{"id":229792,"date":"2026-06-27T18:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/229792\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T18:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:17:08","slug":"fishing-derby-brings-families-community-together-in-abingtons-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/229792\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishing derby brings families, community together in Abingtons \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. \u2014 Children wearing bright orange T-shirts lined Eston Wilson Lake at Hillside Park Saturday morning, anxiously hoping to reel in a big catch.<\/p>\n

The Forever Young Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby brought together families from neighboring Clarks Summit to Monroe Twp. in Wyoming County.<\/p>\n

Linda Young started the fishing derby in 2010 in memory of her late husband, Lawrence \u201cBud\u201d Young, an avid fisherman.<\/p>\n

Stacy Cognetti, co-chair of the fishing derby, believes the annual event provides a valuable outlet for children to explore the outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been involved with environmental initiatives, and I\u2019ve been a parkgoer for a number of years,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important because there are so many kids inside doing indoor activities and they\u2019re not outside doing things in nature. It\u2019s great to get them to the lake and get them outside, fishing. Then, you end up seeing these kids back in the park \u2014 they want to walk the trails, they want to hike, and they\u2019re seeing other things that are going on. They\u2019re outside and engaging with other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People line at lake during the Forever Young Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Crowley of Hop Bottom pulls a largemouth bass out a bucket to be measured during the Forever Young Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Tigue of Monroe Twp. assists her children, Jack, 6, and Lainey, 2, during the Forever Young Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Nicholas<\/p>\n

Nicholas Ranella of Clarks Summit take a fish, caught by his son, Enzo, 8, off the line during the Forever Young Fishing Derby at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Children<\/p>\n

Children participate in a fishing derby at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

People line at lake during the Forever Young Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby in South Abington Twp. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to the fishing aspect, the children also learned about the environment through informational materials provided by the Penn State Master Watershed Steward Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt adds the educational piece so the kids know what\u2019s in the water and what the wildlife is feeding off,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cIt just gives them more of an appreciation for nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derby officials accept registrations for 200 children and walkups are also allowed on the morning for the free event, Cognetti said. Each kid receives a T-shirt, lunch, bait, and a medal. Additionally, prizes are awarded for the biggest fish caught in various age groups.<\/p>\n

Sporadic rain showers fell on the lake throughout the morning, but the wet weather didn\u2019t seem to dampen the participants\u2019 enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a day like this, you have people that aren\u2019t as inclined to come out,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cBut generally, rain or shine, there are people here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas Ranella of Clarks Summit attended the derby with his wife, Alyssa, and two boys, Nicholas, 13, and Enzo, 8 \u2014 a yearly tradition for the group.<\/p>\n

Raniella noted he enjoys fishing with his sons at Hillside Park, along with Lackawanna State Park in North Abington Twp.<\/p>\n

Enzo \u2014 who started fishing last year and got more involved this spring and summer \u2014 cherishes the family aspect of the pastime.<\/p>\n

Mike Tigue of Monroe Twp. drove past the park many times and decided to check out the property on Saturday with his kids, Jack, 6, and Lainey, 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI travel through here for work a lot, and I saw they were doing the derby, so I brought my two children,\u201d Tigue said. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice park. They have a lot of stuff for the kids to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tigue previously took his son to several fishing derbies throughout the area, but it was Lainey\u2019s first competition, and she caught a bluegill, he said.<\/p>\n

The fishing derby also serves as a much-anticipated event for students from the Scranton School for Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Children, said Mary Ann Stefko, coordinator of the school\u2019s Barnyard Friends program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives kids an opportunity to be out and to be involved in their community, which I think is such a big benefit,\u00a0 and it gives them a lifelong hobby,\u201d she said. \u201cFor our kids, who are deaf or hard of hearing, being at an event like this, everyone is in it together, and it\u2019s so supportive. Everybody has been so kind. We plan for it as soon as the summer hits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. \u2014 Children wearing bright orange T-shirts lined Eston Wilson Lake at Hillside Park Saturday morning,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[182,139,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-229792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}