Port Edwards Lions Club fishing tradition draws community to Nepco Lake
Todd Omernik has been going to the Port Lions annual fisheree for more than 20 years. And he has managed to catch just one fish.
"One year, I accidentally caught a blue gill," said the 43-year-old Nekoosa resident.
So why does Omernik continue year after year to sit on a frozen lake in the depths of winter?
"Good food, raffles and to support the Lions," Omernik said.
Hundreds of people on Sunday under sunny skies attended the event on Nepco Lake to support the Port Edwards Lions.
The fisheree, members say, started sometime in the 1970s.
"I don't even know if we have a record of it," said Dave Cervenka, a Lions member since the early 1970s.
Not that it really matters. What does matter is the impact the annual event has on the community. This year, a quarter of the proceeds raised at the event will go to the South Wood Emergency Pantry Shelf in Wisconsin Rapids. Mike Hittner of Family Natural Foods also will match up to $1,500 to go to the pantry.
"I think people think about (donations) at the holidays, and we could use donations all through the year," said Bev Stimac, secretary and volunteer for the pantry.
The Port Edwards Lions Club distributes money to more than 30 programs and projects in Port Edwards, central Wisconsin and internationally throughout the year. Its biggest fundraiser is the 50/50 sales program held at Golden Sands Speedway during the summer.
Meanwhile, Harold Peterson, 80, of Grand Rapids, had better luck on Sunday catching up with his grandson, Nolan Conville, 11, of Seneca, than he had catching fish. The minnows and wax worms apparently weren't attracting bites.
"We're going to go home hungry I guess, the way it's looking," Peterson said.
For the record, sometimes people do catch that big one. Omernik's son, Brandon, 16, of Wisconsin Rapids, got that honor last year -- a 31-inch northern.Read More ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment