Photo by Bruce Crawford Community members gather at the Sons of the American Legion Fishing Derby, held April 28.

The Sons of the American Legion put on a grand Fishing Derby Saturday, April 28.

The event was open for kids, 1-17 years of age, and was held at the Robert C. Byrd Center in Pine Grove.

This was the biggest year for the event with 170 kids participating.

Last year, 105 participated; the most attending prior to this year was 135, a few years back.

Each participant received a hat, tackle box and a really nice fishing pole.

Photo Provided A large group of people gathered Saturday for the Sons of the American Legion Fishing Derby, held April 28.

Concessions were open from 9 a.m. to noon, and families gathered to watch and help the kids in their fishing endeavors. There were also plenty of fishing lures available.

In the 1-7 class, Silas Highley won, while Thomas Bucher won the 8-12 class with 4.5 pounds, and Miracle Simons in the 13-17 age class.

In addition, Silas Highley and Cameron Wade caught the biggest fish at 1.75 pounds, while Triston Bassett caught the smallest that didn’t have a weight scale; Miracle Simons caught 4.7 pounds of fish combined.

There were more than 100 fish caught during the four-hour fishing derby.

The event wouldn’t have been as successful without the many sponsors that gave to make this year’s Fishing Derby successful: Mark West, Dominion, Dallison Lumber, Jacksonburg Pitstop, Shortline Station, Masons, Martins Hardware, C&C Designs, Simons Market, Kincaid Sisters, Dallison Logging, American Legion Ladies Aux., Jeff Hayes, Nathan Johnson and Hannah Loy, David and Deb Lancaster, Steve and Jenny Brown, American Legion Post #81 and Otis

Eastern.