Santee Blind Fishing Event

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An Unforgettable Experience

For over 30 years the blind and visually impaired have looked with eager anticipation to a special experience: the Santee Blind Fishing Event. Now managed by LVS, this memorable weekend is an all-inclusive day-long trip to the Santee Cooper Lakes region including transportation, meals, fishing supplies, and water access for registered attendees who are blind or visually impaired and their caregivers.

For participants the Santee Blind Fishing Tournament is more than a weekend on the water, it is an exciting change to a sometimes mundane routine and a chance to meet new people or reconnect with friends.

This event is the result of our shared commitment to improving vision health for all South Carolinians and to creating a healthier world where the blind and visually impaired know no limits. The event is open to any blind or visually impaired person (and their caregiver) in South Carolina. LVS is currently only able to provide transportation assistance from the Charleston area to the event.

2025 Event Information

Please check back in summer 2024 for information about the 2025 Santee Blind Fishing Tournament. Registration will open January 1, 2025.

You can pledge your support now with Sponsorship Forms.

Please check back regularly for updates.

2024 Event Recap

LVS celebrated Earth Day 2024 with over 40 blind and visually impaired clients and their caregivers during the annual Santee Blind Fishing Tournament at Camp Woodie. Attendees came from 8 counties throughout the state. Nearly 100 individuals were a part of this two-day event which began with a group dinner at Santee Cooper Country Club on Friday evening and ended with the Fishing Tournament Awards Ceremony at Camp Woodie on Saturday afternoon.

A bus picked up clients in Charleston, bringing guests to the Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn and Suites in Santee. This year clients came from Lexington, Richland, Sumter, and York Counties as well.

Participants enjoyed fishing from a variety of docks across 3 lakes on the Camp Woodie campus. More fish were caught during this Tournament than during any previous Tournament managed by LVS. Volunteers helped participants unhook and score each catch before returning the fish to the water. Camp Woodie staff and facilities provided a welcoming, friendly, and comfortable environment for all guests to enjoy.

LVS extends a heartfelt thanks to Boeing for sending a volunteer group who provided outstanding help throughout the event. We appreciate all funders who contribute beyond financial support for events and services.

This year’s awards included:

Most Unique Catch: Miller Ballard (who caught a turtle not once, but twice!)

3rd Place: Susan Straus, Charleston County (75 Points)

2nd Place: Sara Stottler, Charleston County (80 Points)

1st Place: Chip Hanzlik, Sumter County (150 Points)

V.I.P. Fisher of the Year: Anna Vacho, York County

This year LVS is pleased to sponsor Chip Hanzlik and Sara Stottler as the first and second place winners to attend the North Carolina Lions VIP Fishing Tournament in the fall along the Outer Banks.

Costs for this year’s event were roughly $20,000. Your philanthropic support can help defray the costs of next year’s Tournament and help us as we expand the event. Give online or text “blindfishing” to 44321. It costs roughly $250 to sponsor one blind or visually impaired person’s expenses for the weekend.

We could not have done this event without extensive help from volunteers, whose names are too numerous to mention. However, we would like to especially thank the Manning Lions Club and the Lions Clubs of Zone 2 in District 32-C for taking a leadership role in this year’s event. Thank you all!

Thank you to the patrons who generously support this special event.

Sponsors

Vendors

Partners

Past Tournament Winners

V.I.P. Fisher of the Year

The V.I.P. Fisher of the Year is a special award given based on sportsmanship, character, attitude, and service. It embodies the ethos of the event.

2024: Anna Vacho, York County

2023: Christian and Gwen Ladson, Charleston County

2022: Rita Williams, Berkeley County

An International Tournament

The North Carolina Lions VIP Fishing Tournament is the largest gathering of visually impaired in North Carolina and is believed to be the largest event of its kind in the world. The project has grown from a local tournament serving 12 blind individuals to more than 350 visually impaired persons, 130 sighted guests, and 300 volunteers.

The project brings participants from across North Carolina and around the globe together for three days of recreation, fellowship, and independent living workshops designed to help visually impaired persons (VIPs). Participants arrive on the Outer Banks on a Monday, are housed in local hotels, have meals, go fishing on two head boats and four ocean fishing piers for a day of recreation, participate in seminars and independent living training, and visit with vendors. The winners of state tournaments around the country participate in an International Tournament on Wednesday. The closing awards banquet on Wednesday offers motivation and awards. More than 300 volunteers follow the same schedule as they assist the VIPs throughout the annual event.

2022 Recap

Only 13 individuals ranked to compete in the National Tournament last year. Lucas Cain represented South Carolina and completed with peers from North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Canada. Rodney Turner from Gaston County, North Carolina won the National Tournament with 65 points and also won the North Carolina State Tournament this year. The largest fish caught was a 16” Sea Mullet from Jennette’s Pier.

LVS sponsors the winner of the Santee Blind Fishing Event to compete in this International Tournament. Last year LVS staff and 5 Lions Club volunteers from South Carolina volunteered at the event.