Nearly 1,000 students had the time of their lives attending “Gone Fishin’ Not Just Wishin’” at Oak Mountain State Park on May 14-16.

“The event is always special,” said Cynthia Corbin, a teacher’s aide for special-needs students at Fultondale Elementary School. “I have been coming here for 20 years, and this is always wonderful.” Corbin, who is happy to see the event continue so many years, as accompanied by her Fultondale students, among Jefferson and Shelby county students attending May 15.

Unbridled joy was the theme of the Exceptional Anglers event: Everywhere you looked, hundreds of children, parents and teachers shared smiles and laughter as many of the kids enjoyed their first time fishing, kayaking or singing with a bluegrass band.

The section of Oak Mountain Lake from which children fished was pre-stocked with about 10,000 catfish, funded through a grant by the Alabama Power Foundation.

“I caught a big, little catfish!” Dylan Cotton exclaimed to his mother, Crystal Cole, as he fished from the pier. Smiling broadly, Cotton unhooked the fish with help from Alabama Power’s Mike Clelland. The environmental affairs specialist was among more than 100 employees who helped with the event, along with members of the Alabama Power Service Organization. Employees and other volunteers assisted the children in putting on life vests, baiting fish hooks and reeling in “the big one.”

Cole said her son has attended every year since kindergarten. “I love everything about this,” she said. “It exposes the children to arts and crafts, fishing and other activities. It treats them just like everyone else.”

Dylan Cotton’s grandmother, Marilyn, said she enjoys the event as much as her grandson. “I wouldn’t miss it,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing Alabama Power does for these kids. It’s an opportunity for them to interact with other kids and have a good time.”