Hookin’ Up Heros 2011. This day has been in the works since we finished the inaugural event in 2010. All plans are in place. The boaters are coming, the Veterans are registered, the stage is set. Now it would be nice if the fish would cooperate, but really important that the weatherman cooperate. You probably have noticed that me and the weatherman have had a summer long disagreement so far. I wanna fish, he makes a hurricane to fish in. Consistently. So, I decided not to fish today. This event is too important for me to screw it up by wanting to fish and having the weatherman make it miserable for everyone. We’ll see how that works. The ole alarm clock work me up like always, but today it didn’t take me long to get up and be ready to go. This will be one of the most special days of the year. I took off, gassed up the boat, picked up Keith, and went to Leppinks. We had to pick up donuts for this morning, and I decided to get paper plates for boats to have for boat number. I was expecting 35-37 boats, based on who verified they were coming. So on the way over, Keith put numbers on the plates and put both of our phone numbers on the plates. That way, if someone had a boat problem, or needed any other kind of assistance, they could quickly reach help. I was asking the boaters to arrive between 8:30 and 9, so we would have plenty of time to get pairings done and go fishing. We got there about 7:45 and we weren’t even close to being the first ones there. There were already boats in the water ready to go. I guess that doesn’t really surprise me, given the reason for today. We parked and unloaded the stuff we needed to unload. We had the scales, donuts, and tons of giveaways. Once we unloaded the truck, we put the boat in the water. Tied her up and went back to work. We got the scales set up (thanks to Tim Johns for letting us use his scales for the day), registration table ready, and the giveaway bait and tackle spread out all over the stage. It wasn’t long, and there was quite a line at the registration table. The Vets were arriving and the boats were pouring in. As you would expect, there was the typical morning BS session among the boaters. Most knew each other and were already friends, but new or old, you just have to participate in that. Once we got everyone registered, we had a brief meeting. We outlined how the day was supposed to go, went over the rule (yes, that was singular as the only rule was to be safe and have fun), and told everyone to put them in the water. There was a bunch of borrowing of seats and life jackets, etc to make sure everyone had everything they needed to accommodate their partners for the day. The Newaygo State Park is an incredibly gracious host and sponsor of the event, but launching and retrieving a group of boats is a challenge. To help expedite things, Keith, I, and Linda Ward were launching boats, driving trucks and trailers to the parking lot, and running back down to the ramp to do it again. The plan was for us to get everyone in the water, then Keith and I would go out in my boat and blast everyone off. This is such a high stakes event that they overruled my plan and decided to take off and go fishing without me being out there. I think that has become tradition, because they did the same thing last year. Once we got everyone launched and fishing, we worked on getting everything set for the afternoon. We made sure we had the prizes figured out, what the weigh in process was going to be, and all that good stuff. We were getting hungry, so we went to grab a lunch, but they leftover lunches had already been taken to Coocheez. So we stayed hungry for a bit. Once we get everything good to go for the afternoon, we were going to hit the water to find some fishermen, get some stories and pictures. Before we could do that, Ron got a call of a boater whose motor wouldn’t start. We went and found him right away to make sure he was Ok. He got his motor going and he was fine. So we commenced with the story and picture getting. We ran around for about an hour and a half doing that. The story from everyone was that it was tough. Real tough. We did find a few teams that did have some fish. We ran into Tim Johns and his partners up the river. Last year, part way through the day, he took his partners to River Ridge Resort for ice cream. Guess where Tim was headed. Yep. They were heading for ice cream. I think this too, has officially become tradition now. We went back in a little early to make sure once again that everything was 100% ready for the afternoon. Ron told me of speaking to one of the Veteran fisherman’s sister recently. She told Ron that she had not seen her brother smile one time since returning from Vietnam. Until the event last year. She said he is all smiles when talking about his experience last year. And has been smiling widely when talking about coming and fishing again this year. Just one more thing about this event that gives me goosebumps. What an honor it is for me to have been asked to help coordinate this event. Such a small sacrifice we make in our lives to show our appreciation and change someone else’s life forever. Once we assured ourselves all was ready for the afternoon, a bunch (way more than the ratings plate said I could and that I had life jackets for) of us piled into my boat and went out to greet the fishermen upon their return and await the flyover. Everyone made it back safe and without incident. The helicopter was running a few minutes late (I think it must have been too nice to fly), so that gave everyone a few extra minutes to spend telling fish storied and rib each other a little extra. I even spied a few beverages flying from one boat to surrounding boats. Thanks Blake. The one thing that surprised me was that were more than twice as many pleasure/spectator boats waiting than there were fishing boats. Must be the