Let’s Go Fishing keeps making it happen

/in , , , /by

Since 2002, the organization and its volunteers give back to seniors and others by hosting them on fishing and boating excursions on Green Lake

 

Let's Go Fishing 071223 001.jpg
Leo Breyer, far left, reacts to catching a sunfish as Let’s Go Fishing volunteer Ron Haugen, center, helps free the fish from the hook during a fishing trip on Green Lake on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

SPICER — A group of military veterans with one goal in mind, that being to catch fish.

A women’s bible study group from Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, who wanted to boat around Green Lake and see the sights.

A mixed group of new immigrants, including a few who had grown up in the desert and had never seen much less experienced big water.

Let's Go Fishing 071223 002.jpg
Ben Tjaden smiles after hooking a sunfish during a Let’s Go Fishing trip on Green Lake Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

And mostly, senior citizens who light up with joy when they are on the water.

These are but a few snapshots of Rick Reimer’s time on the waters of Green Lake as the president of the Willmar chapter of Let’s Go Fishing . As it has since 2002, the local volunteers and their sponsors continue to carry on the mission of giving back to seniors and allowing others to enjoy the mental-health-boosting experience that being on the water offers.

 

Read the full story here…

 

 

 

Let’s Go Fishing Launches it’s 20th Season

/in , , , /by

SPICER — Let’s Go Fishing volunteer Glen Lotthammer piloted our pontoon boat within casting distance of a dock in the belief that a fish or two might be lurking in its shade.LetsGoFishing2022

This was last Monday, and Lotthammer and his volunteer deckhands were joined on Green Lake by seven fourth-grade students from the Willmar Public Schools.

With a few deft casts, student Braylon Burwell managed to drop his slip bobber and leech rig right at the dock’s edge and BAM, down went the bobber.

Burwell soon pulled in a hefty, largemouth bass, gave it a kiss and came home with all of the bragging rights. He caught the biggest, and only, fish in our afternoon excursion with Let’s Go Fishing.

But every one of Burwell’s classmates on that pontoon reached shore wearing smiles as big as the one he had flashed when volunteer Dennis Forcier helped net the big bass.

Lotthammer and Forcier were among the many volunteers who hosted fourth-grade students from the Kennedy and Roosevelt Elementary Schools on outings on Green Lake in Spicer to start the 2022 season for the Willmar chapter of Let’s Go Fishing this past week. Four pontoons were kept busy. If all went as planned, some 220 students will have participated in the outings offered Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

It marked the start of the 20th season for the Willmar chapter, the first and founding chapter for the non-profit organization that now includes 17 chapters across the state and into Wisconsin.

“This has become really huge, every year,” said Rick Reimer of Let’s Go Fishing’s tradition of starting its season by hosting elementary students. Reimer serves as the chapter’s president.

Read the full article here at the West Central Tribune…

Let’s Go Fishing Says ‘Thank You’ to United States Veterans

/in , , , , , , /by

“Thank you for your service.”

A lot of us say it. To the camouflaged young soldier we pass in the airport, or maybe the older gentleman in the black World War II service cap you see when you visit your grandmother in the nursing home. And we mean it. We might even buy their coffee or offer to let them go to the front of the line at the grocery store.

After all, they have risked or are currently risking life and limb to keep us and countless others around the world free and safe.

Let's Go Fishing - Mercury Marine

But there are a few who go well beyond a cup of coffee or a kind word to honor our United States veterans. The volunteers who give their time and energy to the Let’s Go Fishing (LGF) organization are among those who go the extra mile to honor our veterans, as well as serve the elderly and handicapped in their communities.  Full story at Mercury Mercury Dockline Blog…

Let’s Go Fishing not letting virus sink its season

/in , /by

DSC_0008.JPG

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Let’s Go Fishing of Willmar to cancel its spring fundraiser and delay its launch of the 2020 season. The volunteers still remain committed to hosting seniors on the water this summer, and are looking for public support to continue the good work

Let’s Go Fishing of Willmar isn’t going to let the COVID-19 pandemic sink its season, but it is canceling its spring fundraiser and the May trips for local students. Volunteers and students from the Prairie Woods Elementary School are shown on Green Lake in this Tribune file photo from May 2018. Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune file photo

WILLMAR — Let’s Go Fishing Willmar has no intentions of letting the coronavirus COVID-19 sink it’s 2020 season, but it will be delaying its launching date this year.

