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Kids go fishing
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NEWS-TIMES
J.J. SMITH
MOREHEAD CITY — The volunteers of the Take A Kid Fishing (TAKF) Foundation Inc. are paid in a currency far more precious than money.
Just ask them.
Time and time again, they speak of the joy that comes from seeing a child’s face light up after seeing saltwater for the very first time.
That joy was overflowing this week as more than 800 kids came to the Crystal Coast from orphanages, children’s homes and state and local agencies to fish and take in the beauty of the area.
On Tuesday, groups of kids from as far away as Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Oxford and as close as New Bern fished off the Olde Beaufort Seaport Pier and Bogue Inlet Pier and fished offshore aboard the Capt. Stacy, Carolina Prin-cess, Continental Shelf, Mystery Tour and Nancy Lee Fishing Center.
Later, the groups of kids took a tour aboard the Dia-mond City, visited N.C. Aquar-ium at Pine Knoll Shores and finished their days with dinner at the Crystal Coast Civic Cen-ter and Swansboro Rotary Civic Center.
On Wednesday, groups of kids from Morehead City, including those from the Eckerd Alternative Camp, enjoyed offshore fishing.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of TAKF, a foundation started humbly in 1988 by Bob Hodges.
That year, 35 children from County Social Services and the Newport Developmental Center fished aboard the Capt. Stacy, with Hodges supplying a picnic lunch and Dale Ward providing a cookout.
The event was eventually taken over administratively by two-time Big Rock Blue Mar-lin Tournament winner Adrian Holler and his wife, Annette, a past president of TAKF.
Big Rock Sports Inc., owned by Holler, donates administrative support in helping bring the two-day event together.
TAKF got its start through the efforts of Hodges, who founded the event with hopes of turning around troubled or disadvantaged youths with a small cookout and a day of fishing.
It was also a way of helping those who are near and dear to Hodges’ heart.
“I was an orphan growing up — my father committed suicide when I was 4 years old, and my brother died of cancer when I was 13,” said Hodges. “And so I wanted to give something back, because I was raised in a similar way as these kids. I’m a Mason, and so the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford was the first home we dealt with. I can’t tell you how we felt when we saw how excited those kids were — when we saw those faces — it brings tears to my eyes to this very day.”
Hodges, now 71, operated TAKF out of his home on Pond Drive in Atlantic Beach for the first 13 years of the event, but it soon grew too large for a limited staff.
“I think one year we reached 525 kids, and at that point it just got to big for me,” said Hodges, who moved back to his native Surry County seven years ago but makes it back each year for the two-day TAKF event.
“There a lot of good people that participated in those early years, too many to mention really. Sonny Davis with the Capt. Stacy, Roger Crowe and then Pat Joyce was able to get permission to use the Civic Center. And Dale Ward, I can’t say enough about the role he played. He gave selflessly to the organization, and I couldn’t have done it without him.”
The selflessness of Ward, who passed away in 2002, and the other volunteers has paid off mightily, as 9,500 worthy children have been giving the opportunity to experience a coastal fishing adven-ture during the past 20 years.
And those volunteers have been given a wonderful opportunity as well.
Tina Henderson, an employee of Henry’s Tackle (a division of Big Rock Sports Inc.) for the past 20 years, has donated her time in each of the last 10 TAKF events.
“It is a wonderful experience,” said Henderson. “I love it. I mean I just love it. A lot of these kids have never seen the ocean before in their entire life. They will walk out on the pier, and their face will light up when they see it. I wish everybody could have the experience of seeing that. They have such a wonderful time, and it makes them feel so special. And we do our best to treat them like our own. We tell them that it's their day and to enjoy it.”
Henderson, like most of the volunteers, has stories from the events that stay with her.
“I told one little boy that he had a great smile, and that if he smiled, he was sure to bring the fish to the surface,” said Henderson. “I told him, ‘You have to smile to catch a fish.’ About a half hour later, he came up to me and asked, ‘Can I quit smiling, because my jaws are hurting?’ ”
Volunteers come from all over the state and from all walks of life.
