Crowd gathers at Big Bear Lake for fishing derby

Submitted by Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County

The Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County hosted their 26th Annual Family Day Fishing Derby on Aug. 3.

Participants enrolled in the SRACLC Summer Day Camps invited their families to experience an entire day of camp with them. Campers shared with their families all of their favorite "dino-mite" activities they've enjoyed throughout our "Camp Before Time" themed summer.

Campers, counselors and families then journeyed to Big Bear Lake in Vernon Hills, where the fishing competition began. Nearly 150 people took to the pier and shores for the afternoon of fishing, carnival games, a picnic lunch and special guests. Ronald McDonald visited the campers and two Vernon Hills police officers attended with goodies for the group.

As the fishing came to an end, volunteers from the Arlington Anglers Fishing Club calculated more than 130 fish were caught and released. The awards begin with recognition for special attendees Sen. Terry Link and Rep. Carol Sente, along with a special "thank you" for the Grand Sponsor The Lexi Kazian Foundation - Helping from Heaven.

Then it was time to award the trophies for the biggest and most fish caught. John Keating, 11-year-old camper from Libertyville, caught the biggest fish that day, sizing up at 4 pounds. Logan Garbrecht-Kaluza, 9-year-old camper from Mundelein reeled in six fish, the most fish caught for the day. Griffin Koppel, a 13-year-old camper from Lake Zurich, caught four fish, including a small mouth bass. Koppel caught the second most fish at the derby. All the awards were presented by Link and Sente.

The award ceremony continued with the Camp Counselors of the Year being awarded to Megan Swirsley, Chris Glatt, Joanna Tapia, and Alex Mitchell. Awards were also handed out for Campers of the Year: Adriel Garcia, Gibson Tivers, and Sean Cosgrove.

The entire day was a great success as SRACLC families from across Central Lake County came out to enjoy the beautiful weather and variety of exciting activities.

The Special Recreation Association of Central Lake County provides community based therapeutic recreation services to individuals with special needs and their families. For more information about the year around SRACLC programming, visit www.sraclc.org or call (847) 816-4866.

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