January 16 – The Muhlenberg County High School Bass Fishing Program, which has established itself as a consistent contender for the KHSAA State Championship each year, will host one of its major fundraisers this weekend with a swap meet in Greenville.
More than 50 vendor tables will be available Saturday from 7 am to 3 pm for a day of buying, trading and selling fishing gear at MCHS’ Felix E. Martin Jr. Hall.
According to Mustangs head coach Cody Napier, the team will also unveil their new custom boat at 10 a.m., followed by Major League Fishing pro Bradley Roy, who will speak at 10:30 a.m.
More than anything, Napier wants to urge anyone interested in fishing to attend.
“We’ve done this a couple of times, and this is an event where we can get the fishing community out there,” he said. “For a lot of the younger kids who don’t have a lot of equipment, it’s an opportunity to buy and sell other people at maybe a much cheaper price: used equipment or new equipment. We just want to get people out in the winter , and it is an opportunity to talk about fishing.
“This is an opportunity for anyone in the area to come. It’s open to anyone who loves fishing.”
The annual swap meeting was canceled last year due to snow, but Napier said the event is one of the best sources of funding for the spring bass fishing program.
“This is one of the ways we raise money,” he said. “We’re actually unveiling the new team boat that morning, we brought it home last week. We’re excited. We’re one of the first schools in the state of Kentucky to get a new boat. There are a few other teams that have used boats, but as far as I know, we are the first to get a new one.
“God willing, we’ll have good weather and this thing, we’ll get people out and we’ll raise more money. We still have to raise a little bit for the boat, but we’re getting close.”
Just having a new boat means a lot to Mustangs, Napier added.
“It gives us a chance to wrap up the boat and make it our own, like a basketball court or a football field with the Mustang logo on it,” he said. “We’ll actually have our own boat instead of me or the other coaches using ours. It’s the school’s and the team’s, and with the latest and greatest technology, we’ll be able to take the kids out and teach them to improve and learn about what What do the fish do?
And, the hope is that the new boat will help the Mustangs continue to improve to the state championship level, something Muhlenberg County couldn’t do without the support of the community.
“It’s been exciting. It’s been something that a lot of people don’t know about, but it seems like year after year we’ve been blessed and we’ve been successful,” Napier added. “Another milestone for us this year was getting that boat. It’s something the team has wanted from the beginning, something we’ve worked hard to achieve.”
“We’ve been truly blessed with the community supporting us and helping us raise money. We’ve worked so hard to get it done, the kids have worked so hard. We’ve also had a lot of adults and volunteers to help out, and I really appreciate the fishing community supporting us Ha been a great blessing helping us get to where we are now.
“It’s not just me, it’s not just the kids, it’s everyone coming together. It’s a community effort.”
Admission to the event is $5, and children 10 and under are free.