word had gotten widely circulated about our event. Two people came by on a jet ski asking if there was going to be a military flyover or something. I tried to convince everyone that the gathering was to see me sing and dance, but I don’t think anyone bought it. The Coast Guard helicopter came and did several passes. That was pretty cool. I think the fisherman and spectators alike got a thrill out of that and took tons of pictures. Once that was done, we all started heading into the ramp. We beached my boat, so I could get ready for weigh in. Andy Carrick was kind enough to take my camera and take TONS of great pictures of the afternoon festivities. Thanks Andy for that. Linda Ward was gracious enough to be our recordkeeper for weigh in. As each team came up, she was recording who they were and the weights. Keith was the weighmaster for the event, and everyone was stuck listening to me MCing the event. Each team that came up introduced themselves to everyone with their hometown and service history. The focus of this event is the Veterans, and only they are eligible for the prizes. We had a few teams come up and tell me that the boater caught the fish. We had to take the occasional time out to remind them that I was quite sure the boaters did not catch the fish. Once that secret little meeting was over, every team that had forgotten originally caught the fish remembered that one of the Veterans was the one who caught them. We made sure we got some nice pictures of each team and their fish. A few teams apparently were affected by the sun today, cuz they brought me perch, dogfish, and walleye when this was supposed to be a bass tournament. Last year Kyle fished with me, and we have gotten to be good friends and have fished together several times since, but apparently I didn't teach him much. He brought me a perch. We had fun with it though and got some good laughs. We tried to make sure each team came across the stage to be recognized for their service to our country and for their generosity of bringing their boat today. Regardless of how successful each team was or was not, the stories of fun, fellowship, and appreciation never stopped from the fishermen. Once the weigh in concluded, we gave out the prizes. First place had 12.5 or so with a big fish a little over 3.5. The Vets on the winning team each got a 3 day guided turkey hunt from Just A Dream Huntz as well as a custom made fishing rod from Palehorse Custom Rod. The big bass award was a replica mount of that bass thanks to Northern Pines Taxidermy. Wave Spin Reels, Kustom Kicker Jigs, Rick Briggs, Mrs. Butch Migosky (sorry I forgot your name), Bass Pro Shops, Tamarack Sports, Drop Shot Denny, Martiny Hand Pours, and other anonymous donors made sure that no Veteran went home without a nice prize package. So thanks to all of the sponsors, Linda Ward for recording the weigh in and Keith Goodrich for weighing all of them beautiful fish today. Ron was awarded a nice plaque on behalf of all the Veterans for the work he does making this event happen. Apparently at last week’s Disabled American Veterans convention, they decided I needed to be recognized. I argued with Chuck about that, but he won. Shucks, I just try to get a bunch of fishermen to go fishing. How hard can that be? Once all of the fishing related activities ended today, the emotional part started. There was a large contingent of fishermen today that joined us from the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. We brought all of them up on stage to recognize all of them. We took a minute to recognize the combat wounded Veterans that participated today. The Marine Color Guard from Selfridge presented the colors. Denise Brown did an amazing rendition of the National Anthem. Reverend Joe Cottle gave an invocation that was very inspiring to each and every one of us. Ned Seath was recognized for his wartime heroics. Ned was recently awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in Vietnam. The story of Ned’s heroics brought tears to every eye in the house. Reverend Cottle took a minute to read the name of every fallen hero from Michigan who has given the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation since 2003. They may be gone, but will never be forgotten. The colors were retired and the event concluded. That meant more work was to done. We completed tear down and got my boat out of the water. Once the truck was loaded back up, we went over to Coocheez for the after party. There was a live band playing as well as an auction going as well as a feast. We get some liquid back in us and made sure we ate too much. As you would expect, these “friends” of mine decided I needed to get a bunch of crap from them about the day. It was all in good fun and that’s what friends are for. I’ll whoop them Monday at Tamarack to get back at them. Except one of them is my partner Monday night. Hmm, maybe I’ll push him in or something. We said our goodbyes, shook hands and called it a day. I have a crack in a hydraulic line and my boat won’t go into reverse now, so I guess I've got some more projects for this week. Remember my disagreement with the weatherman? Well, we agreed that today’s event was important enough to agree to let it be a nice day. It was absolutely perfect weather from start to finish today. The Veterans deserve nothing but the best, and they got the best in weather today. As I lay my head down tonight, let’s not forget that if it were not for these Veterans, events like today would not be possible in America. If it were not for the generosity of the boaters who graciously accommodated each and every one of them who wanted to fish today, the event would not have been possible. So, to each and every Veteran who has served our great Nation, and given me the freedom to help hold this event and write freely about it afterwards, may God bless you.
