September 15, 2015
by Scott Krieger

The Seaview Fishing Pier sponsors a year long fishing tournament for anglers. Varying by different species, a portion of the entry fees for each participant was donated to Military Appreciation Day, Inc. SeaView pier owner Greg Ludlum and his Son Tyler, have sponsored other Wounded Warrior fishing events in the past and were happy to be able to help. MAD volunteer Richard Phelps helped coordinate the tournament. The 2014 donated was $340 and Greg kicked in $60 more to even it out to $400! All goes straight to the event and taking these Active Duty Troops fishing, saying One, Simple, Thanks!

If you enjoy pier fishing like I do, make the trip up to North Topsail Island and go catching with them. They have a great staff, grill, and hotel onsite as well.

Make SeaView Pier your “go to” and tell Greg, Tyler and everyone you appreciate them helping in our mission to say

Greg Ludlum, Owner of Sea View Pier presenting a donation of $400 to MAD representative Richard Phelps

Grand Prize Winner Gordon Campbell who won two divisions plus a half day guided fishing trip with Capt. Bill Hamner of Fish On Charters. Mr. Campbell is holding his cash winnings and a trophy as the Grand Prize winner.

October 25th, 2014 Military Appreciation Day Inc, (MAD) received its largest cash donation to date at the Bistro by the Sea restaurant in Morehead City, NC. The Cape Lookout Shootout King Mackerel Tournament, held at the Boathouse Marina, in Beaufort N.C. has four separate fishing events.

Tournament founders Chad Shingleton, and Patrick Overstreet formed the event and chose Military Appreciation Day, Inc. as the beneficiary.

Chad Shingleton of the boat “Tide One On” has been a volunteer boat captain for Military Appreciation Day for numerous years, fishing with all branches of the Military at our Morehead City NC events. Both Chad and Patrick being avid king mackerel tournament fishermen, knew some of other fishermen who wanted a different style tournament, and added twists such as the “Team up” where boats can win cash prizes by lottery, and “Big Three” made the first season very successful indeed!

MAD volunteers worked at each tournament either helping to prepare and serve food at the Captain’s meetings, general help and cleanup. The day of weigh-ins volunteers helped to dock the boats who were weighing fish, and load the donated fish up on the fish buyer’s truck

The most heart touching part of the donations was the overall generosity of each of the winning boats. At the awards ceremony for the first leg of the four tournaments, Captain Mike Williams of the boat “Release” announced he wanted to donate $1,000 of his winnings back to MAD and his check was re-written on the spot! Captain Williams stated he was happy to do it and wanted to start what he hoped is a long standing tradition year after year.

After each one of the remaining three tournaments, the winning boat followed suit and, then again, and then once again at the championship! MAD also benefitted from the fish that were caught, all weighed fish become property of the tournament and were sold to a local fish market, proceeds from that were donated as well.

Representing the organization at the awards banquet were Mr. Don Gray, Morehead City Event President, John Polosky, one of the three founders of Military Appreciation Day. The donation check was $8,000 accepted by Scott Krieger, Chairman of The Board of Directors for Military Appreciation Day, Inc.

Military Appreciation Day Inc, is proud to “Join Forces” with the Cape Lookout Shootout King Mackerel Tournament, plans are already being discussed how the organization can further benefit the tournament next year at their Captains meetings dinners and weigh-ins.

Scott Krieger
Military Appreciation Day
www.militaryappreciationday.org

More information about Cape Lookout Shootout and photos available in the forum.

I now want to take time to THANK each and every one that helped and contributed to making MAD1 Lewes a success. To each committee member, volunteer boat Captains, general volunteers and our donors and supporters I THANK YOU for our great success in Delaware.

From Left to Right Jim Clark, Boat Committee; Hector Reyes, Chapter President;
Charlie Jerrell “CJ’, Food & Beverage Committee, Judy Mangini, Public Relations;
Christina Earns, Fundraising and Bill Baker, Jr. Chapter vice President.

“When we started planning for the very first Military Appreciation Day event back in 2006, we had a fairly simple idea. The idea was to find a way to thank some very amazing people for all they do for our country. We wanted to thank them for their personal sacrifice, for their dedication to keeping us safe and free and also to celebrate the accomplishments they have achieved. While the men and women of the United States Military are without question the most amazing force in the world, there is a unique parallel that after eight years of MAD is becoming more and more obvious. That realization is that our volunteers and donors are also an amazing force. Because of your hard work, generosity and support, Military Appreciation Day is now the largest, all volunteer “take our troops fishing” event in the world”.

