The “Sunshine City” of Orillia will once again serve as the backdrop for the Big Brothers Big Sisters “Catch a Dream!” Kids Fishing Derby in 2011. The Big Brothers Big Sisters is a great charitable organization which matches up youngsters from single parent families with a Big Brother/Sister and provides other mentoring services for today’s youth. 2011 will be our seventh year that this amazing kids derby will take place in Couchiching Beach Park. This event has grown to be the largest of its kind in Canada with 70+ boats involved in 2010.

At 2010 event there were over 300 participants and probably another 200 passersby who stop and took in the festivities. The weather started off in an ornery manner, serving up heavy rain, lightning and thunder. It took a little bit of patience and lots of understanding from everyone but eventually the kids’ desire to fish won out! The skies started breaking, and although it remained quite breezy for rest of the day, it was still very fishable. Fishing was tougher than 2007 but as always, some boats brought in some big fish. Some of the top tournament anglers in Ontario donated their time and boats to provide these kids with a day that they’ll remember their entire lives. It was wonderful to see the way that these children’s faces lit up as they caught what was for many of them, their first fish!

Saturday, June 25th, 2011 is the day that all these young anglers and pros will invade Orillia for what will surely prove to be another marvelous outing! Nestled between the fish rich waters of Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, Orillia is an ideal setting for such an event. Several other Big Brother Big Sister chapters have joined this event to make it bigger and better. Tournament anglers from the CPAA, Bassmania, Top Bass Fishing Series and CSFL will be providing boats and their guiding services for as many as 100 youngsters and their Big Brother/Sister. In addition there will be strong representation from the Canadian Bass Anglers Federation, Ontario B.A.S.S Federation and Ontario Chinese Anglers Association. Attendance for this event is expected to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500-600 people!

After 4 hours of fishing, the kids will be able to experience a tournament weigh-in and win prizes provided by our generous sponsors. The weigh-in will then be followed by a BBQ for all attendees. There will also be gift bags distributed to all participants. New sponsors are always welcome, both for cash & merchandise. Charitable tax receipts will be provided for cash amounts over $100.00 donated. Please take this opportunity to make a difference in a child’s life.

Principle sponsors will have their company’s logo prominently displayed on our banner as well as in the event registration brochure. The earlier that a company can commit to some form of sponsorship the more exposure that company will receive. This will be a great opportunity to garner some great exposure at an extremely worthwhile event. The event web site www.catchadream.ca  is up and running with all kinds of photos from the last 4 years. There will be expected media coverage from national publications, local television stations and newspapers.

If any person or company is interested in becoming part of this extremely worthwhile event, sponsors, boaters and volunteers are all needed, please contact David Chong at dchong@fishharddreambig.com or call him at 416-993-3477, or Stanley Joshuasingh, by phone at 416-728-4900,and email at spida5@hotmail.com.

Yours truly,

 
David Chong