Creek Fest 2015 showcased the natural beauty of Three Mile Creek and Tricentennial Park

Area Girl Scouts try their hand at cane pole fishing on Saturday, May 9, 2015,

during Creek Fest's Cane Pole Fishing Tournament at Tricentennial Park

off Stanton Road in Midtown Mobile.

MOBILE, Ala. -- Hundreds of local residents came out for the inaugural Creek Fest at Tricentennial Park in Midtown Mobile on Saturday, May 9, 2015. Creek Fest was created as a family-friendly celebration marking the revival of Three Mile Creek in Mobile.

Creek Fest included a Cane Pole Fishing Tournament for those 16 and younger. More than 24 fish were caught during the afternoon event, including bream and goggle eyes, organizers said. The fish, and a few turtles, were caught, recorded and then released.

Destiny Russell took home the prize for the largest bream in the inaugural Creek Fest Cane Pole Fishing Tournament. Other winners were Sarah Frances Warren for the most unusual catch, Charlie Smith for the smallest bream, Miles Cummings for the second largest bream and Marshall Cummings for the largest Goggle Eye.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from across the Gulf Coast also gathered at Creek Fest 2015 to earn merit badges and volunteer their time. Girl Scouts who attended the event earned a special Creek Fest Badge.

The idea for the celebration came from Women Making a Difference, a Public Health Advisory Board of the Mobile County Health Department. The board received grant funding of nearly $220,000 from the Sybil Smith Charitable Trust to make improvement to an area of Three Mile Creek in Midtown Mobile.



Destiny Russell, left, took home the prize for the largest bream

caught during Creek Fest's Cane Pole Fishing Tourament on

May 9, 2015 at Tricentennial Park.

The funds will be combined with others from the city of Mobile to create a kayak launch and about three miles of trails and paths along a section of Three Mile Creek near Lake Drive Tricentennial Park off Stanton Road. Dozens of community partners came together in recent months to take Creek Fest from a board room idea to the grass roots events held Saturday in Mobile.

It took a devoted team of community partners to make the inagural event a success. Partners includes: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, Mobile Baykeeper, the Mobile County Health Department, Keep Mobile Beautiful, Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Gulf Quest, Mobile Area Wwater and Sewer System, ADEM, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Lowes, 5 Rivers Delta Resources, USA Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Mobile Infirmary, The City of Mobile, The Mobile Bay Bears, Alabama Division of Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries and Women Making A Difference.