RE Shea rR Weber State College Comment, July 1987, page 7 Fishing Derby For Handicapped nial Celebration scheduled to officially begin next year. ‘*I hope this statue can become a significant part of the campus,”’ said Jackson. The sculpture sits on top of an eightton rock donated by Water’s Construction Co. of Ogden. The donation of the rock makes a second statue possible, and a copy of the wildcat will be placed at the Dee Events Center in the near future, Lindquist said. A plaque on the rock dedicates the statue as ‘‘Wildcat Country’’ and states: The new wildcat statue at Weber State is fixed in a perpetual outstretched paw, and was unveiled recently at the college. snarl with Wildcat Statue Unveiled he bigger-than-life statue of a wildcat unveiled at the college in a recent ceremony was fixed in a permanent growl, perturbed, it seemed, at being covered with a sheet. The new statue south of the Shepherd Union Building has one paw outstretched and fangs bared in an intimidating snarl. It was commissioned by John A. Lindquist of the WSC class of ‘39 and sculpted by David W. Jackson, WSC class of ‘74. The statue unveiling was one of the lead-in events to the college’s Centen- *‘The North American Lynx, commonly referred to as the wildcat or bobcat, is distinguished by a short, stubby tail, large paws and long, tufted ears. Noted for its keen instincts as well as its strength and courage in comparison to size, the wildcat became a symbol of the college sometime during the 1920’s after an unknown writer referred to a WSC athletic team as being ‘scrappy as a bunch of wildcats.’ The designation stuck and over the years Wildcat athletic teams have distinguished themselves in state, conference and national competiton. Not confined solely to athletic programs, wildcat teams have also added pro- minence and prestige to the college Vinai You, a deaf child, feels a fish for the first time while other children look on. For most of the children, the fishing derby was the first time they had gone fishing. through debate and participation in _ forensic, academic achievement as well.’’ During the unveiling ceremonies Lindquist had his daughter bring a house cat and hold it next to the statue. He next invited the college athletic director, and various coaches to join _him at the podium. ‘*One of these is a wildcat and one is a pussycat,’’ Lindquist said to the coaches. ‘‘I want you to do this from time to time and bring the players down so they can identify the difference,’’ he said. @ Sculptor David W. Jackson stands in front of the art piece he created. The new wildcat statue is located south of the Shepherd Union Building. a reeled in and touched the fish, many for the first time. ‘One little blind boy had never felt a fish before and you could really tell he was excited. He said, ‘Does it have wings?’ because he could feel the fins,’’ said Mrs. Austin. Once caught, the fish were cleaned and put in a bag of ice for the children to take home, and it didn’t take long for the children to begin fish tales of their own. WSC employees and students used every fishing tactic they knew to make sure as many children as possible took something home, but catching the fish was really not as important to the children as simply being at the pond, pole in hand. ‘‘Thank you,’’ one deaf child signed. ‘“We’ve had a couple of letters encouraging us to do it again, and we plan to,’’ Mrs. Austin said. ‘‘The kids had a wonderful time,’’ she added, ‘‘and I think a lot of Weber State people were touched. I was.’’ SBR ‘*It just takes patience,’’ said Joshua Jones. Joshua and others spent about an hour doing their best to reel in something. those kids’ faces was sheer delight,’’ Mrs. Austin added. Employees brought fishing poles, bait, hooks and bobbers. Pres. Nadauld slipped wading boots and a fishing vest and hat over suit and tie, and in three, one-hour shifts students and employees taught about 100 children from Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Ogden some of the more advanced aspects of pond fishing--like perseverance and untangling crossed lines. ‘It just takes patience,’’? said one boy who could not walk. For another deaf boy the simple joy of casting was enough. He shook his fist in triumph at every successful cast. *‘T think this is one of those things that is really memorable. The children were just ecstatic over it, even the ones who didn’t catch a fish,’’ Mrs. Austin said. And the enthusiasm was no less for the fishermen who helped. They would hook a fish, hand the pole to a child and watch as the elated youngsters More than 100 handicapped students lined the pond in the Ada Lindquist Plaza fishing for the 400 or so rainbow trout planted there by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. eeeee Julie Austin, assistant to the president and the person responsible for putting the event together. ‘‘This was just fun. The looks on Pres. Stephen D. Nadauld donned fishing hat, vest and boots to show the children how to hook a trout. a hysically handicapped children recently spent the day pulling rainbow trout out of the WSC Lindquist Plaza pond, but when they left they carried away more than just fish. “It’s impossible not to love these kids,’’ said one man from the buildings and grounds department. ‘‘This was tremendous,’’ said another. The idea was Pres. Stephen D. Nadauld’s. As he walked past the wellknown pond each day he thought that there was something unique and enjoyable about the place just waiting to happen. One day it hit him--a fishing derby for physically challenged children. “The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources donated about 400 fish, a local bottling company supplied drinks, the buildings and grounds people set up a fish cleaning station, and employees donated their time,’’ said