PVA BASS Tournament
The Vaughn Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America contacted the Outdoorsmen Club several years ago looking for assistance with hosting a BASS sanctioned Bass Tournament on Rend Lake. Tournament teams are made up of a boating partner or captain (usually an local, able bodied angler) and the non-boating partner (usually a member of the PVA). The Saturday event is designed for the captain to take the non-boating partner out and "guiding" him/her to fish. The non-boating partner is the only one fishing on the first day. The non-boating partner competes for cash, prizes and tournament trail points. Captains win prize packages which increase in value the higher their partner places. Sunday fishing is a true team event with both anglers contributing to the catch. Sunday teams compete for prize packages of cash and merchandise.
The Outdoorsmen Club places volunteers through out the event as the day begins at 4:00 AM. Members assist in traffic flow, parking, boat launching, meal and water loading, and relocating wheelchairs from the participant loading area. Prior to weigh-in, members prepare for the anglers to come off the water, boat loading and distribution of comfort items and materials needed for the weigh-in. Outdoorsmen make-up roughly 50% of the volunteers needed to run this event.