PD Sports

September 6, 2009

Labor Day traditions and summer thoughts

OUTDOORS WITH JAKE

By Don Jacobs
Times Leader Staff Writer

The on again/off again summer has been an interesting one. Just when the river got right for fishing, the storms came and so did the high water. It seems the time flew by over the past few months. Schools are back and so are the long traffic lines behind the school busses. Friday night school football is back with home heating bills are soon to follow. This is of course Labor Day weekend when we should be out enjoying what’s left of summer because the official start of autumn is two weeks away.

Many outdoor enthusiasts are excited about the fall. Anglers will tell you the bigger fish hit better when the water gets a little cooler. I agree. Some of the largest fish are pulled out of the lakes and rivers when the leaves are dropping and there’s frost on the pumpkins.

Hunters off all kinds are ready to enjoy their days in the field. Fall mushroom pickers are already searching the woods for sheepshead and early podpinkis. The woods smell like mushrooms and I do believe the cool nights should get them going. I will start spending more time in the woods after this weekend.

This is the time of year that I will combine an archery scouting trip with a mushroom picking sight survey. Last year was a bit slow in the podpinki department so I am chomping at the bit to get a few in the freezer. I will keep you posted if I hear any mushroom scuttle-butt on the street or if I find them myself. Either way a hike in the woods is a great way to get in shape and enjoy some of Mother Nature beauty.

There are a few hunting seasons in full swing. Both the dove and early goose hunting seasons opened on Tuesday, September 1. There are a few special regulations for hunting dove so be sure to check your hunters manual. The early goose season runs through the month of September and is designed to help manage the resident goose population. They cause quite a bit of damage to public property as well as local farms.

Once again, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has set aside a few days for youth only hunts. The first one is a special day of waterfowl hunting scheduled for Saturday, September 19. The Youth Waterfowl Day will be open to those 12-15 years of age. To participate, a youngster must hold a junior hunting license and migratory game bird license, and be accompanied by an adult, who may assist the youth in calling, duck identification and other aspects of the hunt. During this special day-long hunt, youth can harvest ducks, mergansers, coots and moorhens, as well as Canada geese, depending upon the zones that they are hunting in. Youth Waterfowl Day bag limits for ducks, mergansers and coots will be consistent with the limit for the regular season.

Outdoor Life

Please join us tonight at 6:30 for Pennsylvania Outdoor Life as we look at fundraising sporting clays event to help raise money for the Josh Miller Memorial Fund. Have a great Labor Day and please remember to support the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon by making a donation for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

WNEP Helps “Jerry Kids”

WNEP The News Station is proud to be, for the 35th year, the local host of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. The telethon will be broadcast live from the Mall at Steamtown in downtown Scranton with local cut-ins starting tonight at 9:00. The telethon will continue broadcasting until tomorrow at 6:30 pm. Newswatch 16 anchors Mindi Ramsey and Norm Jones along with Newswatch 16’s Morning reporter Ryan Leckey will join me in hosting the 21� hr. long telethon. In addition, WNEP personalities will be on hand to help with check presentations and pitch for donations. And dozens of local civic groups and volunteers lend a hand by helping answer the phones that ring throughout the telethon.

Last year WNEP raised a record $579,821 locally for Jerry’s Kids. Nationally, more than $65 million was raised for MDA.Adults who used to watch as kids now introduce their own children to the star-studded variety show that simultaneously entertains, informs and raises funds for the service and research programs of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

It first broadcasted over Labor Day weekend in 1966 by just one TV station in New York City, the unique event starred popular comedian Jerry Lewis who quickly caught the public’s attention - and raised more than $1 million. Now the show is broadcasted on 190 MDA “Love Network" stations across the country. In 1998, the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon made history as the first telethon seen around the world via Internet simulcast, hosted by RealNetworks on MDA’s Web site. An "interactive" show long before the computer age popularized the term, the Telethon’s drama comes from the ever-increasing fund-raising total posted on the tote board - by hand in 1966, now electronically. Jerry’s goal of raising "one dollar more" than the previous year’s amount has been more than met almost every year, thanks to the generosity and compassion of the American public.

Co-Hosting the 44th National Telethon will be Jann Carl, Tom Bergeron, Alison Sweeney, and Norm Crosby. The Telethon will continue to originate from the South Pointe Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas. MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual contributors.

If you can’t stop by the Steamtown Mall to say hello and make a donation, then please consider calling us at anytime throughout the telethon. Your contributions can really make a difference. Thank you in advance!

Tweet	Follow @TLsports