Tyler Averett, a 23-year-old fisheries technician at the Cen-ter for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) on the campus of Carteret Community College, first became involved with TAKF during an internship at CMAST two summers ago and was deter-mined that volunteering experience wouldn’t be his last.
“The first summer taking part in Take a Kid Fishing was such a humbling experience that I couldn’t help but volunteer this year,” said Averett. “It’s a joy to see the kids’ faces light up just from seeing the ocean. Connecting with some of the kids and listening to them talk, I’ve realized that what I have in my life, some of these kids may never see.
“I use this opportunity to promote getting a college degree and striving to do something that they’re passionate about. I can truly say that Take a Kid Fishing makes you evaluate the things you may be taking for granted. The greatest benefit from all this has been me becoming a better person by being involved.”
TAKF volunteers are more than willing to give their time to such a worthy cause, because they know how important the event is to the children and the long-lasting impact it has on their lives.
“A lot of these kids spend their entire year looking forward to this,” said Teresa Holcombe, president and executive director of TAKF. “Some of them are up at 4:30 in the morning to load the charter buses on that Tuesday and are chomping at the bit to get down here and go fishing. And because of our volunteers, this is an opportunity that they wouldn’t get otherwise.
“I was in the grocery store the other day with a Take A Kid Fishing T-shirt on and the cashier asked if I was part of the organization. He told me he grew up in the N.C. Boys and Girls Homes and it was always one of the highlights of his year. That makes it all worthwhile.”
Unfortunately, there is some uncertainty involving the future of the tournament.
“Adrian is retiring and the new ownership at Henry’s is not going to be involved,” said Hodges. “Teresa was doing all of the work for the tournament — it takes a lot of hard work and planning — while on the clock at Henry’s.
“So we need to find someone to oversee the event and take over the administrative duties. And with the economy the way it is now, maybe we won’t be able to take close to 1,000 kids each year, but maybe we could do something on a smaller scale.”
TAKF, which takes approximately $60,000 a year to put on, is totally funded by donations from inside and out-side the county, much of that coming through fishing tournaments such as the Calcutta Wahoo Challenge and The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.
And in these times of economic belt-tightening, more donations are needed as the foundation experienced a $10,000 shortfall this year due to the rising cost of fuel, supplies and an increase in participation.
Regardless of the event’s future, Hodges cherishes its past and the fact that it has supplied the joys of fishing and lifetime memories to the children involved.
“It’s one of the few things in my life that I can say that I am deeply and truly proud of,” said Hodges. “I didn’t do it for any other reason than to reach out and help those kids. It’s been a labor of love for me. And it humbles me to know that with-out this event 10,000 children might have never got to see the ocean or the coast. I think it’s something that Carteret County can be proud of.”
The joy that has shown on the faces of the many children taking part in TAKF in the past 20 years is due to the generous support of countless volunteers, sponsors and charitable contributions from local corporations and individuals.
Without this tremendous support, TAKF would cease to exist as it depends solely on charitable donations.
Organizations and companies supporting the event in-clude: Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, Calcutta Wahoo Tournament, Beaufort Light Tackle Fishing Club, Swansboro Rotary, Crystal Coast Civic Center, Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club, Town of Atlantic Beach, Carteret County Sportfishing Club, N.C. Marine Fisheries, Duke Marine Lab, N.C. Aquarium, Maritime Museum, Bogue Inlet Pier, NOAA, CMAST, Hardee’s, Luhin Foods, Coffee Affair, Big Foot Cooking Team, McDonald’s, Justin Ellingsworth Memorial Golf Tournament, Pepsi, Carolina Party, Sanitary Restaurant, Grady White Boats, Take A Kid Fishing Memorials and many more.
Volunteer inquiries, donations and memorials may be directed to the Take A Kid Fishing Foundation, P.O. Box 1191, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or call Teresa Holcombe at 808-8303 or visit the Web at wwwtakf.org.
