July 13th, 2016 KFD
Article written on 2016-07-14 by: Michael Renish
Bill Holton working two lines !
On July 13, 2016, the Green Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited (GBTU), Brown County Services PALS program, Green Bay Exchange Club, and Izaak Walton League (IWL) put on the 25th annual Kids Fishing Day (KFD) at the IWL ponds in Bellevue, Wisconsin.
KFD provides a safe and fun place for disadvantaged youth to come out to the IWL ponds to catch fish, have fun, make new friends and enjoy a picnic meal. It was estimated that we went through over 100 plates of food and over 150 hotdogs ! The cookies were great !
There were about 70 youth that came out and fished, catching many blue gill and some bass throughout the afternoon. We even had a couple of perch caught.
The weather held up, as storms were forecast for the day, and everyone enjoyed themselves with the fishing and a great picnic dinner.
John and Bruce Duechert help catch fish
There were many players who worked together to put on this worthwhile event. Jodi Arndt Labs and Pete Daanen of the IWL helped GBTU set up the date for use of the ponds. Glenn Tilot from the Brown County Human Services helped in organizing the kids who came out to fish via the PALs program. Kip Boucher of the Exchange Club, set up the food for the picnic dinner. GBTU, along with a donation from Thrivent Financial, provided bait, snacks, and refreshments.
We had several GBTU members helping the kids with the fishing. Our volunteers did everything from baiting hooks to removing fish to repairing tangled lines. Thanks to the following members for coming out and lending a hand: Pat Hill, Paul Mongin, Jack Koivisto, Lee Meyer, Bill Holton, Bill Walton, Wally Heil, Dave Ostanek, John Deuchert, Bruce Deuchert, Dennis Gussick, Mike Renish, Harold Becks, and Adrian Meseberg.
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