‘This day is just to make them happy' (with PHOTO GALLERY)

It was Saturday morning and the instructions for the day were simple: No 1: Be as happy as you can all day and No. 2: Catch fish.

Bob Wilder, president of the board of directors for the Larry Hatchett Fishing Foundation, stood on the floating dock behind AJ’s and delivered the words to 172 young people sitting on the bleachers nearby who woke up with the sun, Krispy Kreme donuts, Cracker Barrel biscuits, milk and juice.

Michael Liles of Destin was a volunteer for the breakfast crowd as he has been for many years.

“I love the look these kids have by the time they get on those boats,” he says. “By the time they step onto those boats they know that this is all about them — this day is just to make them happy.”

The Larry Hatchett Fishing Foundation was formed in memory of Hatchett, an avid fisherman who loved the October Destin Fishing Rodeo and died an early and unexpected death. His mother, Carmen, and friends formed the foundation to further his enjoyment for teaching underprivileged children the sport of fishing. This is their 18th year and children come from Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

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For a photo gallery from the day, click here.

Check out the Rodeo Rap, The Log's daily look at what's biting on the Docks during the city's annual fishing tournament. Click here.

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Lee Smith, Mike Dangerfield and Mike James are all members of the Destin Fire Control District’s Beach Safety Patrol, but today they are volunteering to make a difference in these young lives.

“This is my first year to do this,” says Smith. “But I’m so glad I’m here. There are so many kids, and we’re going to help them have a fun fishing day!”

An adorable 7-year-old little boy with big brown eyes says, “I live in Alabama and If my Dad gets a job and gets a new house and gets a car that we can all ride in — he’s gonna come back and get me and her and her,” he says pointing to his two sisters ages 5 and 4.

His foster mother explains that she has had the three siblings for the past three years and that when they came to her he did not know his alphabet, his numbers, or his colors and was about to go into kindergarten. She smiles and braces herself on the boat’s railing in the choppy seas and explains that he now reads and writes and loves math in school, and that he is a “straight A” student, in spite of his situation.

Another child who has been in and out of hospitals is holding the railing and peering into the waves when a dolphin jumps a few feet from the boat. He jumps for joy and shouts for the others to “LOOK!”

Capt. Jim Green, of the New Florida Girl’s American Spirit, slows the boat so that all the children can watch the antics of the fish.

The children are as young as 4 and as old as 17, and the chaperones have lots of stories of economic misfortune driving the children into foster home facilities or unspeakable tales of abuse.

A pair of sisters dressed in Larry Hatchett T-shirts look as if the ride is a little rough on their stomachs, but they keep their eyes on the rod and reel in front of them.

“They said that we are gonna catch a mess of fish today,” one says with a front-toothless grin.

The crew and volunteers assist with bait and hooks and the kids are ready to begin. No sooner do they cast out when, “I caught one!” a little boy squeals. “He’s 1,500 feet long!”

Capt Green, meanwhile, let the kids try their hand at “driving” the boat.

Jim and Marie Marchetti from the Baptist Children’s Home in Mobile, Ala., have been bringing their foster children to the Foundation’s fishing trip since its inception.  Marie shares one of the many heart-touching stories of the day.

“One of our foster sons was in his early teens and could not wait for this event every year!” she said.

“He went on to get a sociology degree and works in the children’s home now, and he has a beautiful family with two little girls, and he and his wife are expecting their third early next year,” she continues.

“He met his mother who abandoned him early in life just before her death — not only did he forgive her for discarding him, he led her to Christ just before she died. He is an extraordinary person and he came out of this system.”

It’s well after 3 in the afternoon when the two boats ease back into their places on the harbor. The children are tired and yet their faces are as satisfied as possible. Because today was their day and this is their moment to shine.

Bruce Cheves, the Rodeo’s weighmaster, applauds the kids as they arrive with their bounty. He ribs the kids about those who were sick on the rough and windy water. He weighs in some of their fish and lines them up for pictures with Miss Destin Leah Stuart, and the crowds applaud their success.

Then Bruce looks up at the clouds and points upward and says, “Larry, you done good buddy. This day was for you!”

Rebecca Hyde, who is 14 and from Mississippi, caught a 10.4-pound triggerfish about 11 miles off shore aboard Capt. Jim Westbrook’s New Florida Girl.

Westbrook and Foundation Board member and volunteer Jim Roberson, from the International Game Fish Association, are researching the world record as they believe that she may have caught a new one. She led the leaderboard on Saturday night in the youth division, party boat.

She also received a trophy for the largest fish caught this year.

T.J. Carr of Jacksonville, Ala., took the trophy for the most fish caught — 19!  It was his first fishing trip of his 10-year-old life.

A buffet dinner of fried fish, French fries, hush puppies, cole slaw, tea and cake awaited the hungry anglers. AJ’s prepared their fish and set up for the awards ceremony where each child received a trophy and their own new rod and reel to take home. The Fishing Rodeo gives each child a certificate as well.

“Fish Flordia!” the specialty license plate option that shows a marlin in the center of the tag gave the Foundation a grant this year that completely paid for the two boats, and the Foundation hopes that partnership will continue.

“This is phenomenal,” says Bob Wilder. “I just wish Larry was here to enjoy this every year; he would have been all smiles and I would have stood beside him and watched him love every bait-hooking minute of this.”

The group is building on this year’s success.

Bonnie Orr of Destin was a long-time volunteer with the Foundation and a member of their Board of Directors. She died earlier this year and to memorialize her they are setting up the Bonnie Orr Scholarship for 2009’s Fishing Rodeo. A $500 scholarship will be awarded based on a winning composition written by any Destin Fishing Rodeo Youth Division participant.

The Foundation receives thank-you notes for weeks after the trip.

A scrapbook holds the years in pictures, Rodeo program books, and the letters — some written in pencil with eraser holes on the mis-spelled words, some are color crayon artworks.

One stands out as summing up the day: it’s blue and green water that meets a sky blue crayon line. A boat fills up the rest of the page and it is overflowing with smiling children’s faces, all holding fishing poles with J-shaped hooks on the end of each one.