to the main event: Giving out the free stuff!
Prizes and Trophies and Bikes, Oh My!
Three main prizes are traditionally presented on this day. It being our first time out, we maintained the tradition. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to the presenters.
The prizes were awarded as follows:
- Biggest Fish Caught By A Girl – Annabelle Richardson
Presented by Fran Smith from Pintys - Biggest Fish Caught By A Boy – Travis Gale
Presented by John Wessel from the Port Colborne Lions - Biggest Fish Of The Day – Travis Gale
Presented by Mayor Bill Steele - The Turner Clark Sportsmanship Award – Justice Youngblut
Presented by Jason and Alesha Clark
Next, the one all the other kids were waiting for, the Prize Draws! Up for grabs, two bikes. One for a boy, one for a girl. Both bikes were donated by our sponsor Canadian Tire. Asahn Rana from Canadian Tire made the draw. In an unexpected and wonderfully generous act, Asahn doubled the prizes right there and then. He gave away not two, but four bikes!
The smiles on the faces of those winners was matched by the smile on Asahn’s when they came up to collect their new bikes. It was just that kind of a day. A wonderful day, enjoyed by all.
Free Stuff
With fishing and lunch and the main draws over, nothing remained but to give away the rest of the prizes! Many more draws, many more smiles. As a big finish, MC Chris from the Conservation Club channeled his inner rock star and threw hats and T-shirts into the crowd.
This day was a complete success. The smiling faces of all the children, a sunny day in the park, and quality Father’s Day time with families. That’s what this event is about.
Thank you
The Optimist Club would like to thank all of our extremely generous sponsors for donating prizes and essential items. We also want to thank all those that gave their time to come down and present prizes. And the tireless committee that put all this together. We wish to thank the Convervation Club for passing us the baton and helping us make this long-running event a success. Finally, we would like to thank everyone that came out to enjoy the day with us, whether you fished or not. We could not have done any of this without all of you. Thank you.
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