Giving Thanks
Reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving:
You don’t have to go shopping on Black Friday.
Leftover deep-fried turkey is a lot better than leftover baked turkey.
Your aunt baked your favorite pie.
You can buy gift cards for everybody on your Christmas list.
And so it goes. Granted, most of us tend to trivialize Thanksgiving and treat it as a speed bump between Halloween and Christmas. For some of us, though, Thanksgiving has much deeper meaning. It’s a time to take a reckoning, to measure the bad against the good, and trust that the ledger ends in the black.
And it always does, because even when things don’t turn out the way we had hoped in the short term, or misfortune blindsides us now and then, we can look at the larger picture of our lives and count ourselves blessed. Consider the following fishermen who have reasons to be especially grateful this Thanksgiving.
On the Mend, with a Special Honor Ahead
A yearlong bout with throat cancer left Stacey King weakened, but hopeful that he’s on the road to complete recovery. Following an operation last spring, the Missouri pro underwent extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments that only ended in late summer. In October, King managed to get out for a day or two of fishing, and otherwise began to resume a normal life.
“I don’t feel bad, but I’m really weak, and I can’t seem to regain any strength yet,” says King. “I try to walk every day, but it wears me out. Still, I’m thankful for a long, relatively healthy life and being able to do the things I always wanted to do. I’ve spent most of my life in the outdoors and made so many friends along the way that I can’t count them all. I’m a very lucky man. I know there are a lot of people in worse shape. Of course, it’s easy to get down and be depressed, but I’ve had a lot of good years, and for that I am very grateful.”
Like many couples, Stacey and his wife, Peggy, will spend their holiday visiting relatives, first travelling to his sister’s home about 30 miles away for a King family Thanksgiving, then returning to spend time with Peggy’s kin.
Whether Stacey is able to return to the Walmart FLW Tour next year remains to be seen, but he still has a tournament-related event to look forward to in 2015. In February, he’s being inducted in the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame and will join the ranks of the immortals that include the likes of Forrest Wood, Hank Parker, Roland Martin and Larry Nixon.
Everything’s Falling Into Place
Nick Barr doesn’t mean to brag, but at the tender age of 23 he’s nevertheless got the world by the tail on a downhill drag. Last spring he graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in business marketing. In late July he married his college sweetheart, Kelley, and they moved to San Antonio where she is completing her education as a physical therapist. To top it off, Nick recently became marketing coordinator for Livingston Lures.
All this follows a successful career in FLW College Fishing. Nick and his fishing partner, Jarred Walker, finished second to the University of Idaho in the Western Conference Invitational on Clear Lake in October and earned a berth in next spring’s FLW College Fishing National Championship at Lake Murray.
Although Nick and his fishing partners have represented the Eagles of Eastern Washington well – never finishing lower than 23rd in a qualifier and placing in the top 10 in eight out of 12 appearances – somehow they’ve never managed to go beyond the conference level and qualify for the championship – until now. The Lake Murray tournament will be Nick’s first and last try at the national title, and he plans to make the most of it.
“It’s been an awesome year,” says Nick. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of cool opportunities that just seemed to come along at the right time. Then, too, I’ve worked hard to get here. I know I don’t have any right to expect anything, much less being able to do what I love, but I’m just trying to keep things on a roll.”
Next year Nick will focus on Livingston Lures and helping the company grow. He also plans to fish in the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division as a co-angler. As far as immediate plans are concerned, Nick and Kelley will remain in San Antonio for the holiday.
“This will be the first year we haven’t been with our families at Thanksgiving,” he notes. “We’re saving our time and money to go home at Christmas.”
A Bundle of Joy Makes the Season Brighter
Richard Peek was on pins and needles at the Rayovac FLW Series Championship on Wheeler Lake in late October. If leading the tournament after the second day wasn’t enough to put him on edge, the imminent arrival of his daughter into the world added to his anxiety.
Peek didn’t win the tournament, but there was a happy ending for the Alabama angler. The day after the event was over, Peek’s wife, Amy, delivered their firstborn, Paisley Lane.
“Although I wouldn’t have said so the weekend before our little girl was born, timing-wise things worked out. I’ve got a couple of months or so to spend with my family before I head out again on the tournament trail,” says the Walmart FLW Tour pro. “I’m also thankful for the sponsors and friends that have supported me through this year and especially since I became a tournament fisherman a few years ago.”
The Peeks will have a busy Thanksgiving, spending time with Amy’s family in the Guntersville area and then celebrating the holiday with Richard’s family in Centre later in the week.
“Having great family on both sides is another reason to be thankful,” adds Richard. “With all the travel and visiting we do, it’s not exactly a traditional Thanksgiving for us, but we eat real good.”
A Family’s Burden is Eased
It’s been a year of ups and downs for Jason Johnson, a co-angler superstar on the Walmart FLW Tour. In the last qualifying tournament of the year, at Kentucky Lake, the Georgia fisherman seemingly sewed up the Co-Angler of the Year title. He was declared the winner, but then an inadvertent rule violation he made disqualified him for the title.
Johnson was angry, but he made up his mind that he wasn’t going to beat himself up about it. Redemption came at the Forrest Wood Cup in August, where he placed second in the co-angler ranks to Bryan New of North Carolina.
The best thing that happened to Johnson this year, however, related to his mother’s health. Around Christmas time last year, Betty Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer. Immediately afterward, she embarked on a regimen of chemotherapy and radiation treatments – the last having been administered just before the Forrest Wood Cup. A few days ago, Betty’s oncologist told her that she was cancer-free.
“Our family has a lot to be thankful for, beginning with mom’s health,” notes Jason. “It took a lot of pressure off the family. It means she can go back to living her life, and I can go back to fishing without worrying about her constantly.”
For Jason, going back to fishing will mean turning pro in 2015. His regular-season finish and Forrest Wood Cup earnings provided the financial boost to make it happen.
Jason and his two siblings will spend the holiday at their mom’s house.
“Mom and my sister usually cook, and otherwise we just enjoy the family time,” says the soon-to-be Walmart FLW Tour pro.