Take A Soldier Fishing - Toledo Bend 7-12-08

[Wesley]

Hello!!

First off I have cleared this post through Glenn prior to posting it. ;D

I am hosting a Take A Soldier Fishing Tournament on Toledo Bend on July 12th 2008.  I will need 40 boaters to take out 40 soldiers fishing in a team format no entry fee Tournament.  I am still working on the prizes when I know what they are I will announce it.  The main focus of this event is to give back to the soldiers who give so much for our country.  The soldiers you will be taking out have all been wounded in service to our country.  This is your chance to give a little something back.

I will be putting together a fish fry/BBQ for the weigh in for boaters and soldiers to take part in. I am also working on lineing up a guest speaker to come talk at the event.

I am also taking donations of tackle and fishing gear to hand out to the soldiers so they have some gear of thier own to fish with. This is a great chance to get someone started fishing that has never tried it before! Anyone who would like to donate to the effort contact me in a PM and we will arrange the details.

Go to www.takeasoldierfishing.com for more information about the program. (Glenn has given me the OK to post this link)

[Catt]

I think you'll have to count me in on this one; you going to be my partner?  

[Wesley]

LOL, I would be glad to partner with you but its gonna be a random draw!  Feel free to sign up as a boater and take one of these soldiers out on the water and show them how its done!!!  

I will be goin to all the local tackle shops trying to get some worms/hooks/weights etc donated for the guys and gals to fish with.

[Fisterfam]

This past weekend we put on an event on Richland Chambers. I was intorduced to Sand Bass fishing by Bob Wilson and had a blast chasing birds. He informed me (and showed me) that it is a blast and doesn't require a whole lot of skill as far as fishing goes. Not saying anything bad about it LOL just that it was simple to catch fish compared to Bass fishing.

I have been asked to organize a schedule to take out wounded soldiers on a monthly basis to different lakes around Ft. Hood.

I would set up a schedule of lakes ranging from Alan henry to Sam Rayburn, DFW area to Choke Canyon. In General keeping it within a 5-6 hour drive time max. We would do one close then one far and so on.

What I need from you:

What would be an incentive to get enough boaters on the water to handle 40 soldiers at a time?

Please let me know your opinions and thoughts on this. I am going to print this out so that my command understands the needs of the boaters and hopefully we can come to an agreement and take some soldiers fishing! thanks for your time. Mike

Proposed lakes and dates:

MAY 31 - BELTON

JUNE 28 - GRANGER

JULY 12 - TOLEDO BEND -motel

JULY 26 - RAY HUBBARD -motel

AUGUST 9 - BELTON - TASF SOLDIER BENEFIT TOURNAMENT $60 ENTRY AND 2 NON PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS - ETCBA

AUGUST 30 - LEWISVILLE -motel

SEPTEMBER 13 - RICHLAND CHAMBERS -motel

SEPTEMBER 27 - FORK TASF - LINDALE BASS CLUB -motel

OCTOBER 11 - ALAN HENRY -motel

OCTOBER 25 - RAY ROBERTS -motel

NOVEMBER 22 - GRAPEVINE -motel

Let me know what you guys think. Time of year, type of fishing, best lakes for which days and so on.

INPUT INPUT INPUT I need it all so I can present this to my commander.

I then need someone to Adopt the event and be the "guy on the ground" for setting everything up for when we get there along with my help. It can be more than one person but it needs to run smoothly and seamlessly. Some of these distances are a long ways from Ft. Hood. Also if there are people at each lake that can accommodate a couple wheelchairs. You guys are going to be what makes this happen not me. I can plan the trip and get the soldiers there but I don't know the area like you guys do. We might even be able to rent the entire motel for Friday and Saturday and I would think some owners would offer a discount during the slow months. Think about it and let me know. THanks Mike

What I need from you guys is a compiled list of things I guess.

What ramp we are using to launch at?

If -motel is next to the lake I need 2 different motels close to the launch site. I need all their information Phone, address, rates, any discounts they may provide and how many rooms available for each motel, ammenities, wheelchair accessible and so on.

If it says -motel next to it we will be driving to the motel the Friday before with arrival times around 6pm. Looking for at least 20 rooms for a total of 40 people. Stay will include Friday, Saturday, and check out Sunday. Need to know about restaurant locations as well and the distance from the motel.

If you are going to put on a fish fry or a BBQ I will leave that up to you. I know that the personal touches are what make the difference. Bob and Jeane Wilson aka doublejack on here hosted our BBQ on Richland Chambers. It made all the difference and thats what the guys are talking about. We all know that not everybody eats fish so keep that in mind. I will add more as it comes along. Thanks guys! Mike

If you have said that you are taking on a Lake you will be the point of contact. I am going to treat each date as a seperate event. I will be using my online sign up forms to help you guys keep track of boaters and volunteers. I would like to see 2 people in charge. A primary and an alternate. I know things come up but this can't fail because these guys are looking forward to them. Each person that will be in charge of each lake needs to go here:

****CONTACT WESLEY****

The name of the event needs to be: WTASF **Name of lake here**

Fill out all the info. The email address you provide here will be where all the boater info will be sent to.

