Cops And Bobbers

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Mike Carpenter's passion for fishing, coupled with his compassion for youngsters, changed lives and built a legacy of giving.

The city of Paducah, Ky., may not conjure up thoughts of street gangs and drive-by shootings, but the river city has its mean streets and its share of poverty. When Mike Carpenter followed his lifelong dream of being a police officer more than a decade ago, he was assigned to some of the town's most downtrodden areas. The children he encountered there were initially resistant to his attempts to reach out to them and help them make the right decisions with their lives; after all, a policeman was not generally thought of as being a "good guy" in these neighborhoods.

A policeman came to their doors to let the family know when a relative had been shot. It was a policeman who had arrested a cousin, a brother, or even their father. A policeman would interrogate them when a crime had been committed. In their eyes, it wasn't easy to trust a policeman.

Over time, the determined Carpenter established positive relationships with some youngsters. But he became an outsider when he told them some of the things he enjoyed. Although Carpenter didn't expect city kids to share his passion for fishing, he was surprised to learn that only some of them had seen scenic Kentucky Lake, just 20 miles from downtown Paducah. When he shared this fact with his good friend John Parks, a McCracken County deputy sheriff, Cops and Bobbers was born.

The two men began plans for a fishing tournament to broaden the horizons of some inner-city kids and for the public relations benefits it would have in their neighborhoods and the pure pleasure that comes from watching a child catch his first fish.

"These kids are not afforded the same opportunities as many other kids," Parks said. "Sometimes these kids end up in trouble because they don't know any better and think they don't have alternatives."

Carpenter began talking to school guidance counselors and neighborhood leaders to identify children who might benefit the most from such an outing. He and Parks began seeking funding, going door to door to raise money for equipment and other expenses needed for even the smallest fishing tournament. In 1994, the first Cops and Bobbers tournament was held. About a dozen youngsters enjoyed the serenity of the nearby lake, the excitement of catching a fish, and the self-esteem of spending an entire day with a grown man - who just happened to be a law officer - that would listen to them and take an interest in what was going on in their lives.

"We're not doing this for the kids who live in the middle-class suburbs, have their moms taking them to soccer practice and go fishing with their dads on the weekends," Parks said. "Those kids are getting what they need. This is for kids who need attention, who need to spend a day with an adult who cares about what they think and what's going to happen to them as they go through life."

It had only been a few years before the first Cops and Bobbers event when Carpenter met a young mother at a singles group at Paducah's First Baptist Church. Carpenter had worked as a bricklayer in nearby Princeton, Ky., but had moved to Paducah when he was contracted to work on a new mall. Although he had made many friends through his work and the karate class he taught at the church, it was Sharon who caught his attention.

He told her about the things he enjoyed in life, his interests such as hunting and archery, in which he had won several state competitions. He also told her of his lifelong desire to be a policeman. She encouraged him to follow that dream. It wasn't long before he learned what it was like to be a cop - and Sharon was learning how to be a cop's wife.

Carpenter, who had a daughter, Tamby, from his previous marriage, adopted Sharon's son, Shannon. Tamby Sweet is married with a stepdaughter and a 2-year-old son, and Shannon is attending the University of Kentucky. With the rigors of police work taking their usual toll on Carpenter, he found some relaxation and solitude with his reel repair business. But it was the children who lacked a family like the one he had built that seemed to mean the most to Carpenter.

"When he started working at Elmwood Court, he would come home and tell me about all the kids without both parents, and sometimes either parent, around," Sharon recalls. "He would give them candy and talk to them. He tried to help steer them in the right direction. He even started a scouting group there."

As more and more children became aware of Cops and Bobbers, Parks and Carpenter had to work harder and smarter to fund the tournament they scheduled each fall. For a time, they associated with a hospital near the lake, but according to Parks, the hospital tried to take too much control of the event. He and Carpenter discontinued the association.

In need of a non-profit organization to serve as a kind of administrative body over the tournament, they turned to the Fraternal Order of Police. That led them to Jan Flowers, a retired police officer from Chicago. Flowers had retired from police work and moved to Kentucky Lake, where he purchased Bear Creek Boat Works. He lent his support to the cause.

The tournament was initially held in conjunction with a local bass fishing tournament. The children, each paired with a police officer, would fish from the banks of the lake. They weighed their fish in, and trophies were awarded. As the tournament grew over the next decade and a half, area guides donated the use of boats so officers like Parks and Carpenter could give many a youngster their first boat ride.

They also found a charity to help underwrite any shortcomings in the budget - Ronald McDonald's House Charities. Dunn's Sporting Goods in Paducah donates rods, reels, and tackle for the kids, allowing them to keep the equipment. Many participants later used them on local ponds or the nearby Ohio River. Ranger Boats and Operation Bass supply caps and T-shirts, and Walmart donate tackle to the cause.

Parks has even received inquiries lately from other groups looking to start such a program and want advice on getting things up and running.

The Jeanette Story Outdoor Sports and Boat Show has been growing by leaps and bounds in Murray, Ky., 45 miles from Paducah. Held at Murray State University's Regional Special Events Center, hundreds of exhibitors, from major boat manufacturers to area custom rod and reel makers - such as Carpenter, show up each year. Not only could Carpenter spend the day talking fishing, but he could also make some contacts that could bring something to the table for Cops and Bobbers and maybe even pick up a few rod and reel customers to "finance my habit," as he liked to say.

But Carpenter suffered a fatal heart attack at the 2000 show in January while setting up his booth. He was 53.

Sharon is back to work in the loan department at Union Planters Bank, getting by with the help of her coworkers, the Paducah Police Department, and several of the friends her husband had made through fishing. She has difficult moments, like when she reflects on how much he was looking forward to taking his grandson on his first fishing trip, but she is surviving "a day at a time."

Parks and the growing number of volunteers continue to run the Cops and Bobbers tournament. They have renamed the event the "Mike Carpenter Memorial Cops & Bobbers Tournament." Future generations of kids who are introduced to fishing, who learn that the men and women in blue are their friends and that there are people in this world who care about and believe in them, will never know the man who opened this door, but they will know his name.

Content provided by Bass Fishing Magazine, the official publication of FLW Outdoors