Posted on 05/01/2003 8:39:48 AM PDT by eyespysomething
Tournament to fund military scholarship Money raised in fishing competition will go to children of soldiers who died in Iraq By Rob Peecher Telegraph Staff Writer
MILLEDGEVILLE -Before the statues of the former dictator came crashing down in Baghdad, Comer Gheesling had decided he wanted to do something for the soldiers fighting in Iraq.
He wanted to show his appreciation, but particularly he wanted to do something for the families of those soldiers who lost their lives. So Gheesling decided the best thing to do was go fishing.
Gheesling, who owns Little River Park on Lake Sinclair, hosts bass-fishing tournaments just about every weekend. The fishing tournaments usually bring as few as 60 boats or as many as 200. Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 21, Gheesling is going to host a bass tournament - "Fishermen for America" - that he said would raise a minimum of $40,000.
"We're donating the money to a scholarship fund in the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq," Gheesling said. "It will guarantee their kids - when they get college-age - they'll be able to go to college."
The money is being donated to the Fort Stewart Military Scholarship Fund and will go to the children of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division who lost their lives fighting in Iraq. Dee Haas is chairwoman of the fund at Fort Stewart in Hinesville. The fund is set up for the spouses and children of soldiers working out of Fort Stewart, but Haas said the money raised by the bass tournament will go to the children of soldiers killed.
"However it all ends up, our fund will incorporate their wishes for how this will be done," Haas said.
The money Gheesling said the tournament will raise is significantly more than is typically in the fund, Haas said. This year, the fund gave out 32 scholarships totaling $16,400 - a little less than in previous years.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted," Haas said of when she first heard about the tournament. "These are patriotic Americans who felt like they needed to reach out and do something. Who better to touch than those kids?"
The entrance fee for the tournament is $200. Some of that money will be paid back to the fishermen in prize money, and the rest will go directly to the fund.
In addition to the tournament, Gheesling will hold a raffle June 21. He is accepting donations of items from area businesses to be raffled. The money from the raffle will go to the scholarship fund.
He will also sell hotdogs and hamburgers the day of the tournament and is accepting donations of food and drinks to be sold - again, the money goes to the fund.
"I'm not a real big fan of raising money," Gheesling said. "I don't like giving my money unless I know exactly where it's going."
Within a week and a half of deciding to host a benefit tournament for soldiers, Gheesling already had committees coordinating with Fort Stewart, securing donations for the raffle and donations for the scholarship, printing brochures and raffle tickets and preparing for the tournament.
He's still working to get an area radio station to have a live remote at the tournament so people at home or on the road can call in donations. Alltel has donated a five-line phone bank to accept calls June 21.
"The response has been great," Gheesling said. "I've had people say even if they're not going to fish, they'll still send in the $200 entrance fee. I was looking for a building to store the (raffle) prizes, and somebody gave us a building to store the prizes and to give away. It's the last thing we're going to raffle. We've got two hunting rifles, some fishing poles and $300 worth of golf packages - and we ain't really tried."
Gheesling is encouraging even those who won't fish to come to Little River Park on U.S. 441 on June 21.
Parking will be provided at Georgia Power's Plant Harley Branch across from Little River Park, and a local day care has agreed to allow Gheesling to use two vans to shuttle people between the parking lot and the park.
Donations are being accepted at P.O. Box 2486, Gray, Ga., 31032. Checks should be made payable to the Fort Stewart Military Scholarship Fund.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To contact Rob Peecher, call (706) 485-3987 or e-mail rpeecher@communicomm.com.
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