Hands Helping Anglers - June 25 - Volunteers Needed

[caseycook]

Saturday, June 25, 2011, the North Florida Gulf Fishing Club and the Florida Disabled Outdoors Association will be holding the 18th annual Hands Helping Anglers event. We are looking for volunteer captains who are available to take some participants from the FDOA for a day of fishing. We’ll provide free lunch, snacks, drinks, and bait to all volunteer captains. These folks only get the opportunity to go fishing one day a year and much like the Take a Kid fishing event, we rely on volunteers to help us make this event a success. If you have any questions, please post them here, send me a PM, or give me a call (850) 228-8559.

Who can help???
1) CC
2) Skip

[Salty Gator]

Count me in. I hope to take the same guys as last year. Let me know who to talk to to get the same guys. Thanks

[caseycook]

Can anyone else help? There's been hardly any captains from NFGFC volunteering for the event...pretty weak considering the club is one of the sponsors! C'mon, it's one day of fishing and I guarantee you'll have a blast. Help us introduce fishing to those less fortunate! If anyone is interested (including those not involved with NFGFC) , please give me a call on my cellphone - 850.228.8559.

Thanks,
Casey

[SHOWBOAT]

Katie and I will captain a boat Casey. Thanks. Let us know when and where

[caseycook]

Thanks, Brian! We're meeting tomorrow to match anglers with captains. I'll give you a call with the details after the meeting.

[Salty Gator]

Come on folks, this is a great cause and lost of fun. The guys are so appreciative and look forward to it all year. Let's not make Casey call anyone to tell them they don't have a captain. Dig deep!!

[captkeyser]

Casey, I would be in if it weren't for a prior engagement. Excellent cause!

[Sir reel]

Good morning Casey.

I'm in with my guest. Have the details as far as where and when to pickup any materials been decided? (ie: flagging to identify partcipating boats, lunch bags, water, etc) Is Shields waving launch fees this year?

On a side note for the NFGFC powers that be...I checked on the NFGFC site but there doesn't seem to be any information, or a catagory for EVENTS. Meetings and tournaments is the only information of activities that I saw. Might be good to add to the site

[caseycook]

Good morning Casey.

I'm in with my guest. Have the details as far as where and when to pickup any materials been decided? (ie: flagging to identify partcipating boats, lunch bags, water, etc) Is Shields waving launch fees this year?

On a side note for the NFGFC powers that be...I checked on the NFGFC site but there doesn't seem to be any information, or a catagory for EVENTS. Meetings and tournaments is the only information of activities that I saw. Might be good to add to the site

Captains and / or anglers can pick up sandwiches, drinks, and ice at Shields Marina the morning of the event. Shields has also been nice enough to waive the launch fee for any HHA captains that want to use their ramps.

The FDOA folks will be contacting all of the participating captains to let them know about their anglers and details about when and where to meet. Many of our anglers provide their own transportation so the captain and angler can choose to fish out of a different ramp if they want. Most generally choose to fish out of Shields because their facilities are very handicap-friendly. For those anglers who do not have their own transportation, the Rotary club is nice enough to provide drivers each year to transport anglers to and from their houses to the event. Captains should expect an email in the next two days with all of these details including the anglers phone number so they can touch base about a meeting time, etc.

Thanks to everyone that has volunteered. We've got over 25 volunteer captains this year, an event record! I promise that this will be one of your most memorable fishing trips of the year!

[Sir reel]

Thanks for the information Casey.

[caseycook]

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the captains that volunteered for the HHA event. We were all nervous looking at the weather reports on Friday, but like always, it just works out. I think the big man upstairs looks out for us the day of the HHA event each year.

We set records this year for the most volunteer captains we've ever had. Every year we usually have to leave some folks behind because we don't have enough boats; that didn't happen this year thanks to the 29 captains that volunteered their time. Those captains were able to take 50+ handicapped anglers and helpers out for a day on the water that many will never forget. I even heard one angler trying to convince his wife that they needed to buy a boat after the event...

Special thanks to Shields Marina for providing us with a place to set up our table, providing ice for the captains, and for waiving the launch fee for HHA volunteers. Brett and the gang at Shields stepped up big time for the event and even loaned us two pontoon boats to take out.

Also, a special thank you goes out to the BBF and NFGFC members who helped out this year...our volunteer captain numbers were down in the weeks leading up to the event, but several of you busted your butts and called friends and friends of friends to get them to help out. I really appreciate it.

If any of you have pictures from your day of fishing, please post them here and email them to me as well (tcaseycook@gmail.com). I know the Democrat has expressed interest in doing an article on the event and there also should be a letter to the editor that gets printed in the next few days as well. Thank you all again for helping out with this awesome event.

Casey

[caseycook]

Below is the letter to the editor that is in today's Tallahassee Democrat. Thanks again to all who helped and we hope to get more people involved next year!

"A big thanks for productive day of fishing

I had the most perfect day on Saturday. Thanks to the annu­al community partnership with Shields Marina, Tallahassee Rotarians, the North Florida fishing group and the Florida Disabled Outdoor Association, more than 50 people with disabil­ities went fishing off the beauti­ful coastal waters of Shell Point.

The weather was perfect, the lunches were packed, the seas were pleasant, and the breeze was magnificent. In my case, just southeast of the lighthouse, I caught four sea trout and one catfish. Moreover, like many oth­er participants, this was my first time on the water in many years. The truth be told, these five fish are the most that I have ever caught since becoming a quad­riplegic in 1983. For a most perfect day with friends and family, I thank all who were involved. Partnerships like this, between the business and social communities, we will achieve a sustainable Florida. We can’t wait for next year.

J.R. HARDING"

[Salty Gator]

Man we had a blast this year. The fella I was supposed to take got sick and couldn't go. I had another capt and his angler hop in with me. He was an amazing dude. Blind for going on 4 yrs. He was very independent. He wouldn't let us do anything for him. He baited his hook,tied his knots and removed about 10 catfish from his line without a dehooker. The most amazing thing was that even though he forgot his hearing aids, he knew when the "deadstick" rod in the rodholder had a fish. Every time it had a fish on, he knew it before the two guys with sight did. He could hear the line in the guides. Truly amazing. He was particularly offended when I offered to clean his redfish. Really cool day. See y'all next year.