The fishing tournament was established in 1999 to raise money for the Richard T. Gaston Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund awards at least five $2,000 scholarships each year to seniors graduating from his alma mater ~ Franklin County High School.

Thus far, we have supported 62 college-bound seniors with a total of $122,000 in scholarship money.

Our basis for awarding scholarships is quite simple. Recipients are chosen based mostly upon answers to an essay question. We believe that as long as the students have been accepted to a technical/trade school, college, or university, then they qualify for assistance. Our selection committee does not believe that grades,test scores, and class-standing are the best way to measure one's desire to reach his/her goals in life.