“Without you, MAD could never accomplish our mission of One, Simple, THANKS! On behalf of the Board of Directors at Military Appreciation Day, Inc., and our volunteers all across the country, thank you for your support and for continuing to be a part of the MAD family!”

We are looking forward to our continued growth in the season to come.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS … GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Hector Reyes
Chapter President

October 26, 2014
By Chris Franks, President Southport NC Chapter, Military Appreciation Day

After a delay from September to October because of bad weather, MAD Southport/Oak Island is in the books.

The Captain’s Meeting on Friday October 17 went well for all of those attending. For the approximately 75 people that were there the food was great and the fellowship even better. The evening was made even better when it was found that Scott Ks’ grandson was able to come home.

The evening ended with a raffle for 2 custom gaffs made especially for MAD South. A big surprise for MAD was when Sam Edwards brought in 2 copper fish, 1 grouper and 1 king mackerel, that had been made by a local artist. He offered them for, as he said, “Since I am not going fishing, I had the money to do it”.

Saturday morning brought the troops to our door and captains ready to put them on the fish. It also brought a fairly stiff wind.

Our final tally for the morning was 40 boats and 76 troops. Far less that our records, but every one counts.

There were some last minute cancellations and some shuffling of troops onto other boats, but all of the troops that made it down were able to get out.

Those first few boats that made their way to fish off of Oak Island were met by some sporting conditions. Listening to the radio, and reports from later on, made it clear that any who ventured that way were in for a rough time. Many of the boats then made the trip up the Cape Fear River to Carolina Beach where the sea conditions were more favorable.

Once everyone was able to make it to their fishing locations, there were some mixed results. Some landed on a few fish while some had to work at it. All of the captains were giving it their all to put their troops onto the fish.

The fish that made it back to the docks were varied and there were many undersized fish released. All of those that I spoke to had plenty of opportunity to land fish and had a great time on the water.

Once the troops were back at Southport Marina, a meal of hamburgers and hotdogs was waiting. There was plenty for them to eat and the volunteers made sure that not a single troop went home less that stuffed.

While the postponement and weather made for a challenging event, all went very well. As usual we wish to give the troops One. Simple. Thanks. For all that they do and invite them back again for next years event.

Also none of this would not be possible without the support of ALL of our volunteers. Finally our great appreciation goes out to all of our supporting businesses.

 
Previously ….
Read more

Mission Accomplished!
As posted on Tidalfish.

The motto of Military Appreciation Day is “One. Simple. THANKS”. Our mission is to take active duty military personnel out for a day on the water to fish and hopefully catch, with a side benefit forging new friendships on the boats and at the feast after the fishing. So as stated: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I was completely spent when the day ended Saturday and did nothing but veg out yesterday after cleaning the boat and fighting the #*%^$ traffic to get back to Richmond. But I didn’t want to let another day go by without thanking all those who made the day possible.

After two consecutive Saturdays on the bay with flat calm seas it was no surprise to anyone that we had NE winds topping 15 kts to greet us on Saturday morning. However this would not deter the fantastic, dedicated group of captains and crew who volunteered their time, boats, fuel and bait to take the troops out. As covered in our pre-event Captains meeting safety was priority one and all boats fished and returned safely with no incidents worth noting.

The MAD armada of Captains is listed below with captain’s name, boat name, boat type and species caught:

Hector Reyes – Whatever – Carolina Skiff – Spot, Croaker
Mike Avery – Seaduction – Hydrasports – bluefish, sharks
Cliff Rowe – Mulch Man – Carolina Classic – flounder
Danny Forrest – Kate Lynn Dawn – Concorde – Guests Canceled
Patrick Boyle – Infection – Grady White – Spanish, bluefish
Steve Godin – Dach Of The Bay – Parker – bluefish, croaker
Ron Alexander – Blizzard – Angler – Spanish, bluefish
Jorge Rivera – Don Jaime – Parker – Bluefish, toads
Crosby Forrest – Old Forrester – Harkers Islander – Spanish, sharks, bluefish
Wayne Smith – Sarah Kay – Sea Hunt – Flounder, bluefish
Carmelo Tuzza – no name – Sundance – Bluefish, BSB, flounder
Mike Rendenna – Love & Luck – Phoenix – Croaker
Brian Adkins – no name – Albemarle – Flounder
Bret Wesson – no name – Maycraft – Croaker, spot
William Robbins – Gonzo – Sportcraft – Cobia (54″, 53 lbs)
Bob Jones – Gal-o-mine – Grady-White – Flounder
Jack Bartell – Reel Cool – Sea Pro – Sharks, bluefish, flounder

