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Gone fishin'
by Susan Hoffman, The Daily Republic, September 23, 2002
For more articles on disabilities and special ed visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
Some of the best fishing this side of the Missouri River can
be found in a quiet little pond located in John Alvarez's back
yard.
About a dozen students from Children's Care Hospital and
School spent Saturday fishing for largemouth bass and
bluegills in Alvarez's manmade fishing hole.
Alvarez, of rural Bridgewater, built the pond especially for
disabled children to have a place to fish. Saturday's event
was the inaugural fishing day at Alvarez's fishing hole, which
has become a nonprofit corporation - My Fishing Pond, Inc.
The pond has been therapeutic for Alvarez, who suffered a
brain injury in a car accident in 1994. The injury changed his
life both physically and emotionally.
"Being a hard rock miner I was too macho to give anybody
time," he said about his attitude prior to the accident.
"Having my injury has put me down to more of a caring mission.
It's opened up my heart real big when I see them catching
fish."
Alvarez had a lot of help building the pond from his wife, Dee
Ann, son, Trevor, and friends and neighbors, who were also on
hand Saturday to help with the event.
The Bridgewater man was delighted to see the reaction of his
friends as they worked with the students Saturday. It was
proof that people care and want to help others, he said.
The catch-and-release fishing event was also a success for
both the children and Alvarez.
"I didn't realize it was going to be this exciting," he said,
as he snapped photos of successful anglers.
Each time a fish was caught, applause and cheers sounded
across the yard.
As the day progressed, fishing skills improved, and the
children needed less help casting their lines from the
volunteers and Children's Care staff members who were on hand
to assist them.
The young anglers also quickly became adept at telling fish
stories.
"That was very good," said a boy named Tyler, after casting
his own line across the pond. "I threw it about 50 miles."
One student caught five fish before taking a break for lunch.
He planned to catch another six or seven before the day was
over.
"I've done it many years and I'm a real good fisherman," said
a boy named Chad, of Selby.
The Alvarezes chose largemouth bass as the primary fish for
the pond because it is a fun fish to catch.
"We wanted a fish that fights - gives you a good time, but
also survives the South Dakota weather," said Mrs. Alvarez.
Alvarez has stocked the pond twice since some of the first
fish were lost to winter kill. He said the project has been a
learning experience for his entire family, who enlisted the
help of fishing experts and biologists to learn the ins and
outs of maintaining a bass pond.
Staff members accompanying the Children's Care students were
pleased with the event.
"We try to do a lot of rec activities," said Rebecca Haas,
activities coordinator. "They don't get to go fishing very
often, so this is kind of neat. It's easily accessible."
The fishing pond has taken a lot of time and effort on the
part of the Alvarez family.
"I drive to Sioux Falls and work, and the minute I hit the
house John is (saying), 'We've got to do this,' (or) 'We've
got to get minnows,' " Mrs. Alvarez said.
But seeing the happy expressions on the students' faces made
it all worthwhile.
"It was worth every minute," she said.
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