Teresa Hathaway, Coordinator, Annual Phil Hathaway ALS Fishing Tournament
The third annual Phil Hathaway ALS Fishing Tournament was held in Central, IL this summer. Teresa Hathaway, widow of Phil, shared with us about this year’s tournament.
This was the first year that Phillip wasn’t with us in body. In spirit he was everywhere. He looked so forward to this event every year. The fishermen were catching fish all over the place with a little heavenly help. Another standout moment was Phillip’s kids and grandkids making a special trip from Georgia to help keep their Dads’ spirit alive.
This was our 3rd year for the tournament so word of mouth helped us grow. It is an on-your-honor tournament, entry fees are reasonable and the prizes are phenomenal thanks to our sponsors. The event was scheduled a little earlier in the summer this year. We provided a few more boats for the fishermen that didn’t have the luxury of having their own. We put fliers everywhere we could and even had the event announced on a local radio station.
There are so many people that helped contribute to this event. But the one that comes to the top of my list is Tracy Fairchild. He is the one that organized and put all of this together right after we found out about Phillip’s diagnosis. He spends many hours every year getting sponsors, scheduling, and coordinating this event. His right hand men are Rick Voyles and Bobby Meyer. Not only do they help get donations and sponsors, they help setup and tear down the day-of. That means being at Tracy’s to move boats at 4:30 in the morning. Another couple to mention are Joe and Paula Boyd. They pick up all the food for the event. That is making sure that it is there when the first fishermen come up from the lake to get their fish weighed. It takes a big team to keep this going.
Participants help contribute by spreading the word and inviting friends and family to participate. Most of the money raised is from the entry fees for the tournament. Most of the participants donate three or four times what it cost to fish and some don’t even fish, just donate.
Even though Phillip wasn’t there in body he was there in spirit. We had a separate trophy table this year with his picture with his great big smile on it. We made sure to have his picture in all the group pictures we took. People shared a lot of little stories about Phillip that made everyone chuckle or even brought a tear to your eye. Phil’s kids and grandkids fished in the tournament with his prized fishing poles thanks to Todd Leach.
We are so blessed to have the sponsors that we do. Our sponsors never hesitate to help. Their question is ‘What do you need and when?”
- Steve Dively – Lee’s Famous Recipe provides lunch for everyone there.
- Marvin Clemens – AutoZone is always very generous and makes sure that everyone will be covered to have a prize from this event.
- Luke Moore – PAR Electric (Phil’s last employment) has sent a Yeti Cooler as 1st prize for the last three years.
- Niemann Ace Hardware Champaign – has provided a Yeti Cooler for 2nd prize for the last two years.
- Niemann Ace Hardware Champaign – has provided Yeti Cups for 3rd prize for the last three years.
Those just name a few but we have so many more that have made a huge impact on this event and we are thankful for every one of them.
It’s our biggest wish to help find a cure for ALS. Until then, we plan to make this event bigger and better every year. We want to raise more money and make people more aware of ALS. Maybe someday we will be on the calendar of the Bass Pro circuit.