Tasi to Table’s Tinian chapter receives rods and reels

Tasi to Table president Gene Weaver, leftmost, and Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, rightmost, flank Tasi to Table Tinian’s student members, parents, Tasi to Table directors and advisers, and members of the Tinian Municipal Council at Tinian’s Kammer Beach last Saturday. As TTT’s four-month pilot programs on Tinian and Rota this year will soon conclude, the organization hopes to start eight-month programs on both islands next school year. (JOSHUA SANTOS)

TINIAN—Fourteen high schoolers from Tinian Jr./Sr. High School received Daiwa fishing rods, lines, hooks, tackle boxes, and lure-tying handbooks during a presentation event hosted by Tasi to Table last Saturday at Kammer Beach.

Like the gear that was given to TTT’s Rota students last weekend, the fishing rods were given to TTT by the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, while the tackle boxes, the box’s contents, and handbooks were from Fishing Tackle and Sporting Goods.

Joining TTT president Gene Weaver and TTT secretary Derik Reyes Jr. as honorary guests at the event were Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, Tinian Municipal Council chair Joseph E. Santos, Municipal Council executive director Eric Reyes, other members of the Tinian Municipal Council, and TTT Tinian’s advisers.

In his remarks, Eric Reyes, who emceed the event, said it was TTT vice president Wayne Pangelinan who reached out to the Municipal Council and brought up the idea of a TTT chapter on Tinian, inviting Reyes and other members of the council to Saipan “to get a feel of what this program is all about.” Reyes said Santos was impressed with what he saw, and worked toward making a TTT Tinian chapter a reality. “[Santos] mobilized myself and other members of the Municipal Council to spearhead [and] do whatever it took to make this program possible and to communicate with the mayor’s office,” said Reyes.

In an interview after the event, Weaver was overwhelmed by the positive responses from students, parents, and Tinian leadership, saying he is more than pleased with what TTT was able to accomplish this year.

“This is one of those moments we’ve been waiting for. It took us a year to get here, but we’re here, and the response from the students is overwhelming. These kids come up to me thanking me, showing their appreciation. …[The] mayor and the municipal council is showing their support for this program and want to continue this program for the students because there’s nothing like it here,” said Weaver.

One of the students, John Paul Merza, who is an incoming junior at Tinian Jr./Sr. High School, said he had some prior fishing experience before participating in TTT’s four-month program, but it was through TTT that he learned in-depth aspects of fishing and topics such as boating safety. He was grateful for the fishing essentials he got last Saturday.

“I’m very thankful. I got so excited when they said that they were going to give out rods, and today’s the day. We’re [very] thankful, as a group. …We got to do [many] things. We got to travel to Saipan and experience troll fishing,” said Merza.

Tasi to Table seeks to share with the youth the joys of fishing. TTT first began with a six-month program for the Da’Ok Academy in summer 2019, and started an eight-month program for Saipan’s high school students in 2020. TTT launched Tinian and Rota branches this summer, first testing out a four-month pilot program with hopes to begin an eight-month program on both islands next school year. Students who participate and complete TTT’s programs earn elective credit hours that go toward high school graduation.