Why we volunteer for kids
(The following “Home Waters” column appears courtesy of outdoor writer Dennis Smith); an edited version originally appeared in the June 7, 2007 Loveland Reporter-Herald)
If
a picture’s worth a thousand words, this one’s worth a million. And it only begins to tell you what a positively raging
success the Fishing Derby at North
Lake Park
was this past weekend.
I don’t have the foggiest idea who this little girl is, but her sparkling eyes and radiant smile speak volumes of the excitement, bewilderment, gushing pride and endless giggling joy reflected on the faces of all the kids who filled the park from sunup on Saturday until nearly sundown on Sunday. I know I don’t get out much, but I don’t think I’ve seen that many happy, squealing kids in one place since I visited Disney World years ago. It was - well, heartwarming.
Nearly
given up for dead by the Loveland Police Department when “Ken the Cop” Jurkofsky
who had run the event for decades retired, the derby seemed hopelessly doomed. Try
as they might, the department couldn’t commit a replacement or the resources to
replace him. When Chief Hecker announced the derby would be cancelled
indefinitely in the Reporter-Herald
earlier this year, a groundswell of disappointment and disenchantment “graced”
the editorial pages for weeks. It did not fall on deaf ears.
Officers
and members of the fishing club heard the cry, and leapt to the rescue. They
approached the police department, negotiated permission to manage the project
and, armed with little more than a skeleton of Jurkofsky’s old program, set
about securing sponsors, contributions, donations, premiums, and volunteers to
help. As was delightfully evident Saturday, they did a phenomenal job. I think
it’s fair to say they surprised themselves.
“We
we’re overwhelmed with support from every sector of the community: private,
retail, commercial, industrial, civic organizations…” club president Tom Miller
said shaking his head in pleasant disbelief. “It was just great. All the old
supporters signed on again, as well as a bunch of new ones.” The Division of
Wildlife supplied 3000 trout and District Wildlife Manager, Amy Ryal was on
hand round-the-clock to help with wildlife questions. She also performed minor
first aid on the one and only kid in the crowd who found himself on the wrong
end of a hook - no small miracle considering the number of the hooks flying around
for hours on end.
The
Kiwanians showed up to grill hot dogs and offered them with all the trimmings,
a bag of chips and a cold root beer (graciously provided by A&W) for the
princely sum of a dollar! (How ya gonna beat that?) Bennett’s Bait & Tackle - almost
legendary for their historical support of this project - contributed worms,
bobbers and terminal tackle; Sportsman’s Warehouse was on hand with a bait
booth and volunteers to pass out the wiggly creatures and help with rigging. The
Boy Scouts manned a casting clinic. Police Officers and auxiliary police
volunteers were, of course, everywhere providing assistance, encouragement,
shaking hands and keeping the peace. A complete list of contributors will
likely be posted on the Loveland Fishing Club website and probably here in the
paper soon.
In
addition to handling registration, awarding prizes, measuring and recording
each kid’s catch, Fishing Club members and volunteers from Colorado Youth
Outdoors showed the kids how to dress, bone and fillet a trout and then served
them up cooked them to order on request: marinated with lemon juice, salt and
pepper, rolled in corn meal and deep fried, pan-fried or grilled. No charge.
The kids ate it up. And judging by all the comments, so did the adults.
I’m not sure if Officer Jurkofsky was able to make an appearance at the derby but if he was, he would have been incredibly proud of the job the Loveland Fishing Club did of carrying on the tradition he started so many years ago. He would have looked as happy as that little girl, though not nearly as cute.
# # #
(Editor's note: here are other Dennis Smith photos of Derby contestants)