Post Messenger Recorder -

The Belleville Police Department and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources joined together to put on the fourth annual "Cops N' Bobbers" event on June 2nd at the Belleville Community Park.

The event was for children Pre-K – 8th Grade. The children fished with buddies while the smaller children fished from the fish pond and colored. The children kept the Wardens very busy with measuring their catches. There was a fishing contest for the biggest and smallest fish. The winners received poles and tackle boxes. The smallest fish winner was Isiah Wilkinson with a 3.5" blue gill and the largest fish winner was Lauren Bartels with a 9.75" bull head.

The children had a chance to meet and talk with Police Officers from different agencies. The Belleville Fire Department had a display and their Fire ATV there for the kids to learn about safety. Belleville Police Department Mounted Patrol unit was on scene to assist. Both Monty and Champ tried their hooves at fishing. Champ won a hula hoop from the fish pond and Monty had a little girl help him catch a fish. Wisconsin Department of Corrections-Probation and Parole Agents were on hand to help out, and Belleville EMS was there to assist.

This event was sponsored by IBG Marketing, JBM Patrol and Protection, UW Health Belleville, Disch Auto & Towing, Small Biz Resource, LLC, Mike O'Connor State Farm Insurance, Sugar River Senior Center, DNR, Belleville Police Association, R & L Acres, Dick & Linda Miller. The UW Health Belleville Clinic made lunch for the children and the Sugar River Senior Center provided cookies.

Photo courtesy of Officer Vicki Beiersdorf, Belleville Police Department

Smallest fish contest winner Isiah Wilkinson (left) 3.5-inch blue gill.  Largest fish contest winner, Lauren Bartels (right) 9.75-inch bull head.

We would like to thank all the volunteers that made the event very successful: Ray Lamboley, Belleville Police Chief Bill Eichelkraut, Sergeant Molly Hultine, and Officers Vicki Beiersdorf and Jeremy Larson, Linda Hultine, Tim Beiersdorf, Wisconsin State Patrol Inspector Teresa Burchard, Jennifer Miller, Tony Boehnen, Erick Tracy, Belleville Fire Fighters Aaron Betts, Doug Babler, Travis Gilbertson, and Duane Schlimgen, Belleville EMTs Don Tourdot, Connie Jameson, and Sindru Battula, Lucas Peterson, and Gavin Burchard. We would like to thank DNR Wardens Ryan Caputo and Nick King, and Probation Agents Brett Hammermeister, Alex Grabowski, and Marc Peterson. We had Evansville Police Officer Dave Wickstrum helping out in order to model our program for their community. Special thanks go to Dick Miller, Linda Miller, Peggy Soehnlein, and Judy Bacha for putting so much time into this event for the children.