I’d ask each captain to individually thank their crews because if I tried listing them I’d miss some but they should know their efforts were appreciated. Without captains and crews there is no fishing and of course without supporters donating services and funds events such as this are simply not possible. The following is our list of supporters and if I’ve left anyone out, please forgive me:

Wallace’s Bait And Tackle
Virginia Air Distributors
Rudee Angler
Heritage Motor Company
Shurtape Technologies, LLC
Harry Eklof & Asso.
Fleming’s Awards & Promotions
American Legion Post 320
Wawa Store #699
Central Virginia Television
Somersaults Snack Company
Sea Tow Lower Chesapeake

All supporters received a very nice plaque which we hope they will proudly display in their respective places of business. Those businesses not represented Saturday will receive theirs shortly.

Special thanks go out to Irene and Randy at Wallace’s Bait and Tackle as they worked their butts off for the second year in a row to put out a fantastic feed.
Another special thanks to Sea Tow for covering all MAD boats during the event and thankfully we did not need to call them out but knowing they were there was a relief.
Another special thanks to Nancy Rodrigues and Michael Abley who made enough cake to feed 175 people and simply dropped them off as they had other commitments.
And while too numerous to list individually the number of volunteers who helped insure our guests were taken care of that day were fantastic. We had troops who came to do nothing more than help set up and break down. Others who helped insure the families were signed in and know where to go. We even had vendors who set up canopies, such as Homes For Heroes, not to sell anything but to insure the troops knew there are services available to assist them and their families.

Finally to all our troops and their families: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICES AND YOUR COUNTLESS SACRIFICES!

And on behalf of the Virginia Committee members I want to personally thank Scott, Bubba and Hector. Without their help and support our event would have been considerably less successful and organized. THANK YOU!!!!

With MAD9 Morehead City behind us, we turn our attention and resources to the Hampton VA Chapter for their second annual MAD event on August 23, 2014.

A Message to our Honored Guests

First of all, from all of us at MAD, THANK YOU for your service.

Each of you have signed up for the upcoming MAD event in Virginia and we are glad to have you on board. My name is Jack Bartell and it’s my job to assign our Military Participants to our Volunteer Boat Captains. You can expect an email from me with the information on your boat approximately 2 weeks prior to the event. Some of you have put things like “offshore fishing”, “bottom fishing” or “I would like to fish with…” in your notes. Fishing with friends is not an issue so all of those requests should be honored, as long as we can stay within the maximum number of guests on a particular boat. In Virginia we need to go 50 miles or more off the coast to get to the species targeted for offshore fishing. Given the time constraints of the event it’s not likely our captains will be going offshore but if any indicate they will make that run I’ll put those who asked for it in those boats.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind as our event gets closer:

If your situation changes and you can’t make the event, please make an effort to email or call me as quickly as possible. While we are constantly recruiting additional boat captains we may have more people sign up than we have spots on boats so if you can’t make it for any reason, please inform us right away so another of your deserving brothers or sisters in arms can use that spot.

Some of you have signed up additional guests to join us at the picnic while you are fishing. I will be emailing everyone about a week before the event asking you to reconfirm the count as we want to insure we have enough for everyone. We plan to have some on shore activities, so for those who will have family members coming early and staying for the picnic, if you could let us know the ages that would help us know what to prepare for.

Captains will be providing the boat, fuel, bait and tackle. You should plan to bring whatever food and drinks you’d want while on the boat. PLEASE REMEMBER: Some boat captains do not allow alcohol onboard. So if you’d like to bring along a couple of beers, this should be discussed with the captain in advance to avoid any issues on board. Also, bananas are considered bad luck on fishing boats so DO NOT bring any to the boat as most captains will insist you throw them overboard or you will be held personally responsible for every missed fish for the entire day.

