Kids gathered at Burchfield Park for a day of fishing and learning during the Mason Optimist Club’s Ninth Annual Fishing Derby and Youth Sports Event. One of the kids, Cassandra Kennedy, shares her fishing story.
Prizes, sunshine, fish and smiling kids summed up the scene at the Mason Optimist Club’s annual Fishing Derby and Youth Sporting Event in Burchfield Park on Saturday.
“My favorite part is seeing the smiles,” Willis Bennet, director of Ingham County Parks, said. “When kids catch a fish, it’s like Santa Claus just came.”
The derby is an opportunity for kids to be outside with their parents, Bennet added.
“I’ve been out there several times, and no one has had a bad time,” Bennet said. “It’s not just a fish-and-go-home; it’s a full day of activities.”
The event featured widespread activities including fly tying, fly casting, lure-making, a duck retrieving demo, duck calling, goose calling, air rifle shooting, archery shooting, fire prevention, a trappers display, a deer display and a virtual reality fishing machine.
Each of the activities featured at the event awarded one red ticket to the participant, which the kids could then enter into a raffle for the chance to win one of three grand prizes: a kayak, a golf club set and a family tent, Optimist Club event chairman Gary Barker said.
“They’re learning things while they’re having fun,” Bennet said. “It keeps kids involved and away from the TV set.”
Other prizes, such as lures, tackle boxes, bird calls and fishing poles, were given away in a larger raffle in which every kid who registered to fish could enter, Barker said.
Barker also said kids from six to seven different counties attended, with some coming from as far as Illinois. He estimated there were about 250 kids fishing by the end of the event.
The Department of Natural Resources recently planted rainbow trout, ranging in size from 12 to 18 inches, so there are some “good ones” down there, Barker said.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” said Cassandra Kennedy, youth fisher from Chelsea, Mich.
Kennedy said she caught two fish during the event, but failed to win any prizes.
“Sometimes you win some, sometimes you don’t, but you don’t always want to win one because you get too (many) prizes,” she said. “It’s like I won some this year, won some the next year — oh, my whole garage is full. What am I going to do?”
The event is free and supported by local merchants through funding and prizes, Barker said, adding that each kid receives a free T-shirt and free lunch.
“It’s a wonderful day when all these people volunteer time and services to benefit these kids,” he said.
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