If you have the bait, the Elks have the poles

Thanks to the Farmington Elks and a local business, kids won’t have any problem finding a fishing pole to use at local fishing derbies. The Farmington Elks are purchasing 50 fishing poles at cost from the Angler’s Pro Shop. The Elks are then donating the poles to the Missouri Department of Conservation to use in local fishing derbies.

“We hosted a hunter education course in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation,” said Farmington Elks President Rick Culton. “During the course we were talking with Conservation Agent Grant Gelly. He (Gelly) told us that whenever a local kids’ fishing derby is held, he has to drive all the way to Cape Girardeau to pick up the fishing poles for the kids to use. We thought it would be better if we could have the poles right here so he would not have to drive an hour and half to pick them up. Hopefully this will give more kids the chance to fish.”

Culton said the fishing poles were costing his organization $629.

“We do things throughout the year to raise money for causes like this,” Culton said. “In this case the Angler’s Pro Shop helped us out a lot by giving us the fishing poles at cost.”

Angler’s Pro Shop owner Dan McNeil said this was the first time his business had done this.

“When we found out about it, we knew it was something that we wanted to do,” McNeil said. “They (Elks) are buying a total of 50 fishing poles and seven carrying bags. Hopefully this helps ensure that the children in this community get the opportunity to fish. Anything that we can do for the area youth we try to support pretty heavily.”

McNeil said the Elks were picking up the fishing poles and the carrying bags on Wednesday evening.