MOREHEAD CITY — The volunteers of the Take A Kid Fishing (TAKF) Foundation Inc. are paid in a currency far more precious than money.
Just ask them.
Time and time again, they speak of the joy that comes from seeing a child’s face light up after seeing saltwater for the very first time.
That joy was overflowing this week as more than 800 kids came to the Crystal Coast from orphanages, children’s homes and state and local agencies to fish and take in the beauty of the area.
On Tuesday, groups of kids from as far away as Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Oxford and as close as New Bern fished off the Olde Beaufort Seaport Pier and Bogue Inlet Pier and fished offshore aboard the Capt. Stacy, Carolina Prin-cess, Continental Shelf, Mystery Tour and Nancy Lee Fishing Center.
Later, the groups of kids took a tour aboard the Dia-mond City, visited N.C. Aquar-ium at Pine Knoll Shores and finished their days with dinner at the Crystal Coast Civic Cen-ter and Swansboro Rotary Civic Center.
On Wednesday, groups of kids from Morehead City, including those from the Eckerd Alternative Camp, enjoyed offshore fishing.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of TAKF, a foundation started humbly in 1988 by Bob Hodges.
That year, 35 children from County Social Services and the Newport Developmental Center fished aboard the Capt. Stacy, with Hodges supplying a picnic lunch and Dale Ward providing a cookout.
The event was eventually taken over administratively by two-time Big Rock Blue Mar-lin Tournament winner Adrian Holler and his wife, Annette, a past president of TAKF.
Big Rock Sports Inc., owned by Holler, donates administrative support in helping bring the two-day event together.
TAKF got its start through the efforts of Hodges, who founded the event with hopes of turning around troubled or disadvantaged youths with a small cookout and a day of fishing.
It was also a way of helping those who are near and dear to Hodges’ heart.
“I was an orphan growing up — my father committed suicide when I was 4 years old, and my brother died of cancer when I was 13,” said Hodges. “And so I wanted to give something back, because I was raised in a similar way as these kids. I’m a Mason, and so the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford was the first home we dealt with. I can’t tell you how we felt when we saw how excited those kids were — when we saw those faces — it brings tears to my eyes to this very day.”
Hodges, now 71, operated TAKF out of his home on Pond Drive in Atlantic Beach for the first 13 years of the event, but it soon grew too large for a limited staff.
“I think one year we reached 525 kids, and at that point it just got to big for me,” said Hodges, who moved back to his native Surry County seven years ago but makes it back each year for the two-day TAKF event.
“There a lot of good people that participated in those early years, too many to mention really. Sonny Davis with the Capt. Stacy, Roger Crowe and then Pat Joyce was able to get permission to use the Civic Center. And Dale Ward, I can’t say enough about the role he played. He gave selflessly to the organization, and I couldn’t have done it without him.”
The selflessness of Ward, who passed away in 2002, and the other volunteers has paid off mightily, as 9,500 worthy children have been giving the opportunity to experience a coastal fishing adven-ture during the past 20 years.
And those volunteers have been given a wonderful opportunity as well.
Tina Henderson, an employee of Henry’s Tackle (a division of Big Rock Sports Inc.) for the past 20 years, has donated her time in each of the last 10 TAKF events.
“It is a wonderful experience,” said Henderson. “I love it. I mean I just love it. A lot of these kids have never seen the ocean before in their entire life. They will walk out on the pier, and their face will light up when they see it. I wish everybody could have the experience of seeing that. They have such a wonderful time, and it makes them feel so special. And we do our best to treat them like our own. We tell them that it's their day and to enjoy it.”
Henderson, like most of the volunteers, has stories from the events that stay with her.
“I told one little boy that he had a great smile, and that if he smiled, he was sure to bring the fish to the surface,” said Henderson. “I told him, ‘You have to smile to catch a fish.’ About a half hour later, he came up to me and asked, ‘Can I quit smiling, because my jaws are hurting?’ ”
Volunteers come from all over the state and from all walks of life.
