Lake Shelbyville - Great day for the kids. Real bad day for the fish.
The United Special Sportsman Alliance (USSA) and the Frank Lawhead Memorial put together a team of volunteers to take critically ill, disabled and sick kids out on Lake Shelbyville for a special day of fishing. USSA is a non-profit organization running deer and duck hunts, along with fishing outings for kids to live their dream adventure.
The best part for the youngsters? "Just catching thirty fish and having fun out there" said Kiefer Collins. Collins and his mother drove more than ten hours from Alabama to take part.
Steve Welch was one of the fishing guides and got USSA to bring the fishing outing to Lake Shelbyville. Welch gave a disabled young man the thrill of a lifetime. "He's in a wheelchair. He had a ball," Welch told WAND News. "We caught over a hundred fish."
When the fishing was done it was a short drive to the Coon Creek Lodge for pictures and a fish fry. Steve Pruitt of Homer is one of the USSA volunteers to help out as a fishing guide. "The best thing about it is they made me and my daughter and my family a lot better for it," he said.
Mark Lawhead runs the Frank Lawhead Memorial which helped fund the outing. The event is in honor of his father who was an avid fisherman. "My dad passed away on New Year's Eve," Lawhead stated. "We wanted to take the donations coming in for him and apply it to fishing which was his whole life."
Tim Houk of the Macon County Sheriff's Department was one of the many volunteers. USSA has put together 6,900 outdoor dream adventures since September of 2000.
