A fishing derby held at Dugan Lake this past Family Day Monday raised at least $6,500 for 150 Mile Elementary School.
President of the 150 Mile PAC Michelle Iverson said despite having sold out of the 150 adult tickets before the event they had an additional 55 people take part.
“I was very surprised,” she said with a laugh. “I mean you always hope that you’re going to sell out but you just never know what to expect, so that was pretty amazing. Some people that had bought tickets didn’t show up but we had 198 people 13 years and older fishing.”
This was the first family fishing ice derby fundraiser for the 150 Mile Pac which Iverson said they have to and will be doing again next year.
“It was such a big success. Right now we’re still tallying the final numbers but after expenses, we raised a minimum of $6,500 for the school,” she said.
“There were only about 30 fish caught the whole day. The fish just weren’t biting but it seemed like people still had a really good time and the weather held off nicely for us so we’re looking forward to doing it again.”
Of the funds raised Iverson said $1,000 will be used to upgrade the school’s kitchen so they can work towards doing a hot lunch program. The remaining funds have been earmarked and will be used towards the construction of a timber frame outdoor classroom.
Results from Monday’s 1st Annual Fishing Ice Derby are as follows:
- Winners in the adult categories
1st place -Josef Aschwanden (2lbs 5oz)
2nd place -Dave DeForge (2lbs 2oz)
3rd place -Edward Nolan (1lb 12oz)
Hidden weight (closest to 12oz) -Dave Stanley (11oz)
13th fish -Tom Nickel (4oz)
1st fish of the day went to Richard Brown (1lb 9oz)
- Winners in the under 12 categories
1st place -Emalie DeForge (1lb 5oz)
2nd place -Jordan Yaworski (12oz)
3rd place -Devin DeForge (7oz)
Hidden weight (closest to 8oz) -Dean Bartley (7oz)
10th fish caught -Leland Halverson (6oz)
1st fish of the day went to James Casler (7oz)