CHRIS FOX PHOTO
The Villa Park Sportsmen’s Club held its annual Youth Fishing Derby at North Terrace Park on Saturday, June 12. The derby offered prizes to winners in a variety of categories, including most fish caught, largest fish caught and most unusual catch. All of the children who took part in the fishing derby received some type of prize. “I want everybody to go home with something,” said Joe Kubica, the president of the Villa Park Sportsmen’s Club, shortly before the awards presentation. Mickey’s Drive-In and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) are the event’s two main sponsors. A photo from the fishing derby shows Villa Park’s Enzo Spacone, who turns 3 in August, with his grandfather, Paul Spacone. Enzo’s father (and Paul’s son) Paul is in the background. “He’s got his little fishing games at home; now he gets to try the real thing,” said Enzo’s father of his young son. The June 12 derby was Enzo’s first live fishing event. The Spacones noted that fishing runs in their family. The Villa Park Sportsmen’s Club did not conduct its Youth Fishing Derby in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Villa Park Parks and Recreation Department organized and held a similar event at North Terrace Park—a free fall fishing derby—in September of last year.
