May is traditionally one of the best fishing months of the year. It is also a time that many local children and young anglers look forward to every year. For many it will be an opportunity to get out to Frank and Evelyn Tillman’s lake for some fun and fantastic fishing. If you have never been to Mr. Frank Tillman’s bream tournament, then you have truly missed a lot of fun and excitement. Few children’s activities rival the annual Sandy Ridge Bream tourney.

Saturday, May 12, is the big day this year. Although the story has been told and retold fondly each year, it never gets old to the participants or sponsors. The annual Sandy Ridge Bream Tourney started out 18 years ago as an experiment. Frank Tillman had been talking with Roger Carlisle, a local bait and tackle distributor, about the problem he was having with small bream in his lake. Carlisle suggested putting on a bream tournament to help alleviate the bream problem while also giving area youngsters a chance to catch some fish and have fun as well.

Although Mr. Tillman had some reservations about sponsoring a tournament, he agreed to try it for one year. “And one year is all I thought it would really be,” exclaimed Tillman. The rest, as they say, is history.



Big success



Needless to say, the tourney has been a resounding success for the Tillman’s and everyone involved. In fact, it has turned into a labor of love for Mr. Frank and Ms. Evelyn. Although a lot of work went into lining up sponsors and planning the initial tourneys, Mr. Frank stayed with it and now has an impressive list of local sponsors who help make the tourney a success year after year.

In a time when a lot of people are complaining about nothing to do in our area, it’s refreshing to see people like the Tillman’s and the many sponsors and volunteers working to make the tourney a success for the children. These folks are truly putting kids first.

Each year Mr. Frank starts planning the tourney in January getting the sponsors lined up. With Ms. Evelyn’s guidance and oversight he also bush hogs the grounds and cleans up the farm in preparation for the tournament. And every year Mr. Tillman meets children all over the East Mississippi area that come up to him and tell him how much they enjoy the tourney. Quite a few of the young fishermen also come back to help out once they are too old to fish in the tournament.

The tourney hours will be from 8 a.m. to noon. There will be three age brackets, which will allow all ages of children to compete and win prizes. There will be four winners in each bracket as follows: Pre-school, 6 through 10 years, and 11 through 15 years of age. The bait will be restricted to live bait only.



Another benefit



Although the children have a lot of fun and catch a lot of fish during the tourney, there is another benefit derived from the tourney. The entry fee for each child is to bring two items of canned goods. Those canned goods are then donated to Wesley House and The Baptist Crisis Center. So in addition to giving the children an opportunity to get outdoors and do a little fishing, they are also helping with a worthy cause.

“It gives me a good feeling to know that so many people come together to make the tournament a success for the kids!” said Mr. Frank. In fact there have been so many people that help with conducting the tournament that there are too many to name here, and that’s in addition to the many sponsors that continue to make the tournament a success.

If you haven’t been out to the Tillman’s tourney, you have missed a treat. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to spend some quality time with a child while having fun and making some memories. If you don’t have a child or grandchild nearby, there’s sure to be a youngster somewhere near just waiting for a chance to go fishing. So don’t delay, invite a child to go with you to the tournament, you just might be glad you did!

For more information on the tournament contact Frank or Evelyn Tillman at 693-1531.