A couple of things that we were able to count on again this year was the generosity of The Ottawa Truck Centre and Waste Management of Canada.
For the second year in a row, the Ottawa Truck Centre came through in a huge way for Christie Lake Kids, donating more than a thousand dollars, enough to send one deserving kid to camp for two weeks. Waste Management also came through and made it easy to ensure that a second kid would get to camp next summer.
Chris McNicholas of the Ottawa Truck Centre
hands over a big cheque for Christie Lake Kids
Wayne French of Waste Management comes
through for Christie Lake Kids again.
When you count on that kind of support from the business community, the things that you can't count on, like the weather, become a whole lot easier to deal with. Even when the weather is -23 celsius!
Huts on Bait Shop Bay getting warmed up first
thing in the morning
So who comes out to play on the ice when the temperature is -23? For starters, there are the people who have huts with wood stoves in them. They're good to about -80. And then there is a very strong contingent of Hawk Talkers who will go ice fishing no matter what the temperature. Here are a number of them that gathered for a group photo with Big Jim McLaughlin. Note the tuques? Official Fish-Hawk.Net issue. And they are all gone unfortunately.
I'm going to have to finish off with a flurry of pictures and short comments.
As usual, Big Jim was on fire, nailing panfish after panfish...
It was cold for sure, but not so bad that
these guys couldn't go tarp fishing...get it? Tarp Fishing?
I kill myself sometimes.
The anglers with the blue tarp swear it resulted in this
meal of crappies, but I am sworn to keep the logistics
of tarp fishing a secret.
Legend drove all the way from Kitchener to participate. Good stuff.
Ontario MPP Phil McNeely dropped by and met
Bobber and I for a few minutes before checking out the fishing.
The crowd begins to gather for the awards ceremony.
The anticipation is enormous.
And then the snow began to fly, making the
anticipation for the awards ceremony even greater.
Here's the first place winner. Sorry his name eludes me at the moment.
One of the big winners was Liam. Not only
did this little fella win the second grand cash
prize of $200, he also won a nifty draw prize too.
Inside the Bobber Dome we proudly displayed logos of those
businesses who had helped us out with cash donations or
with prizes.
Speaking of things that can be counted on,
Big Jim will always show up when the cause
is to help out some kids.
The ground crew. Here's some people that worked hard to make the derby run real smooth.
Jazman, Bobber, Big Jim, Bacon, John, Kim, RJ, Kurt Stoodley and me (well I hung out a lot and watched).
The final result was a total that was a little less than $3000 for Christie Lake Kids. A huge thanks goes to all the businesses and individuals who gave up their time or their money or both to make this derby a success again this year.
Petrie Island Bait and Tackle
Tubman Collision Centre
Otto's BMW
It was another great fish-hawk event and even better a few lucky children are going to enjoy their summer at camp.I had a great time!!
