Update on the community fishing ponds:

Article by the Peoria Journal Star

WOW - double WOW and CONGRATULATIONS....
Good luck and God Speed...!!!!
George

What a great idea! Keep us posted on your progress, Nate. Watching kids fish is a reward in itself.

Well done Nate.

That's a truly great and commendable undertaking, Nate. Kudos to all involved.

That's fantastic Nate. Kudos indeed.

I stand and applaud you Nate.I tried to get the locals around me to do something like this but couldnt get anyone interested.Glad to hear somebody's doing something nice for the kids.

Thanks Guys for the kind words. We are very excited about this project! The local sportswriter for the Journal Star is going to write an article for the Sunday Paper in the next couple weeks to help get the word out about the new place.

We are in the process of abtaining Non-for-Profit Status but that is going to take 4-5 months and we want to be ready starting May 1. We are working scheduling out with the local school districts for the months of May and October. June, July and August we will have daily seminars for various other groups to sign up for.

Nate, if the article is available on-line when they print it, please post a link.

Great project Nate. Keep us posted on the progress.

Will keep updated regularly and also post necessary links as they become available.

Outstanding!

Great job n8ly. This is going to make a great impact on the future of fishing in Illinois. I'm sure the kids will love it.

Man thats an awesome project(size and impact) and great for the outdoor sports. I had a group of kids that never had the opportunity to fish come to my pond. All the prep work and logistics were payed for with the smiles and laughter from the kids. I'm not sure who got more from the experience them or me.

I bet you both will never forget the experience! That catfish pond sounds like fun to fish!

Here is a link to the Newspaper Article from PJStar

Great article Nate, I really like what you are doing over there. The only issue that I have with it is that you should also allow idiot fishermen like myself to fish as well. (I suppose however the correct term should be angling challenged.)

Good stuff. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see national press (fishing magazines,etc) get a hold of this story.

JHAP,
We are changing our original mission statement. Fishing Seminars will be held mon-thurs 9-12 from May to October 1st and any group can sign up for them.

The local High School Fishing Teams are going to use the place quite a bit also. The water never freezes and can be fished all winter long. The High school fishing teams will also be volunteering to staff events and general maintenance stuff.

That article brought about TONS of good responses from the community!

And deservedly so. I'll bet if you wanted to (not making a suggestion just an observation) that you could get places like Bass Pro Shops, BASS, Cabelas, etc to donate funds. Oh and I'm glad you changed your mission statement. Us "angling challenged" individuals need all the help we can get.

Jeff,
At this point we are going to try to keep everything- funding, volunteering, and donating within the community.

Also whether your "angling challenged" or not, you have a private pond that will be a trophy fishery someday, where you can practice and cast and learn about fish as much as you want. You are BLESSED!

This place is not for people like yourself! Most kids have no access to a place to go fishing!

My comment was made tongue in cheek - I probably should have used an emoticon.

Nate, this project is highly commendable. You are providing children with a tremendous experience. To me it's much more that just fishing, it's about getting in touch with nature and the environment. This project reminds me of the book that was discussed at the pond boss conference, "Last Child in the Woods". It's about rescuing our children from nature deficit disorder (the author's words not mine). Some of these children will catch and hold a fish for the first time and this will have a life long impact. This project could create a future Bob Lusk, or Bill Cody or Dr. Willis.

Wow, that was deep. I believe I've had too much coffee. (insert smiley emoticon here).