OZARK — An “opportunity to enjoy God’s creation” was experienced by some 300 young anglers armed with fishing rods Saturday, some for the first time, who participated in Dale County Sheriff Mason Bynum’s Second Annual Youth Fishing Rodeo.
Bynum called the event “a true community partnership” made possible with assistance from Dale Medical Center and a multitude of business and individual donations from Ozark, Dale County and Dothan.
“This is a totally free event for the kids and we couldn’t do that without the support of our sponsors,’” he said, surveying the children aged 15 and under around the Dale Medical Surgery Center Pond trying to snag some catfish with their free fishing poles and bait. “This is truly an opportunity for the kids, some of whom might have never had the opportunity to fish, to get out here and enjoy God’s creation.”
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The Youth Fishing Road was initiated years ago by Sheriff Wally Olson as a free event for kids that don’t always have the opportunity to fish but had stopped in 2009 for a variety of reasons, Bynum said.
“Two years ago, I mentioned the idea of restarting it to my people in the sheriff’s department and they took the idea and ran with it.
“We partnered with Dale Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Vernon Johnson who was instrumental in providing us with location and the facilities,” Bynum said, as he surveyed the crowds of children and their adult family members and friends, standing shoulder to shoulder around the pond on the DMC Surgery grounds. “We can’t thank Vernon Johnson and the DMC team enough for doing that because this is the perfect location.”
The pond was stocked with 500 pounds of catfish for the event, said DMC Chief Engineer Jason Houston. “We’re here to serve the community and this is part of serving the community. Vernon Johnson and the executive board have always supported the county and vice versa,” he said. “This is a community event. We’re here for the community.”
Under the shade of trees near the pond, DCSO Chief Deputy Kyle Anderson oversaw the grilling of 400 hotdogs for lunch for the participants and volunteers. The pre-packed lunch bags were filled also with chips and cookies, utensils, condiments and soft drinks. This year free sno-cones were an added treat. “We were blessed to have enough donors to provide free lunch to the participants and volunteers,” he said. “Community relations is very important to the Dale County Sheriff’s Department. This is one of the community events that we’ve enjoyed hosting the past two years.
Ozark-Dale County E-911 Director Paula Simmons’ E-911 team got in on the community engagement by helping pack the hundreds of sack lunches.
“I wanted E-911 to be involved because of our close relationship with Sheriff Bynum and his staff,” she said. “We’re in the same building but its more than that: we are family.
“We like to be a part of their team just like they are a part of ours” Simmons said. “And you know, we’re all in this together at the end of the day.”
Bynum agreed. “This community has really stepped up,” he said. “We didn’t spend a dime of public money putting on this event, it was all private and business donations.”
There was no charge to attend the event and the lunch was free to participants. Bynum said that the goal had been to get a door prize for every child who attended and free fishing poles and bait were available. “We wanted everybody to have the opportunity to come out here and fish no matter what their situation was,” he said.
“A fishing pond surrounded by kids enjoying the outdoors,” Bynum said with a smile as he watched the youngsters, with varying degrees of skill, bait their hooks and cast their lines. “That’s what this is all about.”