Tyler Averett, a 23-year-old fisheries technician at the Cen-ter for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) on the campus of Carteret Community College, first became involved with TAKF during an internship at CMAST two summers ago and was deter-mined that volunteering experience wouldn’t be his last.
“The first summer taking part in Take a Kid Fishing was such a humbling experience that I couldn’t help but volunteer this year,” said Averett. “It’s a joy to see the kids’ faces light up just from seeing the ocean. Connecting with some of the kids and listening to them talk, I’ve realized that what I have in my life, some of these kids may never see.
“I use this opportunity to promote getting a college degree and striving to do something that they’re passionate about. I can truly say that Take a Kid Fishing makes you evaluate the things you may be taking for granted. The greatest benefit from all this has been me becoming a better person by being involved.”
TAKF volunteers are more than willing to give their time to such a worthy cause, because they know how important the event is to the children and the long-lasting impact it has on their lives.
“A lot of these kids spend their entire year looking forward to this,” said Teresa Holcombe, president and executive director of TAKF. “Some of them are up at 4:30 in the morning to load the charter buses on that Tuesday and are chomping at the bit to get down here and go fishing. And because of our volunteers, this is an opportunity that they wouldn’t get otherwise.
“I was in the grocery store the other day with a Take A Kid Fishing T-shirt on and the cashier asked if I was part of the organization. He told me he grew up in the N.C. Boys and Girls Homes and it was always one of the highlights of his year. That makes it all worthwhile.”
Unfortunately, there is some uncertainty involving the future of the tournament.
“Adrian is retiring and the new ownership at Henry’s is not going to be involved,” said Hodges. “Teresa was doing all of the work for the tournament — it takes a lot of hard work and planning — while on the clock at Henry’s.
“So we need to find someone to oversee the event and take over the administrative duties. And with the economy the way it is now, maybe we won’t be able to take close to 1,000 kids each year, but maybe we could do something on a smaller scale.”
TAKF, which takes approximately $60,000 a year to put on, is totally funded by donations from inside and out-side the county, much of that coming through fishing tournaments such as the Calcutta Wahoo Challenge and The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.
And in these times of economic belt-tightening, more donations are needed as the foundation experienced a $10,000 shortfall this year due to the rising cost of fuel, supplies and an increase in participation.
Regardless of the event’s future, Hodges cherishes its past and the fact that it has supplied the joys of fishing and lifetime memories to the children involved.
“It’s one of the few things in my life that I can say that I am deeply and truly proud of,” said Hodges. “I didn’t do it for any other reason than to reach out and help those kids. It’s been a labor of love for me. And it humbles me to know that with-out this event 10,000 children might have never got to see the ocean or the coast. I think it’s something that Carteret County can be proud of.”
The joy that has shown on the faces of the many children taking part in TAKF in the past 20 years is due to the generous support of countless volunteers, sponsors and charitable contributions from local corporations and individuals.
Without this tremendous support, TAKF would cease to exist as it depends solely on charitable donations.
Organizations and companies supporting the event in-clude: Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, Calcutta Wahoo Tournament, Beaufort Light Tackle Fishing Club, Swansboro Rotary, Crystal Coast Civic Center, Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club, Town of Atlantic Beach, Carteret County Sportfishing Club, N.C. Marine Fisheries, Duke Marine Lab, N.C. Aquarium, Maritime Museum, Bogue Inlet Pier, NOAA, CMAST, Hardee’s, Luhin Foods, Coffee Affair, Big Foot Cooking Team, McDonald’s, Justin Ellingsworth Memorial Golf Tournament, Pepsi, Carolina Party, Sanitary Restaurant, Grady White Boats, Take A Kid Fishing Memorials and many more.
Volunteer inquiries, donations and memorials may be directed to the Take A Kid Fishing Foundation, P.O. Box 1191, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or call Teresa Holcombe at 808-8303 or visit the Web at wwwtakf.org.
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