By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
The sport of fishing has transcended time, style and generations.
From the yellowed pages of a Mark Twain novel, where young, quick witted children race off under a hot Mississippi sun with poles and live worms to the Saturday morning television shows that follow some of the most talented sportsmen on lakes, rivers and other bodies of water across America – when the sun relieves us from winter's bite – the poles come out and the fish are the game.
For Niles area children taking part in the city's free Summer Parks Program – the summer also means getting their own lesson about the sport and a chance to make their own big catch.
The Niles City Police offer a fishing program for those kids, teaching them the importance of safety and fundamentals of the sport before taking them off on a field trip to fish a few local watering holes.
Officer Kevin Kosten of the NCPD has been busy taking children who have been participating in the program out to Niles' Spalding Lake Campground for some quality time with poles and bait.
In addition to discussing the sport, where and why people fish, Kosten said, "we talk about safety … most of the stuff that we do, we try to cover a lot of safety."
The police department, he said, has been offering the program for about 10 years.
The kids also learn the importance of understanding the difference of public and private property and Kosten said they also have fun with different games and casting contest.
Through the program, the children have an opportunity to become familiar with an officer on a more comfortable level.
"It gives the kids a chance to spend time with a police officer in a fun, relaxed setting," Kosten said.
One objective of the program, Kosten added, is to hopefully get the children interested in fishing enough so hopefully, "these kids will take it up as a past time."
And he hopes that past time will only enhance their relationships with family and "foster these relationships at home too.
"We always encourage kids to spend quality time with their parents," Kosten said.
After going through a mandatory training session, Kosten takes groups from each of the parks included in the program on a special trip to Spalding Lake Campground for some shore fishing.
"Most of my time is not spent fishing," Kosten laughed. Instead, the officer is busy running between catches, taking fish off hooks and fixing bait.
The goal, he said, is to get each child to catch at least one fish. "So far, all the times I've done it that's happened," he said.
The campground is just one area organization that helps make the program possible, waiving fees for the police department to take the children out each summer. Wal-Mart, Kosten said, is also a big donator, "they have been on board with this from day one."
Supplies were made possible originally through a grant and the store helps with replacing poles when needed, line or bait, he said.
When it comes time for the department's visit to the parks program, Kosten said the kids "are really excited to go" out and enjoy a timeless summertime activity.