Fishy fun at children's derby

AUGUSTA — The Sussex County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs held its annual Children’s Fishing Derby and breakfast/lunch on Saturday, May 18 from 9 a.m. until noon at the pond within the State Fair Grounds.

Seventy children, 15 years of age or younger and their parents attended. Prizes donated by local sporting goods businesses, the Sussex County Federation of Sportsmen’s Club and the Sussex County Conservation Foundation were given out to all participants.

The Boy Scout Troop 180 of Branchville sold food during the derby. Again, this year, participants brought cans of food for the “NORWESCAP” food program.

Sporting goods stores including: Andover Hunt & Fish, Garden State Bow & Reel, Simon-Peter Sports, Skylands Sports Shop, Stokes Forest Sports Shop, Wal-Mart – Franklin, NJ and Mastodon Ammo all made donations.

The age group first place winners, for the longest fish, were: one to three year olds – Colin Empiro, four to six year olds – Cooper, seven to nine year olds – Kayla Bak, 10 to 12 year olds – Ryan Turkington, and 13 to 15 year olds – Lizzy Van Horn.

The remaining prize winners, in the age categories above were: Mia Cosh, Mike White, Chance; Aiden McClain, Kyra Bohmann, Mike Pirrello; Katrina Whitehead, Wayne Oliver, Harley Dykstra; Joshua Langley, Susanna Saragusa, Jacqueline Slate; and Shannon Turkington, Ryan Oleksy, Sean Van Horn.