Odds and ends for Jan. 31

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More 400 enter fishing tourney, only 1 catch made

ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — Participants in a Michigan charity ice fishing tournament brought home a different kind of fish tale.

The Daily Press of Escanaba reports (http://bit.ly/w28jVm) only one fish was caught by the more than 400 kids and adults participating in this weekend’s Jig It Ice Fishing Extravaganza at Escanaba Yacht Harbor in the Upper Peninsula.

Big Brother Big Sisters of Delta County sponsored the fundraiser and Jason M. Pepin of Escanaba had the lone fishing success during the competition. The perch he caught weighed 4.5 ounces and netted a $3,000 first place prize.

The group’s executive director Tanya Schuster says some people reported seeing fish swimming in the water, but they weren’t biting.

Schuster says the event to help fund area mentoring programs is “more fun when you do catch fish.”


Prodigious blood donor gets Super Bowl tickets

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana woman who became a regular blood donor to repay the units used by her late husband has won a pair of tickets to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis because of her generosity.

Carol Sikler, 50, of Lafayette won the tickets from the Indiana Blood Center. Sikler was as surprised as anyone when she found out she’d be attending football’s biggest event next Sunday.

“I’m not the kind of person who wins things,” she told the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/A8PLga ) for a story published Sunday.

But those around her said no one is more deserving.

“She’s a good example of what people should do,” said Dee Duncan, a phlebotomist at the Indiana Blood Center in Lafayette.

Giving blood has also helped her deal with the grief of losing her husband, Chuck Sikler, a former pastor at Baptist Temple in Logansport. He died in 2003, after having his colon removed 2 1/2 years earlier.

She won the tickets for donating blood or blood products at least four times in three months. She recently passed 143 donated units of either whole blood or platelets, matching the number of units her late husband used before he died.

“It’s a way for me to do something for someone that can’t ever thank me or pay me back personally. It’s giving without expectation,” she said.

More 400 enter fishing tourney, only 1 catch made

ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — Participants in a Michigan charity ice fishing tournament brought home a different kind of fish tale.

The Daily Press of Escanaba reports (http://bit.ly/w28jVm) only one fish was caught by the more than 400 kids and adults participating in this weekend’s Jig It Ice Fishing Extravaganza at Escanaba Yacht Harbor in the Upper Peninsula.

Big Brother Big Sisters of Delta County sponsored the fundraiser and Jason M. Pepin of Escanaba had the lone fishing success during the competition. The perch he caught weighed 4.5 ounces and netted a $3,000 first place prize.

The group’s executive director Tanya Schuster says some people reported seeing fish swimming in the water, but they weren’t biting.

Schuster says the event to help fund area mentoring programs is “more fun when you do catch fish.”


Prodigious blood donor gets Super Bowl tickets

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana woman who became a regular blood donor to repay the units used by her late husband has won a pair of tickets to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis because of her generosity.

Carol Sikler, 50, of Lafayette won the tickets from the Indiana Blood Center. Sikler was as surprised as anyone when she found out she’d be attending football’s biggest event next Sunday.

“I’m not the kind of person who wins things,” she told the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/A8PLga ) for a story published Sunday.

But those around her said no one is more deserving.

“She’s a good example of what people should do,” said Dee Duncan, a phlebotomist at the Indiana Blood Center in Lafayette.

Giving blood has also helped her deal with the grief of losing her husband, Chuck Sikler, a former pastor at Baptist Temple in Logansport. He died in 2003, after having his colon removed 2 1/2 years earlier.

She won the tickets for donating blood or blood products at least four times in three months. She recently passed 143 donated units of either whole blood or platelets, matching the number of units her late husband used before he died.

“It’s a way for me to do something for someone that can’t ever thank me or pay me back personally. It’s giving without expectation,” she said.