IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
After a tedious and drawn out discussion, covering subjects ranging from
global warming to Wikipedia, I am happy to announce a date has been set
for our annual fishing symposium. The 2022 Gabby Hayes Memorial Fishing
Tournament will take place April 14-17th. At this time, pending any unforeseen
natural disasters, the official tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 16th.
I look forward to seeing everyone at camp.
After a tedious and drawn out discussion, covering subjects ranging from
global warming to Wikipedia, I am happy to announce a date has been set
for our annual fishing symposium. The 2022 Gabby Hayes Memorial Fishing
Tournament will take place April 14-17th. At this time, pending any unforeseen
natural disasters, the official tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 16th.
I look forward to seeing everyone at camp.
In memoriam: Mark Bedont 1947-2021
Gabby Champion and GabbyHayes.net Webmaster Mark O. Bedont
I’m sad to report that my long-time friend and GabbyHayes.net Webmaster
Mark Bedont has died from complications from prostate cancer. Mark had
been battling the disease for the past two years, but lost the fight when it
recently spread to other parts of his body. He was 74 years old and retired
from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Mark was a native of West Mifflin, Pa., and earned bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. That’s where I met Mark
in 1973 when he returned to school after a tour of duty with the Army in
Vietnam and I returned after a hitch in the Navy in the Mediterranean.
Mark was a fixture at Gabby Camp over the years and one of the earliest of
what we now call the “Gabby Guys,” having made his first trip to Kettle
Creek with new I.U.P. friends Bob Prosperi, Larry Selby, Paul Phillips, Jerry
Scarpo and me in 1975, the year before the first Gabby tournament.
Mark was one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet, a favorite in
Gabby camp, aptly described by Gabby Guy Jeff Cousins as a “true
gentleman.” He was smart and gregarious, with a rapport for people
regardless of their background. Even when camping in the woods he
always looked neat and dapper, never disheveled.
In 2009, after decades of catching fish on Kettle and three times as the
tournament runner-up, Mark won the Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing
Tournament with a 13 1/2-inch rainbow. That same Saturday, he received a
Founders Award for contributions to the betterment of the Gabby
experience by Gabby.Hayes.net, the tournament website he created in
1999. With Mark’s endorsement, Julius Czarnecki, a member of the Gabby
Pocono Tribe, will succeed as webmaster of GabbyHayes.net.
Mark is survived by his wife Sally, son Alex, a Gabby Champion in 2014,
daughter-in-law Kari and three grandchildren, Mark, Melody and Elijah.
Services will be at the Nelson Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains
Road, Williamsburg, Va., Friday, Dec. 17 from 5-7 p.m., with a reception to
follow.
Founder Dane Konop
I’m sad to report that my long-time friend and GabbyHayes.net Webmaster
Mark Bedont has died from complications from prostate cancer. Mark had
been battling the disease for the past two years, but lost the fight when it
recently spread to other parts of his body. He was 74 years old and retired
from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Mark was a native of West Mifflin, Pa., and earned bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. That’s where I met Mark
in 1973 when he returned to school after a tour of duty with the Army in
Vietnam and I returned after a hitch in the Navy in the Mediterranean.
Mark was a fixture at Gabby Camp over the years and one of the earliest of
what we now call the “Gabby Guys,” having made his first trip to Kettle
Creek with new I.U.P. friends Bob Prosperi, Larry Selby, Paul Phillips, Jerry
Scarpo and me in 1975, the year before the first Gabby tournament.
Mark was one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet, a favorite in
Gabby camp, aptly described by Gabby Guy Jeff Cousins as a “true
gentleman.” He was smart and gregarious, with a rapport for people
regardless of their background. Even when camping in the woods he
always looked neat and dapper, never disheveled.
In 2009, after decades of catching fish on Kettle and three times as the
tournament runner-up, Mark won the Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing
Tournament with a 13 1/2-inch rainbow. That same Saturday, he received a
Founders Award for contributions to the betterment of the Gabby
experience by Gabby.Hayes.net, the tournament website he created in
1999. With Mark’s endorsement, Julius Czarnecki, a member of the Gabby
Pocono Tribe, will succeed as webmaster of GabbyHayes.net.
Mark is survived by his wife Sally, son Alex, a Gabby Champion in 2014,
daughter-in-law Kari and three grandchildren, Mark, Melody and Elijah.
Services will be at the Nelson Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains
Road, Williamsburg, Va., Friday, Dec. 17 from 5-7 p.m., with a reception to
follow.
Founder Dane Konop
Dane Konop photo
"The Gabby" -- An Institution and Inspiration for 52 Years
The Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing Tournament has been held on Kettle Creek on opening day of Pennsylvania trout season every year since 1976, when the tournament was named by Founder Dane Konop and the first trophy was awarded. The so-called “Inspirational Gabby” was caught in 1969 by Pat Annegan and was followed by return trips to Kettle Creek every year since 1974. The Tournament was so-named as an honorific to famous actor Gabby Hayes originally from nearby Wellsville, New York who performed early in his career in the then-bustling logging town of Cross Fork, PA.
Click here to view Mike Shanks' GABBY FAMILY TREE
Click on photos on this website for a larger image.
Dane Konop photo Dane Konop photo File photo
Cross Fork view
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Dane Konop photo
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Dane Konop photo
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