Urban fishing clinic celebrates connecting people with nature

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News from the region
Kansas City
Published Date
06/17/2013
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Kansas City, Mo. – The channel catfish were biting and participants were smiling on June14 at a Kids Fishing Derby sponsored by the Urban American Outdoors television show. The 8th annual derby at Spring Valley Park drew 240 children plus parents, grandparents and guardians, said Wayne Hubbard, the show’s host, and Candice Price, executive producer.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) stocked the catfish in the pond at East 28th Street and Spring Valley Drive.

“We have parents and grandparents here with their kids and there’s been a great deal of excitement,” Price said. “They’re catching a lot of fish and having fun.”

The event helps connect families with nature and introduces young people to fishing, she said.

But fishing at the park also builds family ties, said Mark O. Bowland, community services manager for the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department.

“These are the kind of memories they will think about over and over in their life,” Bowland said. “We have children catching their first fish with their dad or catching their first fish with their mom.”