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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2017)
Sports B1 Appeal Tribune, www.silvertonappeal.com Wednesday, April 12, 2017 MOLLY J. SMITH / STATESMAN JOURN Silverton High junior Maggie Buckholz was voted the athlete of the week. Silverton junior is athlete of the week Shortstop commits to play at Oregon BILL POEHLER STATESMAN JOURNAL Putting up big statistics is what Maggie Buckholz does. Silverton High School’s junior short- stop was 3 for 4 with a triple and three RBI in a 16-3 win against South Eugene April 4. Buckholz was voted the athlete of the week by a poll of readers. All Athletes of the Week will receive a complimentary ticket to the June 6 Statesman Journal Sports Awards. Buckholz is batting .567 with 11 runs scored, 18 RBI, four doubles, three tri- ples and three home runs and a 1.200 slugging percentage through nine games this season. She has verbally committed to play softball in college at Oregon. STEVE MILLER / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL Henry Miller fishes at Pond 6 at St. Louis Ponds. St. Louis Ponds have fish, great memories OUTDOORS HENRY MILLER GERVAIS - A good friend and longtime fel- low outdoor writer (see next Saturday’s column about the legendary John Higley) once re- marked that “I don’t know which I en- joy more, fishing, or being at the places where fish are found.” We were, as I recall, at Big Boul- der Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilder- ness. Or it could have been at Eiler Lake in the Thousand Lakes Wilder- ness, both in Northern California. Ah the fog of time. Higley’s comment was made all the more pertinent because of the set- tings and because the brook trout were plentiful and voracious at each of those locations. As an addendum to Higley’s mus- ing, nostalgia also adds a not-inconse- quential dimension in the “why we fish” explanation, at least for me. Case in point, and a lot closer to home, St. Louis Ponds west of Ger- vais rings all of the bells for me as far as the fishing/place/memories goes. I’ve been a shameless promoter for this network of shallow, warm- water fishing ponds for decades. The back story is that the almost 22 acres of ponds were carved ex- pressly to provide maximum bank access for anglers on a 260-acre prop- erty owned by the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife and co- managed now with the Marion Coun- ty Parks Department. Since the week of Feb. 27 through March 3, more than 3,500 keeper-size and some larger rainbow trout have been stocked in the ponds, according to the department’s stocking schedule. As an aside, if you would like to give trout fishing at St. Louis a shot, Fish and Wildlife will hold a family “I don’t know which I enjoy more, fishing, or being at the places where fish are found.” JOHN HIGLEY OUTDOOR WRITER fishing event at Pond 6 just north of the parking lot at the pond complex from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 15. Admission is free, as is loaner equipment, bait and tackle along with assistance for first-timers. A fishing license, which must be purchased be- fore you get there, is required for those 12 and older. The final scheduled trout-stocking is the week of April 17-21, after which the shallow ponds usually will be- come too warm to support the fish. But all of the ponds have popula- tions of smallish warm-water fish from bass and bluegill to crappie and catfish, the latter including an occa- sional surprise such as the 3-footer that was caught in 2008. And access from wheelchair- and stroller-friendly paved trails to ac- cessible fishing decks and platforms recently has been installed. The nostalgia angle comes from the occasional and fondly remem- bered outings with my daughter, Meghan, about age 5, during her all- too-infrequent custody visits from her home in Southern California. We would catch bluegill and occa- sional bass among the myriad snags using a cane pole, bobber and garden worms. As I said … a true nostalgia-bath all the way; it’s how I learned as a small kid fishing with my grandfa- ther, also Henry Miller, during family visits to the other St. Louis, in Missou- ri, where I was born. On another fateful fishing trip a couple of decades ago before offi- cials instituted an after-dark closure (currently 8 p.m.), then-editor Dan Bender and I went to the ponds on a nighttime catfish trip. Neither of us caught a fish, but I heard a “hiss,” pointed my flashlight at the sound and was staring at the glowing eyes and candy-corn orange teeth of an overprotective, pug-sized mother nutria 2 feet away guarding her two guinea pig-sized offspring. It was one of those M. Night Shya- malan fishing moments where the word “evacuate” takes on multiple meanings. Because of their interlaced con- struction, the network of seven ponds is also a hikers’, dog-walkers’ and birders’ paradise with a chance to see occasional garter snakes and other critters. The ponds are about 12 miles north of Keizer on River Road NE/French Prairie Road NE. Watch for the St. Louis Road turn on the right, then take a right on Tesch Road on the right just after the railroad tracks coming from the west. Or from the Brooks Exit on Inter- state 5 northbound, go right to High- way 99E, then left on 99, to the sto- plight at Gervais Road. Go left through Gervais, where the road be- comes St. Louis Road, and take a left on Tesch just before the tracks. Go slow after you leave the paved section. It’s a winter-rutted bone- shaker most of the way to the parking lot. Check it out. You’ll thank me later. Former Statesman Journal out- doors reporter Henry Miller returns to the Outdoors page with a weekly column. To contact him, email HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com . STATESMAN JOURNAL SPORTS AWARDS Scholarship award now accepting nominations BILL POEHLER STATESMAN JOURNAL High school athletes are often feted for their accomplishments in sporting arenas. When a basketball player scores 30 points or a football player runs for four touchdowns in a game, thousands of fans will see it. But those fans don’t see it when that same athlete spends countless hours studying in libraries or pushes them- selves to higher levels in academic are- nas. The Statesman Journal will recog- nize athletes for their academic accom- plishments. At the June 6 Statesman Journal Sports Awards, one scholar athlete from the Mid-Valley will be awarded the Scholar Athlete Award and receive a $5,000 scholarship. To nominate an athlete, fill out the form at http://community.statesman journal.com/sportsawards/2017/schol ar.php. Nominations close at midnight on April 16. Three finalists will be selected from those nominated by a panel of judges. The three finalists will be invited to the Statesman Journal Sports Awards where the winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship. For more information about the event go to StatesmanJournal.com/ sportsawards bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler TIMOTHY J. GONZALEZ FOR STATESMAN JOURNAL All of the winners from the 2016 Mid-Valley Sports Awards are pictured with Joey Harrington and Jerry Rice on June 7, 2016.