Flyovers by old military planes, many fishing boats and a newly repaired, 100-pound American flag are some of the attractions at this year’s Vets with Nets, set for today and Saturday at the Detroit Beach Boat Club, 3028 Harborview Drive.
The program, now in its fifth year, offers a day of free walleye fishing for active military personnel and veterans. Boat captains from around the region volunteer to host the veterans. Flag Day Usa
“There are still spots for veterans to come tonight and sign up,” Chris Milliron, Vets with Nets president, said.
Today is captain and veteran check-in until 7 at the club. Fishing begins at 6:30 a.m. Saturday on Lake Erie and runs through 2 p.m. A banquet is planned for 1 to 5 p.m. The public is welcome to stop by.
“We encourage anyone who wants to show up to come thank the veterans. We have 300 veterans and 150 boat captains signed up for the event. We will have a four-pass flyover by some old military planes at 3 p.m. Saturday. We will have multiple raffles going on raising money for the Monroe Disabled American Veterans,” Milliron said.
Attendees also can see Vets with Nets’ 60-foot by 40-foot American flag. The flag was new last year and was given to Vets with Nets by event sponsors.
“It is the largest production flag you can buy,” Milliron said. “It’s huge. It weighs 100 pounds. We luckily got help from the two largest bucket trucks DTE has in its fleet to raise the flag for the event.”
“It was suspended in the air around a utility pole and supported by two DTE bucket trucks,” David Peterson, DTE Energy senior communications strategist, said.
But, during last year’s Vets with Nets, the huge flag was damaged.
“Unfortunately, the 100-pound flag was blown against truck hydraulics that badly soiled the flag,” Peterson said.
Libra Industries of Jackson found out about the damage and restored the flag for free. Libra is an employee-owned personal protection equipment cleaning/recycling company.
“Libra and their team of experts took great care and pride in the project and restored the flag,” Milliron said. "It was super awesome and very generous of them to do it for free.”
The project took many hours.
“The entire team handled the flag with great care,” Beth Yoxheimer, Libra president, said. “We didn’t visualize how big a flag this size would be, but after several weeks and attempts, the final washing came out great. Knowing that the American flag is a symbol of respect, honor and patriotism, we just knew we had to get it done and thank all our veterans for their service. We just knew it was the right thing to do it for no charge.”
Vets with Nets began as Fishing It Forward Michigan, which was a chapter of Fishing Has No Boundaries. Vets with Nets offers active service members and veterans a free walleye fishing outing on the western basin of Lake Erie.
“The intention is to leave every veteran or active service member who participates in our events with a memorable experience, give them a renewed sense of pride in their service and provide hope for their future and a general positive outlook for the community in which they live and serve,” the organization’s website said.
About 60 veterans and 35 boats took part the first year, when the event was held at Sterling State Park. Since then, Vets with Nets has grown and moved to the Detroit Beach Boat Club. Last year, 300 veterans and 150 boats from all over the region took part.
Flags For Outside To learn more, visit vetswithnets.org or “Vets with Nets” on Facebook.