“A lot of happy faces”
That’s what longtime Gilroy-based Fishability Day volunteer Gabe Nino had to say about reeling in smiles for developmentally disabled future fishermen during the annual Fishability Day.
Hilltop Springs Ranch was brimming with smiles on May 3 as Gilroy Sportsman Chef Club members, City of Gilroy Adaptive Recreation Program and ranch owners Dan and Lynne Vogt kept lines tight by helping lure in lunkers for participants.
“It was bigger and better,” Nino said. “Probably our best event ever.”
Five-hundred-plus pounds of freshly-stocked rainbow trout for the event in a ranch pond provided fish aplenty. Landing the 160 fish caught weighing in at one-and-a-half to two pounds apiece were a handful of volunteers like Nino and Sandra Sammut of the city of Gilroy Recreation Department.
“This event would not be possible without the organization and hard work of the Sportsman Club,” Sammut said.
More than 125 developmentally disabled participants from the Adaptive Recreation Program attended the event, which concluded with a barbecue with all the fixins.
Even for participants who opted not to bait their chances at a catch-of-the-day, camaraderie abounded amongst participants and the 40-plus volunteers and walk-ins who made it all happen including cleaning the fish and prepping them for take-home fish frys, according to Nino.
“Even participants that don’t want to fish—they’re rooting on their friends,” Nino said.
The event would not have been made possible without generosity of the Vogt family in hosting us on this great day of fishing, volunteers and sponsors, organizers said.
More volunteering
Gilroy Sportsman Chef Club remains active, according to Nino. Fishability Day is the club’s biggest event, but club members also volunteer at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Gilroy Home Show and Assistance League, among other projects.
