Team 57 Legacy Continues - No Family Left Behind - UPDATED!!

[NachoFish]

I put a lot of thought into how Team 57 could pull off a charity event. One that would start a tradition, allow our members to do what they do best, and one that our members could be proud of. I asked all of you for your help, made some phone calls, and WE, as a team, made that happen! This really couldn't have been accomplished without a "team" effort. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the Team 57 members for making this our best event ever. Not only did we have 200 members show up we went above and beyond with 204 people checked in and enjoying the day with us. Great Job...You all make this possible!

Grab a cup of coffee, or a beer, because I have a few people to thank before I can get to all the pictures of this incredible day. One I will never forget.

The first call I made was to Craig Elliott of Santa Ana River Lakes. Discussed with him what I had in mind and the ball was set in motion. From that very first call Craig worked hard with me to make this become a reality. Sending out emails and posting up flyers. Setting out collection boxes at SARL and Corona Lakes and even offering discount coupons to anyone that made a donation prior to the event. Thank you Craig and and everyone at SARL and Corona for all your help and your continued support of Team 57 over the years. This was a great experience and couldn't have been pulled off so smoothly without all of your hard work. Everything was was set up when we arrived and having that bbq lunch for our hungry members was the icing on the cake.

Craig, you are truly one of the most patient, nicest, selfless people I've ever known. You have been very supportive of me personally these last couple of months and that is something I will always be grateful for. You spent the ENTIRE day of the event walking or driving the lake. Talking with the Team 57 members and even helped people get on some fish. You MC'd our raffle and even donated some pontoon and boat rentals as raffle prizes. I look forward to working with you on future events and I'm very proud to call you my friend.

SCCA and Amaysing Fishing - The next call I made was to Keith from SCCA to see if he wanted to pair up and help put this event together. I didn't even have to explain all the details.....Keith wanted to be part of it. Before I knew it Willy from Amaysing Fishing contacted me and had made a flyer and had already started collecting donations for the event. Thank you Keith, Willy and your entire group. Always willing to step up and help out. The amount of food and clothing you donated left me speechless. I wish I had had more time Sunday to spend talking with you all but I'm sure this won't be the last time we meet up. The gift basket SCCA donated is always a favorite with the members and was packed FULL of great things. Amaysing fishing also went above and beyond with their raffle donations: Amaysing rod holders, t-shirts, and xxx blood dip bait. Kudos!

Erica (Tater) - Thank you for taking all the suggestions and doing the research to help find the organization that we could do this event for. Doing all that leg work helped out immensely. Thank you for also freezing your butt off while helping me check in members and hand out shirts.

Rich (Sansou) Thank you for hanging out and helping me with the straggler check ins while I ran back and forth to the lake. Thank you especially for letting one of the Eli Home families use one of your set ups. Very cool sir! Thank you for all your sound advice and good ideas. This event would not have come to pass without you and I bouncing ideas off each other.

Greg Madrigal: Thank you Greg for keeping me laughing all day, helping with the raffle, and running down my phone battery because you are now addicted to the fishing game on my phone. I always have a great time hanging out with you.

Patrick (Troutman65): Thank you Patrick for donating knife sets for our raffle. It is greatly appreciated.

Mark (Hometown): Thank you Mark for the raffle donations. I know there was a nice fishing rod and something else. Sorry....I'm getting old but thank you very much!

Craig called me the night before the event and let me know that some of the families from the Eli Home would be coming to our event. He asked if I could get in contact with a couple of the 57 guys and ask them if they could take these families under their wing and help get their kids on some fish. Right away I spoke with Dr. Hook, Pontoon, and CatchThatTrout. They all agreed and definitely didn't let me down. There were 2 Mom's I especially remember. Marta had a young son and daughter and was looking forward to spending the day watching her kids learn to fish. I jumped in her car and drove her straight over to where Tony (CatchThatTrout), his grandson Isiah, and Simone were fishing and he was more than happy to help her two kids, Edu and Nikki. Before long Isiah had a new friend and the kids were catching fish.




Tony (CatchThatTrout): Tony, thank you so very much for everything you always do to help out. When the gates opened, you were there to hand out wrist bands and lunch tickets, gave your time graciously to helping out Marta and her children, and did a great job getting the raffle prizes out to be raffled off. You amaze me every time we get together.

Terry (Pontoon): Over this past year you have become one of my best friends. Always willing to help out any way you can and always making sure I am doing ok. There is a reason you are one of the original Legends. There isn't a day that goes by where you don't live up to that title. The next Eli family that showed up had a little trouble finding a spot to fish. I called Terry from the front gate and asked if he could take a Mom and her 3 sons under his wing and teach them how to fish. Terry was more than willing to help out these young boys, Adrian, Marcos, and Jonathan. While in the car with this family on the way back to Chris' Pond I promised the Mom her boys would catch fish. Pontoon, along with help from Trollmeister and Flyngby, didn't let me down. Flyingby was the first to get a bite on his pole and handed it off to Adrian. The smile on his face made my whole day. Soon, his 2 brothers followed suit. By the way........these boys cleaned up at the raffle. Terry, good things happen to good people and I truly believe karma paid you back today. Pontoon was the winner of our 50/50 raffle sponsored by Lip RipperZ. $290.50 winning ticket. Congrats Pontoon!!




