CROOKSTON – Last weekend’s inaugural Get Kids Outdoors ice fishing excursion on Island Lake near Lengby, Minnesota, was a huge success, organizers said, and plans are in the works for a second annual event next year .
The event is organized by Get Kids Outdoors-Adam Parnow Memorial Inc., a nonprofit named for Adam Parnow, 39, a Crookston outdoors enthusiast who died in a spray plane crash on June 27, 2023. The family founded the nonprofit as a way to carry on Adam’s name and legacy.
According to Adam’s father, Fred Parnow, about 40 children participated in the Get Kids Outdoors fishing excursion on Saturday afternoon, Feb. various settings, from sitting in 5-gallon buckets to fishing in the deluxe comfort of a wheelhouse.
The volunteers, of which there were about 20 in all, used ATVs and sidecars to transport the children from the public access to the fish houses about half a mile away, Parnow said.
“Everything went well,” he said. “The children are totally engaged. They look up to the volunteers, the mentors, the people who teach them in the houses. They had the opportunity to be in flip-over houses, hub houses, sitting by the campfire and catching fish and experienced being in the wheelhouse watching fish on the big screen TV.
Contributed / Fred Parnow
“That’s pretty amazing. Those kids were just focused all day, and it was an absolutely fun day for everyone.”
In addition, nine students from the University of Minnesota Crookston’s Natural Resources Club provided a “Classroom on Wheels” on the bus trip to the lake, sharing their knowledge of various outdoor skills, from knot-tying to fish identification and aquatic invasives. kind of animal.
Contributed / Fred Parnow
“I think all the kids had a great time,” said Fred Parnow. “It was really fun when the day started. These kids are just focused. That bus was as quiet as a mouse. they are all engaged. The kids are just so much fun to watch.”
The fishing wasn’t fast and furious, Parnow said, which is often the case when fishing in the middle of the day, but all of the young participants caught a few fish.
“Actually, a few northerns were caught, (and) a lot landed, during the day,” Parnow said. “Someone actually caught a walleye, which I don’t think is very common in that lake.”
Contributed / Fred Parnow
After the event, Parnow received a letter of thanks from one parent that pretty much summed up why the family formed the nonprofit and organized the fishing excursion in the first place.
“My son … just came home from your event at Island lake with a bucket full of fishing gear and lots of excitement about fishing,” the parent wrote. “I can’t tell you what it means to me that you did this. … It brought tears to my eyes that so many people came together to pass this passion on to the kids and my son came home asking when we were going to be on the ice next.
“Bless you sir! What a wonderful way to honor your son.”
Contributed / Fred Parnow
According to Parnow, the Get Kids Outdoors-Adam Parnow Memorial nonprofit just learned that it received a $5,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources through the DNR’s “No Child Left Inside” program. The nonprofit will use the grant to fund the children’s fishing trip next summer to Maple Lake near Mentor, Minnesota, Parnow said.
getkidsoutdoorsmn.org.
