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iw\wgiui ui turn i igo.ualujvi nuny uus communities oj me swan valley jor over 100 yearsSwan River, ManitobaVol. 104 - Number 12This issue 44 pages Tuesday, March 23, 2004 mease recycle this paper! $1.00i3Record number of fish caught at Billy Beal Fishing DerbySunny skies keep ice fishers in high spiritsMike FraserSWAN VALLEY STAR AND TIMESThe Eighth Annual Billy Beal Ice Fishing Derby, put on by the Bowsman, Swan River and Mintinas Lions, had a little bit of everything.There was great fishing, tons of donated prizes, mountains of food and above all else, plenty of money raised with proceeds going towards the Swan Valley Lions Medical Assistance Fund to help Swan Valley residents in need.And despite a gusty, late-winter storm which brought blowing snow conditions to the Valley only a day earlier, the weather smartened up enough for everyone to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon at frozen Whitefish Lake.“Everyone is really enjoying themselves,” said Garry Kiwaluk, chairman of the event.“We’re just having a fantastic time and it looks like all who came out are having fun as well.”Kiwaluk admitted he was concerned about the event after Friday’s nasty winter weather. But the event went ahead as planned with only a minor delay to begin the derby.“At first, I thought we were going to have a real problem. But we postponed the event for half an hour and that’s it. We had some problems setting up, but everything worked out,” Kiwaluk said.Crews arrived at Whitefish Lake at the crack of dawn attempting to clear pathways, set up the tent, drill fishing holes and prepare the food, and the hard work paid off for the Lions members.“We’ve got 360 adults fishing today and 54 juniors,” said Kiwaluk. “We’re pretty close to last year’s numbers and we’re happy about that.”Last year, 382 adults and 52 juniors took part in the Billy Beal on a day that featured afternoon temperatures approaching 7 C.But despite the temperature struggling to reach -10 C on Saturday, the bright sun kept everyone in good spiritsPat Bergson of Bowsman shows off the biggest catch of the day, a 10.94 poundjackfish, caught at this vear s Billy Beal Classic Ice Fishinz Derby at Whitefish Lake on Saturday.______ - — *knowing all the money raised was going towards a good cause.“After the event is over, $5,000 is kept in the Billy Beal account. The rest goes into a medical assistance fund where it’s donated $1,000 at a time for different medical reasons. The money doesn’t go anywhere else except for the medical fund. It’s just for strictly medical reasons,” Kiwaluk said.Proceeds from the medical assistance fund stay in the local community to help Swan Valley residents in need.A record number of fish was also caught on Saturday, with a total of 72 jackfish reeled in by anglers in just three hours.Bowsman native Pat Bergson walkedStar and Times photo by Mike Fraser out with the biggest catch of the day, a jackfish weighing 10.94 pounds. For his catch, Bergson won a 2004 Honda Quad.Bergson was a little concerned late in the derby when Randy Schneider of Benito brought up his best catch with five minutes of fishing to go.”See DERBY/A2
Newspaper Details
Swan Valley Star and Times
Swan River, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Mar 23, 2004
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Glen M.
CA 10 Apr 2024
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