By Jason Say, Owner, Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal
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We are proud to announce that the Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal raised our goal of $3,000 this year to send a very special young man, Timmy Mickle, on his dream hunt to Canada.  Yesterday, the PSP team had an opportunity to see the fruition of all their hard work as we had the privilege to spend the entire day with Grant Fritz from Hunt of A Lifetime and the Mickle family.

PSP donates $3000 to Timmy Mickle and Hunt of A Lifetime.
First Row Left to Right: Andy Dautrich, Timmy Mickle, Jason Say
Back Row Left To Right: Tim Mickle, Sharon Mickle, Grant Fritz, Debbie Hicks, Deb Faith, Jim Faith

This entire event was put in motion about 9 months ago when we decided to get involved with a hunting and fishing related charity.  After spending a couple of weeks researching different charities the choice was clear, Hunt of A Lifetime would be the organization that we wanted to support.

Hunt of A Lifetime was anxious to work with us and very accommodating.  It was our wish to have them assign the Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal one person from PA whom we could help make a dream come true.  Being a Pennsylvania related website, we felt it was important to help someone right here in our state.  Hunt of A Lifetime explained that it would take about $3000 to cover all the costs of Timmy’s hunt.  We knew that this would be a very aggressive number for us, but we felt with a lot of hard work we could get close. They sent us a name and phone number to get in contact with, Timmy Mickle, and we were off.

Jim and Deb Faith of East Coast Guns generously donated a TC Inline Muzzleloader for the raffle

Well, nine months later, here we are presenting a check for $3000 to Hunt of A Lifetime and Timmy Mickle.  Our day started at East Coast Guns in Duncansville, PA.  East Coast Guns was kind enough to donate one of the feature prizes for this year’s raffle, a Thompson Center Inline Muzzleloader.  This is where for the first time I would get to meet Timmy and his family.  All I can say is, “what a family!”, but I will talk about that a little later.

We took some time with the local television stations and newspapers for some photo opportunities at the East Coast Guns store and then we were off to the Majestic Lodge, www.majesticworldlodge.com.  A special thank you to Joyce, Butch and Delmont Sunderland, owner, of the Majestic Lodge for donating the facilities for the day.  This time was designed specifically for the PSP team to spend some time with the Mickle family and Hunt of A Lifetime in a more intimate atmosphere. We couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate atmosphere and Timmy loved it!

The Majestic Lodge was kind enought to donate the use of their facilities for the day.
Front Row Left To Right: Andy Dautrich, Timmy Mickle and Jason Say
Back Row: Butch, Joyce, Tim Mickle and Grant Fritz

The Mickle Family
There are times in your life where you believe that you just became a better person after simply meeting someone special.  After spending the day with the Mickle family, this is how I feel.  It is easy to see the love and dedication that Tim and Sharon Mickle have for their son Timmy.  Timmy’s father, Tim, took some time to explain some of the things that his son Timmy has been through in his short life, including over 60 surgeries.  Emotions ran high, and I am sure I am partly to blame as I myself can be emotional, but as I explained that day, I was not tearful because I was sad, it was because I was so happy and proud to be a small part of this special person’s life.

We presented Timmy with our first annual “PSP HERO”.  Below is the description of the award.

“Each year we will present one person with “Our PSP Hero” award.  This is an award that goes to someone who lives their life to the fullest and loves the outdoors as much as we do.  It goes to a person who suffers from an illness, handicap or disability, but does not allow that to keep them from their passion – Enjoying the Outdoors.

While many of us may take for granted our time in the outdoors, it is this year award winner that helps reminds us all that the time we spend in the field with friends and loved ones should never be taken for granted.  It is with great pleasure that I present this year’s winner – Timmy Mickle a true PSP HERO.”

Field Staff with Grant Fritz of Hunt of A Lifetime and Timmy Mickle
Front Row Left to Right: Andy Dautrich, Grant Friz, Timmy Mickle, Jason Say
Back Row: Kyle Schwabenbauer, Teresa Patterson, Frank Litavish
* Not pictured – Mike Bell

Hunt Of A Lifetime
Grant Fritz, ambassador for Hunt Of A Lifetime was kind enough to join us for the day.  He took some time to explain to me and the entire Field Staff, what Hunt Of A Lifetime does and how it all works.  They truly do some amazing work and we feel very fortunate to be involved with such a wonderful organization.  We look forward to many more years working together and helping to make many more dreams come true.  Thank you for all you do Hunt of A Lifetime!  For more information on Hunt of A Lifetime, visit their web site at www.huntofalifetime.org.

Field Staff
I can always remember growing up that my mom would always say no matter what I did, or what I became, as long as I was a good person, she would be proud of me.  Well I hope my mom is proud of me today, and I can’t express enough as to how fortunate I have been in life to be surrounded by good people.  The same rings true for our field staff.  When we started down this road with the Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal and establishing a field staff, we didn’t really know what we were getting into.  Needless to say, these guys and gal on our Field Staff are awesome and deserve all the credit for raising this money for Timmy.  They always come through and when you ask them if they can do something, you always get an answer like, “I can do a lot more than that”.  What a giving bunch of people and again, I am a better person for knowing each of them.  So I would like to thank each one of them, Mike Bell, Frank Litavish, Teresa Patterson and Kyle Schwabenbauer, THANK YOU!

Timmy Mickle – Getting Ready To Go After His Black Bear!

As I finish writing this article, I find myself once again shedding a tear.  Again, not a tear because I am sad, but I am truly grateful and proud to have been a part in this young man’s life.  When you see so many negative things going on in the world, so many folks who argue about PA hunting issues, this event was something that can really put a lot of things in perspective.  At the end of the day, the most rewarding aspect for me was seeing good people pull together to do good things.  As the event wrapped up, Tim and Sharon Mickle both tearfully expressed their genuine thanks for all we had done, but it was all of us who were thanking them for just letting us be a part.  Sure, we helped send Timmy on his hunt of a lifetime, but I can tell you that I took more away from the day than words can ever describe.  “GO SHOOT A BIG ONE TIMMY!”

Check back once Timmy gets back from his hunt in mid-May and we will have an update and hopefully lots of photos!

I am going to attempt to list everyone who helped make this event and fundraiser possible.  I know I will miss someone as there were so many who helped out.  People who we have never met, who donated prizes, money, or just volunteered to help sell tickets, and those of you who purchased raffle tickets, a big THANK YOU!

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DONATED PRIZES
East Coast Guns
Battery Warehouse
Medalist Huntgear
Coveted Waters – Eric Richards
Tree Apron
Magnus Broadheads
Yellow Breeches Outfitters

DONATED CASH
Albert A. Alley, M.D.
Lawruk Builders, Inc.
Barnes Puppy Love Kennels
Lawruk Realty

SOLD TICKETS
Carl Say
Eric Say
Jack Esterly
Frank McNany
Kevin Cooper
Andy Traister
AJ Johnson

DONATED SERVICES & PRODUCTS
Delmont Sunderland, Owner, Majestic Lodge
Joyce & Butch, Majestic Lodge
Lebanon Valley Graphics – Doug Meyer
Don Ott
Brandon Ott
Rex Fahr
Riverside Duncansville
Fredericks Meat Market, Roaring Spring

*Special thanks to the Progess News for the articles they posted about our fundraiser.  We truly appreciate your support