HJ Sports Blog

By Matt Kane
Sports Writer
BUFFALO — Twins baseball and the great outdoors. Both are sewn into the DNA of all Minnesotans.
During the summer months, a perfect day for many consists of spending the daylight hours on one of the state’s 10,000 lakes trying to land a walleye — either trophy- or dinner plate-sized — and coming home in the evening just in time to catch the Twins on the radio or television set.
The transition from a largemouth bass to Brian Bass makes the summers fly by, and, as we get older, each year tends to go as fast as its summer.
In the later years of life, Twins baseball remains a consistent part of many peoples’ lives, but the outdoors part of being a Minnesotan tends to die off, not by choice, but because of limited means and slowing bodies.
In 2002, Joe Holm, of Wilmar, learned, one day while taking a group of senior citizens for a boat ride, that these age-experienced people truly appreciated being on the water like they once did in their younger years.
“He wanted to take some seniors out on a boat because he knew they could no longer get into a regular boat anymore,” Laura Jones, of Buffalo, said. “He took them out on his pontoon, and he decided it was such an awesome day that he wanted to serve more seniors in the same way.”
Holm did just that, and started the Let’s Go Fishing program, which, according to its mission statement, is “dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals 55 and older through free fishing and boating activities that build relationships, strengthen communities and create memories.”
The need for such a volunteer organization is evident in the number of Minnesotans the program has served, which is more than 15,000.
Holm’s program has gone from one chapter in Wilmar in 2002, to the now 20 chapters, with the addition of Buffalo in June of this year.
“Our goal is to serve 1,000 seniors this year, and we think we are halfway,” said Jones, who serves as vice president of the Buffalo chapter of Let’s Go Fishing. “We still have all of September to send them out. They go out Monday through Friday, two trips per day and sometimes three.”
Jones is very pleased with what the program has offered seniors around Wright County.
“Awesome,” she said, convincingly. “Because now our seniors can go back out and do the things they’ve done most of their lives. If they have any limitations, they don’t need to worry about that. We can get them on the boat with wheelchairs, and we can transfer them into individual seating. If they can get on the boat, we will take them out. That’s what’s great about this pontoon — it’s specially made to take care of seniors, with higher sides and stabilizing three pontoons.”
Jones, with the help of Let’s Go Fishing volunteers, organized a fish fry fundraiser Tuesday at Sturgis Park on the banks of Buffalo Lake, with the hope of raising money for a boat landing to be put on one of the Buffalo lakes. All of the close to 300 tickets were sold for the fish fry, which punctuated a day that started with a special fishing trip for a group of Buffalo senior citizens.
If any of the elderly anglers on the specially designed 26-foot pontoon were true Minnesotans who loved Twins baseball and fishing, they were in heaven Tuesday. Accompanying them on the fishing trip was Minnesota outdoors enthusiast and former Minnesota Twins great, Kent Hrbek.
Hrbek, producer Eric Gislason, and cameraman Brian Pinske were in Buffalo taping a segment for their popular show, “Kent Hrbek Outdoors (KHO).”
The hook to get the big guy from Bloomington and his KHO team to Buffalo was Gislason, who grew up in the town fishing Buffalo and Pulaski lakes.
“I called and asked (Hrbek) if he could do it. Eric Gislason is his producer and he is a Buffalo native,” Jones explained. “I said, ‘Hey, Eric, how would you like to come here with your program and take our seniors out and put it on your show?’ They said they would do it for us, and we are so grateful.”
That Gislason grew up in Buffalo may have helped Jones get KHO to Buffalo, but Gislason said the event sealed the deal.
“Laura Jones called us and told us about the event. I’ve always loved senior citizens and I’ve always loved fishing, and it was in my hometown, and I happen to have Herbie on the team. It was pretty simple,” said Gislason, who became known around Minnesota when he was the sports anchor at KSTP Channel 5. “To come out here and see this — we thought there might be six people with a fish fry — it’s amazing. It’s a big deal.”
Hrbek was equally impressed.
“I’m impressed with the program. The Let’s Go Fishing deal is a pretty neat deal — getting people who are sitting in a nursing home, or wherever they are, out,” Hrbek said. “Not only to go fishing, but to just get them on the water. Fishing is an extra thing. Just to get them out on a boat is something they enjoy so much.”
The KHO crew visited senior citizens at one of the assisted living homes in Buffalo, and then, with anglers representing the five care centers that make up Elim Homes in Buffalo on board, pushed off onto Buffalo Lake for a two-hour fishing trip.
Through comments made by several volunteers, Hrbek came to realize the impact the Let’s Go Fishing trips have had on the lives of those who have gone.
“What I’ve heard from people is that a lot of these people haven’t said much in the nursing home over the past couple years, and, all of a sudden, you take them out on the boat and they get all excited and start talking,” he said.
What did the people on the pontoon Tuesday talk about? Twins baseball and fishing, of course.
“You just talk about how they got involved in fishing, and how they got involved with this,” Hrbek said. “Everybody loves the idea that they are doing it.”
Gislason expanded on the conversations had on the boat.
“We had them tell some old fish stories. We talked about growing up in Wright County, and about how many lakes there are and how they used to catch fish, and how they used to fish with their husbands. A lot of them aren’t here anymore. I think they had a good time regaining old stories with their spouses who aren’t here anymore,” Gislason said. “And there was a lot of Twins baseball talk — what a bum this guys was, what a bum that guy was, and what a great guy this guy was, and what a great guy that guy was — and Herbie kept reminding everybody that some of them were his teammates, but it was all in fun.”
Gislason said the seniors were a little camera shy at first, but a class clown loosened the group up.
“They were a little shy with the cameras, and then one of our angling mates decided to get everybody jazzed up. She was hootin’ and hollerin’, and she was 96 years old, and then we were cracking jokes. It was great TV. I can’t wait to tell the story,” he explained. “That’s what the outdoors do — you can become fast friends with people when you are out fishing and hunting and just hanging out. What a great bunch of people. I think we had more fun than they did, to be honest with you.”
The fun the fishing group had must have been because of the chatter and story telling, because it sure wasn’t due to good fishing.
“It was a little rough. I wasn’t going to divulge all my secrets from growing up on this lake,” Gislason said. “We caught one fish — one perch at the end — and it was about this big, and the 88-year-old who caught it claimed the biggest fish with 6 inches.”
The winning angler, Olivia Meyer, from the Park Care Center, is actually 90 years old. She caught the lone fish of the day, but nobody seemed disappointed that nothing was biting.
“We caught one fish, but that doesn’t really matter. The idea is to get the people out, and a program like this is a neat thing. It’s a fun way to get outdoors and do stuff,” Hrbek said.
Gislason did not know when the segment on Let’s Go Fishing would air, but he plans on using it in a show titled “Fishing for Good.” It was clear the former sports reporter was convinced the Let’s Go Fishing program, was, indeed, good.
“I’m anxious to learn more about it. When I first got in the pontoon, the first thing I noticed was the console said, ‘Giving back to people who have given so much,’” he said. “We were all raised. Our parents were raised by this generation, and, you know what, we are going to be in the boat someday. I would be lucky to live somewhere where they picked me up to go fishing once a week. I’m anxious to learn more about it.
“Good things happen when outdoors people get together.”

Anybody 55 years or older can participate in the Let’s Go Fishing program. To find out more about the program, call (763) 682-6036.
“Kent Hrbek Outdoors” airs Sunday nights at 10:35 p.m. on KMSP Fox 9.