Steve (Flyngby): Steve, thank you for being the "official" Team 57 photographer for the day and helping Pontoon with the 3 boys so they could each pull in a fish.


Trolly: Thank you for always keeping us entertained. Thank you for breakfast early that morning. Thank you for running around in your clown head and making us all laugh. Thank you for helping to teach those boys to fish. You are one of a kind and I'm so glad I know you.


Once the event was announced and set in motion I had sponsors contacting ME wanting to help out and donate to the raffle. They either read about it here on FNN or spoke with Craig at the lake and he told them about it. I was thinking, this just keeps getting better. I would like to thank the following sponsors for their help and support - putting smiles on lots of members faces:

Fishing Legend: Kerry, thank you for the fish hook removers, decals, and t-shirts and for also driving me back and forth to the front gate. Sorry your wife was not feeling well and I hope to meet her real soon!

Big Fish Tackle: Donated 13, very nice, trout rods. Thank you Bobby!

AVITS: Thank you Daniel for donating free computer services to anyone who donated 10 or more items to the Eli Home. Several certificates were handed out and I'm sure you're going to be pretty busy. Looking forward to seeing you at the next event!

Phenix Custom Rods: Thank you Robert and everyone at Phenix for the 3 beautiful rods with carrying cases. I saw everyone drooling when those were pulled out for the raffle. I was kind of amazed you could pack so much into that smart car of yours......pretty cool!

Bite On Garlic: Thank you for the 20 bottles donated to our raffle and several other bottles that were handed out. Definitely a favorite around the lake on Sunday.

Wingnut Pug: Thank you for the blue tooth headsets you donated. Does your Dad know you keep sneaking these out of the house?

Bob Sands Tackle: Thank you for your continued support of Team 57

The Tradition: Thank you very much Jimmy and Phil for the 2 passes you donated for your boat. I really need to bring the kids and make it out their with you guys one of these days.

Parchers Resort: Thank you Jared for all the encouraging words and the free boat rental certificate to be used at South Lake. Looking forward to seeing you in June.

Turner's Outdoors: Thank you so much for the 5 certificates to be raffled for a free rod and reel combo.

B & B Tackle: Thank you Bob. Not only for the custom wrapped rods but for always being there to lend a hand. Every time I turned around you were asking me if you could help with anything. Thank you keeping updated on the Dana's tree. I will get out there soon to visit it.

Rooster: Thank you Rob for donating the Rod Hogg pole holders with trays. Thank you also for helping to set up the raffle table and guarding the raffle tickets.

Hitts0n: Thank you for donating the head lamps and picking up the Tradition passes from Jimmy and bringing them to the event. I really appreciate all you do. Congrats again on your WON fame.

Lip RipperZ: Literally hundreds of packs of Lip RipperZ donated to our event. Bryan......When you and I came up with the idea of Lip RipperZ sponsoring the 50/50 raffle, I didn't realize how huge it was going to be. Collecting as much as we did and you making sure you spent time talking to each and every member we came across while walking the lake. You are one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Thank you for helping Craig and I with the raffle and being so hands on all day. I forgive you for thinking my 28 YEAR OLD brother was my son. Hopefully your truck started ok after the event. I was having remorse about putting the sugar in your gas tank but I think I got most of it out! Kidding!!! I'm really looking forward to working with you in the future. Thanks to Bryan, Team 57 collected $581.00. Half of which, $290.50 was donated to The Eli Home and the other half went to one lucky winner.........but more on that later!

The Eli Home: Thank you to Lisa Gin, Kim Tulleners, and Lorri Galloway. From 1st contact you made this very easy for our 'family' to help your families. Lisa was in constant contact with anything I needed. Answering questions and making sure we had the truck to collect the donations. It was so nice to meet all three of you. Lorri Galloway is not only the Executive Director of The Eli Home, she is also a Council Member for the City of Anaheim. She presented Craig (Santa Ana River Lakes), and myself (Team 57) with certificates thanking all of us for giving generously to individuals and families in need. The pleasure was all ours Lorri and looking forward to helping you again!



Jeff (Webmaster): Thank you Jeff for putting up with all my PM's and hosting Team 57 on FNN. It is truly appreciated.

Arthur (Wingnut): Arthur, your friendship, support, and advice is priceless and it can't be put into words how truly grateful I am to have you as my friend. Helping me every step of the way, keeping Team 57 alive and thriving. You have been my rock and I will always cherish everything you have done for not only the kids and I, but all Team 57 members. You are amazing.......even though you won't let me in SWAT.

