Saturday was perfect weather for fishing, and dozens of kids took the opportunity to test their skills at Riverside Park in Clearwater.
It was the First Annual Clearwater Sons of the American Legion (S.A.L.) free fishing event for kids up to 15 yeas of age.
“This is great weather,” said S.A.L. Commander Dan Watson. “We already have about 25 or 30 people here.”
That was only a half hour into the event, which ran from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Everyone who signed up at the entrance got a ticket for a raffle. They also used the ticket for free food, which included hot dogs, chips cookies and pop.
Everyone also received free packets of bobbers, jigs and rubber worms. S.A.L. had extra rods on hand in case a kid didn’t bring their own. They also provided live worms.
The raffle prizes included fishing rods, life jackets, tackle boxes and tackle.
Kids were also competing for prizes, and there were three main prizes for the largest fish. Grand prize was a fishing rod, tackle box and rackle. Second and third prizes were a fishing rod and tackle box.
And the kids were busy. Every few minutes another fish was brought up to the weighing table, then recorded on the tally board.
Watson said everybody -parents and kids were enjoying their day at the park.
There was lots of community support for the event, which was originally slated for the weekend before fishing opener.
“But the weather was really crappy that Saturday,” said Watson.
Saturday’s sponsors included T&R Meats (hot dogs), Coborn’s (hot dog buns), Clearwater Hardware & Bait (worms), Big Rock Sports (rods, tackle, tackle boxes, life jackets), Rassat Outdoor Group (jigs, lures), Kwik Trip (cookies) and Sam’s Club ($25 used for chips).
The S.A.L. currently has 42 members. For a person to be eligible, their father or grandfather had to serve during a qualifying war.
Anyone interested in becoming a member can stop in at the Clearwater American Legion and ask for more information.
S.A.L. meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Legion at 7 p.m.
