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PVA holds 21st bass tourney

By For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read
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The Keystone Chapter (Pittsburgh) of the Paralyzed Veterans Veterans of America (PVA) and Greene County Outcast Bass Club (OBC) held their 21st team bass fishing tournament on Sept. 9.

The tournament was held with the cooperation of the Brownsville American Legion, Post 904, which provided the boat launching marina for the tournament.

Also, contributing to the success of the fishing tournament is the generous contributions made by Tom Landish of Monongahela through the Tom Landish Fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation. Landish died in 2022 and the Chapter extended condolences to the Landish family and expressed its appreciation for his generosity. For many years Landish was one of the boat captains in the tournament and volunteered his bass boat for veterans to use.

The Chapter said Landish will be remembered by the PVA and OBC participants and his legacy will live on through the Pittsburgh Foundation.

As can be expected for the fishing event, the weather was an important factor. Because of a serious rain storm occurring with thunder and lightening at the meeting time of 5:30 a.m. The rain storm resulted in a one hour delay, until the storm discontinued, before the veterans could be loaded onto the boats.

As the day progressed, the weather conditions dramatically improved to being excellent for fishing with the river being clear and calm. Also, the Monongahela River is proving to be an excellent river for fishing because of an abundance of a variety of fish.

A total of $1,500 in prize money was awarded to boat captains and the disabled angler team member. The top prize is $500 with the winners being determined by the combined weight of the live catch of each team. The top seven teams are as follow with the name of the boat captain first, his veteran teammate, and the weight of their catch:

1. Larry Freeman of Waynesburg, President of the OBC and co-organizer for the tournament and veteran John Kellner of Ford City with a live catch of 7.28 pounds. Larry also finished in first place for catching the largest fish.

2. Bill Kronander from Brownsville and veteran Jorden Jones from Grindstone with a live catch of 5.86 pounds.

3. Mason Long from Waynesburg and veteran Jim Moore from Houston, live catch of 4.46 pounds.

4. Luke Pecjak from Mt. Morris and veteran Sean Ferry from Erie, live catch of 2.67 pounds.

5. Steve Shawley from Waynesburg with veterans Domonic Dorazio of Houston and Frank Steck from Smock, live catch of 1.62 pounds.

6. Scott Novak from Hopwood and veteran Mark Rosensteel, Keystone PVA Chapter President from Apollo, live catch of 1.62 pounds.

7. Phillip Richardson from Holbrook with veteran Tom Strang from Canonsburg, live catch of .76 pounds. Tom is the PVA Associate Sports Director and co-organizer for the PVA/OBC fishing tournaments.

The OBC members provided the bass boats and boat captains; several of the disabled anglers are paralyzed veterans, who enjoy the therapeutic opportunity to fish from a boat on the Monongahela River.

The Chapter lauded the participation of the PVA members and the support of the OBC boat captains. Boat captains Larry Freeman and Bill Kronander are both active duty U.S. Army veterans and use this fishing opportunity to honor the PVA veterans.

The focus and mission of the Paralyzed Veterans of America is to improve the quality of life for paralyzed veterans by advocating for quality health care, continued medical research, providing educational assist and opportunity for disabled veterans to receive the benefits that they are entitled to, seek to remove architectural barriers, and to provide sport programs.

The sporting programs also include white tail deer and pheasant hunting, bass and trout fishing with Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc., air rifle competition, wheelchair games such as basketball, bowling, swimming, plus, track and field events.

Veterans who experience a spinal cord injury or suffer from a spinal cord disease are eligible to join the PVA, Keystone Chapter and are encouraged to telephone the chapter office at 800-775-9323 or 412-781-2474. There are no dues or fees for veterans with a spinal cord injury or spinal cord disease; non veterans or veterans without a disability have a annual membership fee of $25.

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