In October of 2004 my husband, Kevin was enjoying a day of walleye fishing at Lewis and Clarke Lake in Crofton, NE.  Somehow on this fateful day Kevin was thrown from his boat and accidentally drowned. A successful young man in the prime of his life, who loved the outdoors was gone from us as a husband, father, brother, son and friend. It was a very devastating and heartbreaking time in our lives.  In our grief and time of mourning I came up with the idea of a memorial fishing tournament to honor him and establish scholarships in his name at our alma mater, Wayne High School, in Wayne, NE.

 

We held our first tournament in 2005 hosting over 65 two person teams.  We offer cash prizes for our top three teams bringing in the heaviest walleye catch of the day, and a cash prize for the largest walleye and non-walleye species.   We host a banquet at CJ’s on the Lake where the trophies and cash awards are presented following the weigh in. There we have multiple raffle prizes displayed for our fund raising portion of the event. Tickets are sold for premium raffles and we have silent auction items to bid on. 

 

In the past 18 years of hosting this event we have had over 900 fishermen and women participate in our tournament and have raised over $182,000.00 which has been donated to the Wayne Community Schools Foundation for scholarships in his name, as well as awards for the outstanding student in the building and technology department.