Gone fishin’ – that’s just what 220 folks were out doing on a recent weekend at Green Timbers Lake.
Some were in wheelchairs, others accompanied by caregivers as they cast their lures on the lake shore.
“It’s like a good day at the park for all the handicapped societies,” says Rob Ausma, the director of Fishing Forever, the BC Wildlife Federation program that organized the two-day event.
Participants were helped by volunteers with their bait, wire and rods, and more than a few fish were caught.
Putting together such a large event involved dozens of groups and individual volunteers, as well as donors.
“I can give you list a mile long,” says Ausma, the vice-president of BCWF Region 2 and a member of the Delta Ladner Rod & Gun Club.
He gives extra credit to the Freshwater Fishing Society, which stocked the lake with 750 trout three days before the event in early June, and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, which donated $10,000.
“I need lots of permits,” says Ausma, who spend about three months planning the event, his third in a row.
This was one of five Fishing Forever events this spring and summer in B.C. Fishing Forever, which began in 1989, helps people with disabilities learn to, or continue to, fish and enjoy the outdoors.
For more information, check http://bit.ly/16jwB4Z