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Got there just after 4 AM and started checking people in.

I swear Greg, you're really not on the list!



The amount of donations brought in was jaw dropping



Craig and Willy from Amaysing Fishing chatting while waiting for the gates to open


SARL promised to stock extra fish for our event and that they did. We all witnessed even more, nice looking fish put into the lake while we all watched. As they say, proof is in the pudding. Or something like that.

Trolly, is this how you do this?















Ummmm.....Wingnut........we usually eat the fish AFTER the event!

























Conejo Kid schooling his uncle on how to bait his hook.






Fat Tony and Lucky Luis

Collecting for the 50/50 raffle


SWAT invades our event!


Time for lunch and the raffles!











If you are wondering why we all have an "O" face it's because Craig told us to say "Eli Home" and then snapped the picture. Thanks Craig!

Some relaxing girl talk at the end of a long day......


Thanks for reading and participating. Dana would be amazed and proud of what we accomplished and all the help we gave these families. That is what Dana was all about. Giving generously and helping others. I am honored and proud to continue in his footsteps. The next event is already in the works and will be announced very soon. Thanks to you, families in need will now have more of the help they need.

D

Added Pics....

[Wingnut]

Wow, now that's what I call a party!

Donna, you put your heart & soul into this one and it shows. Like I said to you towards the end of the event when you asked me if I thought Dana would have been proud of us. “No, not us… Dana is proud of YOU. Somewhere he is smilling and a bit jealous too.” Because you’ve outdone the Godfather himself! I’ve done very little since the inception of this event… I pretty much just showed up fashionably late and mingled. You did the bulk of the work from beginning to end and no doubt deserves all the credit for a job well done!

I cannot individually thank everybody that showed up, participated, donated and/or helped out with the event. There are simply just too many of you. But know that you are the fuel that runs the Team 57 engine and we could not have done it without ALL of you. Coming out in force to support a noble cause speaks volumes about the character of Team 57 and its members. This is indeed what it’s all about.

It was great walking the shores of the event and meeting all the members and shaking their hands. From the “Legendary” members to the newest ones that showed up to this event, we thank you for your dedication, your support and most of all, for your friendship. Until we meet again…

Team 57 Rock!

Arthur (Wingnut)

[Fat Tony]

It was such a joy and privilege to take part in this event.Im so proud to be a part of Team 57,to enjoy good people and do good things for others.It was such a good time.I didn't catch a fish but I don't mind at all, it was'nt about that for me.It felt good giving to those in need.I had a great time seeing you all again and meeting new friends.Thank you Donna for all the hard work,like wingnut said YOU and TEAM 57 ROCK

[Big Daddy]

Great job Donna and All, what a great turn out and thanks for all the pictures you guy's really made some familys very happy on this day.

A lot of people,
A lot of fish,
A lot of Donations,
A lot of smiles,
A lot of laughter,
A lot of hard work,
Priceless

Go "Team 57"

[Troutman65]

Donna, Dana would of been proud. The event was great . Really nice to be able to help out the Eli Home with the can food drive . Thanks for putting it together. Looking forward to the next one . Thanks to everyone who helped out to make this event possible.

[ghetto dad]

VERY VERY nice report D!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excellent pics as well....those donations are unbelievable, props to all the people that donated....sorry I could not attend...maybe next one...

Looks like a great time was had by all....

[CatchthatTrout]

Donna,

It was such a wonderful day to be a Team 57 member.
I want to first and foremost thank all of Team 57, their family & friends for the donations to helping such a special cause.
Thank you for thinking of and honoring me with the opportunity to host Marta and her beautiful kids. It was a blessing to see Edu jump in and land his first fish ever. I was able to give him a brand new rod/reel that Fisherman57 had given to us at a raffle, so we passed on his joy to another child.

[Hometown]

WOW what a great event and great time had I myself didnt catch a fish but thats fine with me as it wasnt about catching fish but helping others in a time of need.Donna enough cant be said about all you have done Im 150% possitive Dana is proud of all you have done and being the anchor that keeps TEAM 57 FROM GOING ADRIFT THANKYOU.And I would like to thanks Sann Anna river lakes for hosting the event you guys were great.Last but not least the TEAM 57 FAMILY I think we can all be proud of what we did for some less fortunate than us.I cant wait to hear whats next.PEACE Mark AKA :HOMETOWN:

[Rooster]

It doesn't get any better then this in my eyes. Best time i have had in years. Thanks so much to all the sponsers and great members we have here at Team 57. I always wear all my 57 gear proud but after a event like this its now reached a all time high.

Donna, i am so dang proud of you

[Daryl]

Fantastic write up! Donna, you went above and beyond with this one; THANK YOU!

That was a phenomenal cause.

Thank you to all the sponsors of this event, including SARL and its staff. Craig, thanks for the update on what is happening relative to EIR. Everyone should be aware of this and if you're able to, donate. http://www.savecalfishing.org/