Many of the captains will be launching from the public ramp near Wallace’s Bait and Tackle, 365 Dandy Point Rd, Hampton, VA 23664 (757) 851-5451. However some may leave from the marina where their vessels are normally kept. Your specific departure location and time will be included in the email I send when you are assigned to a boat.

Depending on the weather you might plan to bring rain gear (or a cheap $2 poncho from Wal-Mart). Wind and weather play a huge roll in where the captains will fish and for which species. Often that is a game day decision so you may not know the plan until the date of the event.

Depending on wind and your sea legs you might also want to have Dramamine or the motion sickness medicine of your choice. If you do get sick, don’t worry about it because it happens to the best of us. Just do it over the side, not in the boat … for two reasons. One, chum in the boat will do nothing to help the captain’s mood and two, chum in the water helps bring fish to the boat and that’s a good thing.

We have asked the boat captains to plan on having you back at Wallace’s Bait & Tackle by 3pm. We’ll have some great food and drinks and we’d like to thank all those involved with the event (sponsors, participants and boat captains). This will give everyone a chance to meet and talk about the day or brag about the fish they’ve caught (hopefully).

Because of the logistics in bringing together such a large group we do not have a rain date. If the wind is blowing most captains will bottom fish in protected areas. However, the safety of our guests, captains and crews is our #1 priority so if weather conditions demand a change, the MAD committee will make the decision as to whether we fish or limit our activities to a get-together and picnic. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen but if it does I’ll be emailing everyone involved and asking the boat captains to call those assigned to their boats.

The goal here is to have fun and thank you for your service. If we catch fish that will be a bonus, but keep in mind the captains are all volunteers so we only ask that you be courteous onboard because each will do their best to give you a good day on the water.

I’ll look forward to meeting you all on August 23rd but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or on my cell phone. So you can put a face to the name I’ve included a picture below. Of the two in the picture, I’m the one wearing glasses.

Jack Bartell

MAD Hampton Virginia Chapter
Boat Coordinator
madhampton.boatinfo@militaryappreciationday.org

A message to the volunteers of MAD 2 Hampton

Hello, my name is Bob Gohsler, and I am the MAD chapter president of Hampton Virginia, and I would like to personally thank each one of you for volunteering for this event.
This is our second annual event, and it is growing. We have troops signing up from as far as Jacksonville NC and as close as the Norfolk area.

This event was spawned off of the event that is held twice a year in North Carolina, and they have been doing this event since 2006 after 3 Marines were refused entry to a sports bar in Wilmington NC, on the sole purpose of them being Marines. Within a short amount of time, a small amount of money was raised and took a few Marines basically bar hopping in Wilmington, and even went to the same bar they were refused entrance to. After this, the same group of fishermen that found out about this on the local news decided to do something more, and a decent amount of boats went out for a day of fishing, and MAD was born.

There obviously is a lot more to this, but I just wanted to ‘hit the wickets’ so to speak. There is much more information on the website and there are facebook pages for the events in Delaware, North Carolina, and Virginia. A quick search on facebook will get you there.

This message is mainly about the volunteering aspect. The biggest thing we need help with in preparation for the event is getting the word out – to the troops, to the boat owners and to anyone else that would be interested in volunteering and/or donating. Donations can be whatever, whether it be tables, chairs, food, beverages, (non-alcoholic), giveaways, and of course money donations.

Money donations can be made in the form of mailed in check or using PayPal. See the Donations Page at the website.

I would like to know, before the event, what each person would like to do. During the event, we will need to set up early, and tear everything down afterwards. I will handle all boat check ins and serve as the Dock Master and may need help tying up boats as they come in. This is strictly a volunteer effort, and safety IS paramount. I’m an active duty Marine, and my main priority is safety. No one will expected to do anything they are not comfortable with.

A few things during the event will be a ‘shoot from the hip’ type of thing, but setup, tear down and cleanup will be the main jobs to be done.

So with that being said, let me know what you would like to do. Please, send me an email stating what you would like to do.

Thank you again for volunteering, and we have a great group of people helping out with this event. I truly am blessed to have the help I do, and without them, this would just be a dream.

Bob Gohsler
MAD Hampton Virginia Chapter President
madhampton@militaryappreciationday.org