As the seasons continue to change over into those beautiful spring and summer months, the draw to be outdoors grows stronger. For a select group of students, the opportunity to get out of the classroom and onto the lake was too good of a chance to pass up.

Last Thursday and Friday, the Rotary Club of Luverne hosted its annual Fishing Rodeo at the Crenshaw County Lake. This event has been hosted since the late 1980s and has continued to grow every year.

“Both events were very successful, and they are every year,” said Luverne Rotary Club President William Petrey.

“This year, Thursday’s weather was absolutely perfect, and Friday it was raining like crazy at seven and then was beautiful at 10. We were very fortunate on the weather.”

On Thursday, sixth grade honor students from Crenshaw Christian Academy, Highland Home School, Brantley High School and Luverne High School attended this event as their reward for making the honor roll. In total, about 85 students were present. On Friday, the lake was opened up to special needs children interested in learning the art of fishing. In total, about 25 children were present.

Petrey believes that the students who participated this year caught more fish than groups from the past, and the excitement from the students was obvious.

Not only were the younger students invited to this event, the Chamber Belles and Beaus as well as the Interact Club at CCA lent their fishing expertise as well.

Emily Simms currently serves as a Chamber Belle; through this group, she has had the chance to interact with students from all walks of life and participate in multiple activities.

“Being a Belle is a really fun experience, especially when you get to help out with events that involve kids of the community. Even though I’m not a professional fisherman, it was fun helping the kids who hadn’t necessarily had the chance to go fishing before,” Simms said.

“To see their faces when they smelled the Catfish Charlie or when they would get a fish on their line was priceless. It was such a beautiful day to fish and I had so much fun helping and laughing with the kids.”

Petrey counts this year’s Fishing Rodeo a great success, and he eagerly awaits next year.

“Some of those kids have never been fishing, so it’s a reward for the honor students and for the special needs students to get to come out,” Petrey said.

“This would not be possibly without the Luverne Rotary Club, Hicks Inc., Crenshaw County Lake, McDonald’s and Pepsi. They all played a key part in making it happen.”