by Lisa Schauer
After a one-hour rain delay, Paw Paw held its first fishing derby on Saturday, July 18 at Paw Paw Volunteer Fire Department.
Twenty-eight children and youth aged 0-14 were registered for the Paw Paw Fishing Derby.
They were eligible to win awards and raffle prizes, get a derby T-shirt, and to fish in the stocked pond behind the fire hall.
The pond was stocked with trout for the event. Bass, blue gill, crappy and sunfish were biting.
A grand prize was up for grabs to catch an albino trout, the great white whale of the derby.
“Someone caught a 14-inch bass,” said event organizer Jenn Norris, president of Paw Paw Area Economic Development Collective.
“We’re bringing the community together and having events we don’t usually have in our little town,” said Norris.
Sponsors included Morgan County Commission, Bank of Romney, Travel Berkeley Springs, and the political campaigns of Elizabeth Ferris and Judith Shumate.
