May 05 2008
Derby Day ‘08
Today was a great day of fishing. I and a number of other men and women hosted a fishing derby for inner-city children, and children with special needs. Although the day was fairly slow, and there was not a huge number of fish caught, the day was very productive in that it gave us the opportunity to spend time with these children and give them a small bit of hope in their sometimes very chaotic lives.
What made the day especially rewarding was getting to see the smiles on the kids faces when they caught a fish, regardless of the size. I spent the majority of my day tying knots, and hooking worms for hyper, inexperienced children, whom, even under the most ideal circumstances were able to produce more broken reels than fish.
Above and beyond the unmentionable words, broken equipment, lost lures and headaches from pre-pubertal voices constantly harassing you for help, there really is no greater joy then being able to pass on what you have learned to someone else, allowing them to share in the same passion that you love.
I once had the opportunity to take a young boy out fishing for the first time at the pond behind his house. His parents were almost never around to spend time with him, and he spent the better part of his life in day-care facilities or with his elderly grandmother who could do very little in the form of educational interaction. I was babysitting him one afternoon, when he ran into the room holding a brand-new fishing pole. it had never been opened, and the layer of dust on the plastic packaging suggested that he’d possessed it for a good span of time. He tugged on my shirt, announcing that he was going fishing out back and needed help finding his bait. And so we took a bucket and went outside in search of worms.
After about fifteen minutes of looking under various rocks and logs, we had come up with only a hand-full of tiny earthworms and a few pill bugs. I asked the boy if he needed help hooking his worm, and he responded with “Huh?” The poor child had never actually experienced fishing before, he’d only seen it in cartoons that he watched every morning. Over the next hour, I showed him the ropes, and had a lot of fun doing it too.
If you ever get the chance to change a kids life with five minutes of your time, I suggest you take it. It not only gives them the guidance they need, but it also provides the love and security they crave.