30 days prior to each event I would like to see a new topic started for the next event coming up with all the sign up info and so on. I can help facilitate this as well.

Boaters: When signing up you will have to sign up for EACH EVENT. I am sorry for this but I do not have the resources thru my site to be able to archive. This allows each person who is coordinating it all for each event to be able to keep track of boaters and numbers of soldiers and contact info.

Boaters can sign up here:

****CONTACT WESLEY****

When signing up for an event, the event name will be WTASF and the name of the lake. Belton Lake is the only lake on there 2 times and if you sign up for Belton It will be assumed for the 31st.

August 9th TASF is open to anyone. $60 entry fee and 2 non perishable food items. $40 from each entry fee will go towards Santa's Workshop program on Ft. Hood.

**LOOK UP FT. HOOD SANTA'S WORKSHOP**

The food items will be donated to the organization that provides food baskets to the soldiers of Ft. Hood. $10 from each entry will go to East Texas Christian Bass Anglers etcba.com and $5 per entry will go to a local Non Profit group like boyscouts for their efforts to volunteer for clean up and stuff like that. The other $5 will go towards cash prizes. We are trying to raise money for an overall Big Bass prize of $5000 but cannot advertise it until we have it. Our goal is to have 300 boats with 300 non boaters. If this is achieved then we can cut Santa's Workshop a check for $24,000 and collect 1200 food items.

TASF Lake Fork is open to anyone. So far there is a limit of 100 service members for sign up and they are expecting the same number for boaters. This is free and is being put on by the Lindale Bass Club with East Texas Christian Bass Anglers.

I will post more info and answer any questions you might have. Thanks Mike

MAY 31 - BELTON ----------------------------

JUNE 28 - GRANGER --------------------------

JULY 12 - TOLEDO BEND -motel ---------------

JULY 26 - RAY HUBBARD -motel ---------------

AUGUST 9 - BELTON --------------------------

AUGUST 30 - LEWISVILLE -motel --------------

SEPTEMBER 13 - RICHLAND CHAMBERS -motel ----

SEPTEMBER 27 - FORK -motel -----------------

OCTOBER 11 - ALAN HENRY -motel -------------

OCTOBER 25 - RAY ROBERTS -motel ------------

NOVEMBER 22 - GRAPEVINE -motel -------------

If you are interested in being the guy on the ground please go here to register the lake and date you would like to fish.

****CONTACT WESLEY****

If you would like to be a boater in one of these events please go here to sign up and be counted!

****CONTACT WESLEY****

Thanks for all the support guys. Let's keep them coming and show them how everything is bigger in Texas! Later Mike

[Fisterfam]

BTW Hello to all on here and I just want to say thank you to any and all that have supported the troops throughout the years!  I own the above website and I am also a SSG in the US Army stationed at Ft. Hood.  I work with all these wounded guys and they are a great bunch of guys and gals. Some of them have sustained their injuries from combat and others have just been plain worn down by their time in the service.  I will be providing the 40 soldiers for this event and all the other ones as well.  All prizes for this event please contact Wesley so that he can take care of them for us.  If you are looking at a bigger scale then you can contact me thru my site or on this one.  Thank you very much for your support!  Mike

[Top]

that is AWESOME... to all the folks volunteering their time and boat for this even.. THANK YOU... it does a heart good to see the outpouring of support for soldiers... they don't ask for thanks because of what they do... but to recieve VALIDATION for all the sacrifices and YES they do sacrifice... is wonderful.. some so much more than others.. and them I present a parade ground salute!

AL

[Catt]

Wesley or Fisterfam have y'all found a motel on Toledo?

If no may I suggest Super 8 Motel at Pendleton Bridge

[Wesley]

Wesley or Fisterfam have y'all found a motel on Toledo?

If no may I suggest Super 8 Motel at Pendleton Bridge

Thats where I will be checking into first I think we will get the best rates for the rooms.

[Wesley]

***Update***

The event will be out of Pendleton Harbor.  

[Wesley]

There will be prizes for:

Best 5 Bass, Biggest Bass, Biggest Crappie, Biggest Catfish, Biggest White bass. I am still working with several companies about donations. Come on out and take one of these soldiers out on the water as your way of saying thank you for all they have done.

[Wesley]

Still have plenty of spots left but hurry because there are only 40 spots!!

[Wesley]

**Update**

Its looking like this will be covered on a Outdoor TV show.  

[Catt]

I'm working on it, got momma to retire, looking to buy a boat soon  

[jhoffman]

I wish I lived close enough to participate. Have fun!

[Wesley]

Thanks for all the help, the event was a great sucess!!  I will post pictures later!