Casting Lines and Building Community: Brown Faces Green Spaces and Lake County Parks Bring Families Together for Fishing Derby

Lake County locals took to the water on Saturday, August 22, eager to cast lines, learn the basics of fishing and enjoy an afternoon outdoors together. Families gathered for a community fishing derby co-hosted and co-organized by Brown Faces Green Spaces (BFGS) and the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department.

The collaboration brought families together for a sunny afternoon of fishing, with loaner rods and equipment available for participants who wanted to give fishing a try.

The partnership is a major organizational milestone as it is the first fishing event held outside of Gary for BFGS.

“Brown Faces Green Spaces holds fishing clinics three to four times a season. We’ve done fishing clinics throughout Gary, and when the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department reached out and said, ‘What do you think about doing a fishing derby in one of the county parks?’ I said, ‘Absolutely, yes,’” said Kimmie Gordon, founder and executive director of BFGS.

Faught believes the partnership has been great, with smooth communication and a work relationship between herself and Gordon. Together, Faught and Gordon, alongside another employee Elizabeth, baited hooks and prepared loner rods for derby-goers to borrow before lining each into pole holders to keep attendees properly spaced out.

Anyone who needed assistance or had never thrown a line before was in good company with Faught, who has experience fishing and was available to assist if needed, alongside Elizabeth and Gordon.

“I fish a lot, and I can help the kids learn to tie knots, bait their hooks, or with anything else they might need. Kimmie is also available to help,” Faught said.

Lake County fishing enthusiasts still have time to drop into an event and cast a line despite the derby being over, as Faught considers late spring and early fall to be the ideal seasons for snagging the perfect catch.

While spring may be over, autumn is just beginning. The water has begun cooling off, and the fish are ready to fatten up to prepare for the dormant winter ahead.

The Lake County Parks and Recreation Department will also continue working with the Friends of Fishing, and hope to partner with BFGS further in the future.

“We are going to continue to work with the Friends of Fishing from year to year, as long as they want to continue to come here,” Faught said. “We’d love to keep having fishing derbies with Brown Faces Green Spaces whenever we have the chance.”

Gordon is similarly interested in continuing the partnership with the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department.

“I foresee us doing more events together,” Gordon said. “There’s always something creative happening with the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, and I see it just expanding.”

The Lake County Parks and Recreation Department and BFGS have encouraged the community to immerse themselves more with nature. Both organizations have a shared goal: get together and get outside.

“We’ve been through something so tremendous and tragic with the storm that came through this area, but out of all the hardship, there is always one place we can go for respite, and that’s nature,” Gordon said. “We let nature do some healing from some of the damage it caused this past week, and it’s always going to be around.”

Sharing green spaces is something every member of all communities can benefit from. The Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, as well as BFGS, hopes the people it serves will benefit both physically and mentally from time spent outdoors – whether it be fishing at the parks or in your own backyard.

To find more events or learn more about the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, visit its website at lakecountyparks.com.

For more information on Brown Faces Green Spaces, visit its website at brownfacesgreenspaces.org.