There was something pretty cool that happened this weekend in the West Virginia fishing world that felt like it needed a little more attention than it got, so of course, I did some digging on it. Larry Parsons from Hurricane, West Virginia put on the Casting for Kids Kanawha River Bass Tournament out of the Frontier Ramp in Charleston, West Virginia. It was a benefit tournament that collected at least 20 dollars worth of toys or baby supplies per boat which would be donated back to The Heartbeat of the Valley in Scott Depot, WV. 

“My buddy Marvin Jeffrey had put on a similar event down at Bluestone Lake, so I figured why can’t we do that here?” said Larry Parsons. “I have the equipment, let’s make it happen. I had the permit within a few days and started getting the word out, I reached out to a few local churches and found a place to take all the toys and donations.”

Marvin Jeffrey’s event on Bluestone was a great success as well. I got to talk with Grant Ferguson about that event Marvin put on after it was over and he said those guys took a truckload of toys back to be donated. 

Larry’s event on the Kanawha River had six boats that all donated toys as well as some folks that stopped in to donate a bag full of toys their way to Summersville. Cliff Jones and Paul Bell won the derby with a total weight of 2.99 pounds. Closely in second place were Darren and Reed Elder who weighed in 2.87 pounds.

“We received approximately 30 toys and a few baby supplies and $270 in cash donations most of which were winnings from the tournament itself. All the toys were donated to the Heartbeat of the Valley and the rest of the cash proceeds will be sent to River Ridge Church where they will use it to help families during the holidays.”

Even though it was the first style of event Larry has put on, it was a great success and hopefully, in the upcoming years, it grows to be much larger.

“Thank you to everyone that shared this event and helped get the word out. Even with the smaller turnout, we were able to make Christmas a little better for some families in need. Special thanks to my wife Ashley as well for helping me run these tournaments.”

For next year’s Kanawha River Bass Tournaments schedule you can check it out here.