Smiles
stretching miles. Loads of laughter. Eager
seaside chatter. Shouts of "Wow - Look at
`em all!" "Come on, come on - closer, closer."
"Eeeeee - I got one!" Yes, this is a scene
from the prestigious USVI Open/ABMT, but the
locale isn't the infamous North Drop. While
the big boys are after 1,000-pound-plus blue
marlin, it's the junior anglers who cast their
handlines for lightweight creatures of the
deep at the annual Vitel Cellular Boy Scout
Handline Tournament.
Nineteen-ninety
nine marks the 12th that Vitelcellular - a
locally owned cellular telephone company serving
the Virgin Islands and its surrounding waters
- has been a major sponsor in the ABMT. It
is the 11th year in which the company has
been keeping in touch with the community by
sponsoring the junior angler's handline tournament.
Ask any of the over 350 juniors who fished
the event last year and they'll vouch that
the tournament provided a fun-filled day of
fishing that their whole family - tots to
teens - enjoyed.
ON
YOUR MARK, GET SET . . .
The
air of excitement for this year's event will
start blowing down at the marina around 11:30
AM Sunday August 22, when registration begin.
Any boy or girl, scout or non-scout, under
age 17, can enter the Vitelcellular Boy Scout
Handline Tournament. There's
| 
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| A couple of scouts
enjoy the handline
tournament.
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no
fee to register and all entrants receive free
Vitel Cellular T-Shirts and `Goody Bags.'
Complimentary pizza and drinks come after
the fishing. Kid's are provided with handlines
and bait for fishing.
GO!
At
noon, junior anglers can start reeling those
fish in. Largest Fish, Most Fish, Smallest
Fish, Ugliest Fish, Longest Fish, Cutest Fish
(No jelly fish, please!) - all win kids great
prizes like a half-day trip on a local sports
fishing boat, rods and reels and gift certificates
from favorite Virgin Islands businesses. Judging
will be thanks to folks from the Department
of Fish & Wildlife. All proceeds from
the event benefit the V. I. Council, Boy Scouts
of America.
