“Gone fishin'’” – that was the status of a contingent of Genoa Care Center residents one recent Thursday morning.

On Aug. 11, Tom Wojciechowski welcomed Center residents for a few hours of fishing in the pond at his Genoa home.

This is the fourth year Wojciechowski, who lives on Blausey Lane about a mile from the Care Center, has invited the residents to come over and drop a line in his pond.

With the assistance of Quentin and Tim Spiess, 97-year-old Ray Durdel, a World War II veteran and former mayor of Elmore, catches a largemouth bass at the Wojciechowski residence pond.

“It’s always a blast,” he said, “And this year was no different.”

Wojciechowski provided the bait and the equipment. He enlisted Genoa High School assistant football coach Tim Spiess and some of his players to come over and help the anglers bait their hooks, reel in their catches and take the fish off the hook. 

This year, eight center residents set up their poles around the pond, hoping to reel in a big largemouth bass, catfish or bluegill.

Oldies tunes provided background music for angling and swapping “fish tales.” “I had the opportunity to talk with each of them,” Wojciechowski said. “That’s probably my favorite thing about the day – they’re so sharp and they really have interesting things to say.”

Wojciechowski recognized a couple of the anglers as former customers of his business, Wojo's Heating/AC & Plumbing. “One woman had been a longtime customer ¬– we had put her furnace and air in for her," he said.

The fishing was good this year, and everyone went away happy.

“I’ve got some really big fish in the pond and every single person caught one that day – some up to 25 inches long.” he said.

“One was pulling a guy’s wheelchair,” he said. “We had to put the brakes on.”

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