Fair Haven Wounded Warrior and Veteran Appreciation Event

[bout time]

Another Wounded Warrior and Veteran Appreciation in the books. A lot of last minute changes and cancellations but overall it went great. 32 Veterans with 13 boats.

 

We started with a parade through town Friday night on our way to dinner. 

Saturday morning greated us with calm seas but fog so thick visibility was less than 100 feet at times. We were escorted to the lake by the United States Coast Guard, Cayuga County Sherrif, Wayne County Sherrif, and NYS Police. As we entered the channel we were greeted by the Border Patrol and several appreciative Wives waiving American flags and cheering us on.

Fishing was not “easy” as “ghost ships” would appear 100 feet or so out of the fog from each other and required a lot of great communication and driving by the Captains. It was not fast and furious but were able to land several nice fish for our Veterans.  As the fog lifted it was great to see the fleet across the lake putting in their hard work to make a memorable trip for the Veterans.

We followed up fishing with a “weigh in” and group photos.  “Outcast” took overall largest Trout, and “ ‘Bout Time “ brought in the largest Salmon. 

This was followed by an award ceremony and BBQ at the Fire Dept. where the Veterans received “appreciation bags”, photos of their boat, and trophy’s for largest fish. 

This year we also started a new award called “Hero Spotlight” which is given to the Veteran who has maintained good conduct during his or her time served, been honorably discharged, and maintains the oath of integrity that they swore to. This years award recipient was Michael Juskow - United States Navy 1961-1969. He served with the elite group,

MACV in Vietnam from 66-68 as a Military Advisor to the South Vietnamese stationed in Saigon. 

 

Overall a great event and alot of smiles and stories to be told for years.

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by bout time

[whaler1]

Beautiful!

[Gill-T]

Good stuff!  Was this event promoted or do you have all the boats you need or want?  I would be interested in helping out next year if you need more boats. I used to volunteer for the wounded warrior program out of Sodus that Nick used to run. Unfortunately, that event was discontinued. 

[bout time]

10 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

Good stuff!  Was this event promoted or do you have all the boats you need or want?  I would be interested in helping out next year if you need more boats. I used to volunteer for the wounded warrior program out of Sodus that Nick used to run. Unfortunately, that event was discontinued. 

I also was in Nicks event from the start until is was discontinued. I have run this event the past 4 years and have been part of this one for the last 9 years. We run this out of Fair Haven. If you are interested hit me up and I keep you informed on next years event and if we need additional boats.

 

[MGK]

Great fishing for a great cause!