Disadvantaged youth catch a fishing thrill
By Jennifer Barker, staff writer
Saturday, Sept. 8, community members from organizations throughout Butte County came together to provide a day of fishing on the lake for disadvantaged kids from around the county.
The organization, Catch A Special Thrill for Kids (C.A.S.T), hosted the third annual fishing event. At 7 a.m., 46 kids, ages 7 to 17 gathered with volunteers from many county organizations at Lake Oroville for breakfast before going out on the lake. To make fishing possible, Chico Bass Conservation Club donated 45 boats along with their time and expertise. Each child also received his or her own fishing pole, bait and tackle box. Cal Fire, together with Butte County Fire, came to help disabled children get on the boats.
"We were the grunts," Cal Fire Chief Scott Mclean said, but he was glad to help.
The kids were each given a volunteer buddy to help assist them throughout their two-hour fishing trip. The children fished for bass and coho salmon and each child had the opportunity to catch at least one fish.
"I caught six fishes, big fish and little fish and a wooden stick, we called a tree pounder," one child, Tyler Twist, said after coming back from fishing. "And I got to drive the boat."
After fishing, Exclusive Limousine provided limousine service to the kids from the dock to the barbecue, Karl Winkler of C.A.S.T said. The kids were so excited to get a ride in a limo, Winkler said. At the barbecue an awards ceremony was held for the children. The children were given a plaque that had a picture of them with their boat captain, a goody bag and a Build-a-Bear with a C.A.S.T vest, donated by Noah's Arc.
The mayor of Oroville, Steve Jernigan, announced the awards. Mayor Jernigan said he felt honored and humbled to be part of such an event.
"The smiles on the children's faces make it all worth while," Jernigan said. Getting teamwork together to bring unity to Butte County, while getting a chance to enjoy the natural resources makes it a great success, he added.
Mayor Jernigan was not the only volunteer who felt teamwork helped make for such a great event. Without the over 200 volunteers present and the contributions from many businesses throughout the county it would not have been possible to hold this event and give these children the opportunity to go fishing, Karl Winkler said.
"It's a great community event," he said. "A lot of hard work and contribution goes into it."
Volunteer Donna Merrill from the Department of Fish and Game assisted kids on the handicapped accessible houseboat donated by the Lake Oroville Marina.
"The event is awesome for these kids," Merrill said.
Professional fishermen, Ron Diacon volunteered his time and donated water for the event, "anything we can do to give back," he said.
"It's great to get the kids away from the TV and video games, out of the air conditioning and into the outdoors," Diacon said.
Diacon also added how rare it is so see this many organizations come together for such a great cause. Cooperation with all the different agencies made this event possible, he said. That feeling seemed to be shared among many of the volunteers and community members throughout the event.
Each volunteer was given a T-shirt donated by Gold Country Casino. The back of the T-shirt lists the 29 organizations that made a contribution to the fishing event.
"It seemed like the whole North State came together. What a great success," Mayor Jernigan said.
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