Rick Reimer, chapter president, said Let’s Go Fishing is postponing its annual spring fundraising event as well as the season’s launch due to the pandemic. The local chapter is hoping it can get its pontoons on the water for the first outings on Monday, June 1.

Until then, the organization is also hoping the public and the group’s many sponsors will continue to step up and help make sure the organization can continue to serve the area.

It costs about $15,000 to operate the local program each year, according to Steve Wilson, board secretary for Let’s Go Fishing. Absent the fundraiser, he and members are hoping supporters will consider contributions and that sponsors will come on board to make the 2020 season possible.

Even with a late start, the organization incurs expenses for the storage of the pontoons and materials, as well as everything from insurance to office materials. Those costs are there no matter, noted Reimer. Read the full article here at the West Central Tribune…

Willmar Chapter Launches their 2017 season

/in , , /by

SPICER — Let’s Go Fishing launched its 15th season in a big way this week, and appropriately so. The Willmar chapter has already seen a 41 percent bump in registrations from last year, and it is usually in the next couple of weeks when most of the registration calls will come in, according to Jim Gauss, president of the Willmar chapter. “We’re getting calls from all over the place,” he said.

The calls are welcome, as the chapter is ready for a big year. It has a good group of both new and returning volunteers on deck for the season, although new help is always welcome, he said. The volunteers launched the season Monday and Tuesday by hosting approximately 300 elementary students from the Willmar Public Schools on Green Lake. Three pontoons made a total of 18 trips to give the young students from Kennedy Elementary an opportunity to enjoy time on the water.

They tried their hand at fishing, too. “Not a lot of fish caught, but they had fun,” Gauss said. The volunteers will be hosting elementary students Thursday from Central Minnesota Christian School in Prinsburg and next week from the Prairie Woods Elementary School in New London. Read the full story here…

 

 

 

11th Annual Waffle Feed April 29

/in /by

Willmar Area Chapter of LGF will have its 11th Annual Dad’s Waffle Feed on April 29.

All you care to eat of waffles, sausage & beverages.

Time: 8:00-11:00 am

Where: Willmar Community & Activity Center, 624 Highway 71N.

Suggested donation: $10/person; $8 children 6-12; children 5 and under, Free.

Carry-out available.

Since 2002, the chapter has served over 19,000 seniors, youth, the disabled and military veterans.

Reeling in good health

/in , , /by

LGF seeing first hand the benefits of a boat ride

Studies have shown that nature has beneficial effects on mental and physical health.

And Let’s Go Fishing’s many chapters in Minnesota are stressing the importance of those outdoor attributes in its mission statement: “Bringing Nature’s Healing and Well-Being to Seniors, Veterans and the Disabled.”

Let’s Go Fishing is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that was established by Executive Director Joe Holm and his wife Carolyn, of Willmar, in 2002.

“LGF liberates people from isolation, loneliness and depression – by giving them boating day trips, and sometimes even fish to catch,” said Holm. “Healthier and happier people are the result.”

Let’s Go Fishing now has 25 chapters throughout Minnesota, as well as one in Wisconsin. Read the full article at Senior Perspective…

Snowbirds Flock to Willmar

/in , /by

Ann Patrick and Terry Dinderman of the Orange Grove RV Park Picnic Group from Edinburg, Texas, wave Tuesday as they leave a public dock to cruise Green Lake courtesy Let’s Go Fishing.

The migratory, mostly Midwestern flock, spend winters deep in the heart of Texas and hold a reunion picnic each summer in a different home town, this one headquartered at the Kandiyohi County Fairgrounds for three days with about 150 attending. Watch the full story on WCTRIB.com…

Willmar Area Chapter gets 500 kids out on the water

/in /by

Thanks to a wonderful group of volunteers, the Willmar Area Chapter of Let’s Go Fishing was able to get almost 500 Willmar 4th graders and NL-S 3rd graders out on the water fishing.  Teaching kids to fish is an important way to make sure that fishing and conversation is passed down to the next generation.  As long as kids have a positive experience, they will continue to love it as they grow older. Show them a good time, and kids will put the outdoors on top of their list of preferred activities.