Meet More Folks From the "Gone Fishin' Not Just Wishin'" Days at Oak Mountain State Park

EDITOR'S NOTE: Once a year, my son Hunter takes me fishing with him. I look forward to this day all year because Hunter is different from my other two children. Six months after my wife gave birth to this bright, bouncing baby boy, Hunter developed severe epilepsy. He began to spend the night in the hospital an average of two to four nights a week for the next two years and today is both physically and mentally challenged. But every year the Jefferson County school system near Birmingham, Alabama, sponsors a "Gone Fishing Not Just Wishin'" two days of fishing for its special students, including Hunter. Here's a look at what the fishing days mean to the people involved.

* Ray Kersh, a graphic artist with Alabama Power, spent his day taking Polaroid pictures of the youngsters with their fish and giving the pictures to each lucky fisherman. "We want these young people to have a photograph they can take with them of themselves with the fish they caught. That way they'll have a momento of the day and a picture they can show to their family and friends, just like other children show off their pictures. These pictures really seem to mean a lot to the children because they can take the pictures with them and show everyone that they too can go fishing and catch fish.

"Alabama Power provides the cameras and purchases the film for us to give to the children. The company also allows us to take a day off from work to volunteer and help these youngsters. I think its great that Alabama Power will permit us to help perform this kind of service to the community. This event is so much fun for these kids to get outside and enjoy the sport of fishing."

* Wilma J. Stewart, exceptional education supervisor for the Jefferson County School System, explained that, "'Gone Fishin' Not Just Wishin'' is one of the programs I help to coordinate for the county school system. Our director, Susan Wirt, believes that 'Gone Fishin', Not Just Wishin'' is an important integral part of our adaptive physical- education program. Before our children come out to go fishing, they learn a unit on oceanography, they participate in art while out here, and when they return to school they write about their experiences while fishing in their creative-writing courses.

"'Gone Fishin' Not Just Wishin'' also provides an opportunity for young people who've never fished before in their lives to try this sport and succeed at it. If you look at some of our children, they have motor disabilities, and fishing gives them an opportunity to use motor skills that they won't normally use. By teaching our special children how to cast, we're helping them develop their hand-eye coordination. Too, in the petting pool, students who've never touched a fish before can do so.

"This program provides a multitude of educational opportunities for our special children. If other school system authorities could see the joy in our students' faces when they catch a fish, they'd understand why we believe that fishing should be a part and has become a part of our educational program. We're providing our students with an opportunity with a memory that lasts a lifetime."

The "Gone Fishin', Not Just Wishin'" program had to overcome the hurdle of how to get enough rods, reels, lines, hooks and sinkers for thousands of children and volunteers to fish. To solve this problem, the Zebco Company stepped in and sent rods, reels and lines to make this program a reality. Other local and national sponsors volunteered time, money and personnel to help these special children have a day of fishing like other children do. If you'd like to volunteer product, money or your help for next year's "Gone Fishin' Not Just Wishin'" days in May 2001, call Wanda Westbrook or Treva McDougal at the Burkett Center in Birmingham, Alabama, (205) 379-2800; or email Treva at TMcdou5512@aol.com.

Some of these sponsors and volunteers besides parents, grandparents, teachers and support staff, included ...

* the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources -- the Enforcement Division, the State Parks Division and the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries,

* Alabama Power,

* Zebco Corporation,

* Lakeshore Foundation,

* EBSCO Industries (parent company of PRADCO),

* Syx Bait and Tackle,

* B.A.S.S. Federation,

* Coca-Cola,

* Golden Flake Products,

* Lee and Martha Humber and friends,

* Alagasco,

* Waste Management of Alabama,

* Jefferson State Occupational Therapy Assistant Program,

* Jefferson State Physical Therapy Assistant Program,

* Dairy Queen in Pelham, Alabama,

* Lowe-Go Sportswear,

* Ken's Bar-B-Que,

* Pelham Police and Fire Departments,

* Kimberly Clark,

* Disabled Sportsmen of Alabama,

* Steve Staggs,

* Jefferson County Schools -- transportation and special education departments,

* Outdoorsmen's Club from Hoover High School, Hoover, Alabama,

* Phil King, who owns the Little Catman Fishing Service in Corinth, Mississippi, and provided the catfish fillets volunteers cooked to give the children the chance to taste freshly-caught and cooked fish. Also King's clients and friends pitched in the catfish they caught: Donnie R. Hall of Nashville, TN; Jeff Cregeen and James Chappell of Corinth, MS; Ward Johnson of Tampa, FL; Charles Day of Tallahassee, FL; Grant L. Lewis of Tishomingo, MS; and Matt Holmes of Ohio.

Tomorrow: Two More Share Their Fishing Enthusiam