Families lined the docks at Merritt Lake on Fort Leavenworth during the fourth annual International Family Fishing Derby on Sept. 7, 2024. The event is hosted by the Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club, and supported by Fishing’s Future. The CGSC Foundation sponsors the event each year.
The Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club hosted the annual International Family Fishing Derby at Merritt Lake on Fort Leavenworth on Sept. 7, 2024. This annual event is designed for the international military students (IMS) and their families who are attending the Command and General Staff College. This year’s event for the IMS Class of 2025 is the fourth year of the program.
Odeh Alwrikat, age 7, son of CGSOC international military student Lt. Col. Emad Alwrikat from Jordan, holds up his first fish during the fourth annual International Family Fishing Derby on Sept. 7, 2024, at Fort Leavenworth’s Merritt Lake.
As in previous years, volunteers from Fishing’s Future, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching the skills and benefits of recreational angling, and the Fort Leavenworth Rod and Gun club helped run the derby. The CGSC Foundation sponsored the derby with the fishing bait and concessions.
“We’re constantly seeking opportunities to support programs that engage families,” said Lora Morgan, president/CEO of the CGSC Foundation. “This one is particularly enjoyable because you get to see the smiles on the faces of the youngest participants when they catch their first fish.”
The IMS families, almost all fishing for the first time, lined the docks and a few on the backs vying for their catches. While volunteers from the Rod and Gun Club and Fishing’s Future, were on hand to record and measure each catch. As always, they assisted with baiting hooks and releasing the fish back into the lake if the fishermen were too uneasy about touching them.
At the end of the fishing period Morgan, along with Tad Slatter from the Rod and Gun Club, presented awards in four divisions: male youth, female youth and male and female adult. Winners were determined by number of fish caught. Award winners received a new rod and reel combination. The winners were (photos below):
Male Youth division: Alban Collot D’Escury, son of CGSOC international military student Maj. Louis Henri Collot D’Escury from France.
Female Youth division: Boglarka Csato, daughter of CGSOC international military student Maj. Gabor Csato from Hungary.
Female Adult division: Cindy DeJesus, wife of CGSOC international military student Maj. Marcelino DeJesus from the Philippines.
Male Adult division: Maj. Marcelino DeJesus, CGSOC international military student from the Philippines.
At the conclusion Larry Noell, president of the Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club thanked all the participants, volunteers and sponsors.
View more photos on the CGSC Foundation Flickr site
Lora Morgan, CGSC Foundation president/CEO, left, and Tad Slatter, Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club, present Alban Collot D’Escury, son of CGSOC international military student Maj. Louis Henri Collot D’Escury from France, with a rod and reel combination for winning the Male Youth division at the International Family Fishing Derby Sept. 7, 2024, at Fort Leavenworth’s Merritt Lake.
Lora Morgan, CGSC Foundation president/CEO, left, and Tad Slatter, Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club, present Boglarka Csato, daughter of CGSOC international military student Maj. Gabor Csato from Hungary, with a rod and reel combination for winning the Female Youth division at the International Family Fishing Derby Sept. 7, 2024, at Fort Leavenworth’s Merritt Lake.
Lora Morgan, CGSC Foundation president/CEO, left, and Tad Slatter, Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club, present Cindy DeJesus, wife of CGSOC international military student Maj. Marcelino DeJesus from the Philippines, with a rod and reel combination for winning the Female Adult division at the International Family Fishing Derby Sept. 7, 2024, at Fort Leavenworth’s Merritt Lake.
Lora Morgan, CGSC Foundation president/CEO, left, and Tad Slatter, Fort Leavenworth Rod & Gun Club, present Maj. Marcelino DeJesus, CGSOC international military student from the Philippines, with a rod and reel combination for winning the Male Adult division at the International Family Fishing Derby Sept. 7, 2024, at Fort Leavenworth’s Merritt Lake.
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