By Tyler Allen Explorebigsky.com Staff Writer
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS – The Bar Z Riverside Ranch will host Casting 4A Cure Sept. 20-23 for the third consecutive year. C4AC is a fundraising fishing tournament to support a rare and debilitating disease called Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects females almost exclusively.
Rett syndrome complicates motor skills, breathing, physical growth and the ability to talk and communicate. Bill Farnum, of Portland, Ore., started C4AC after his 3-year-old daughter Ella was diagnosed with the disease in 2008.
The first event was held in Steamboat Springs, Colo. in 2008, and since then the nonprofit has raised more than $200,000 for clinical research and family support. The event now occurs four times a summer—including once in Victor, Idaho, and also at the Bar Z, on the Smith River near White Sulphur Springs.
“When I first visited Dave Hanson and the Bar Z Ranch three years ago, I knew [it was] a perfect location for one of our events,” Farnum said. “[With] great fishing, incredible scenery, gracious hosts, knowledgeable guides and amazing food, we couldn’t ask for a better place.”
Occupying 12,000 acres along the Smith River, the ranch offers tournament participants more than 30 miles of access to the river, and to private streams and lakes. Coming from around the country, attendees will compete in pairs to support girls diagnosed with Rett. There will be silent and live auctions after the last day of fishing to help reach C4C’s $25,000 2012 fundraising goal.
“It’s great to be bringing awareness to the disease and also how the fly fishing community has walked hand in hand with this disease,” said Jim Ogburn, manager and guide at the Bar Z Ranch.
To learn more about Rett’s syndrome or C4AC, visit casting4acure.com. To enter the tournament and raise money for Rett’s syndrome, contact Jim or Dave at barzriversideranch.com.
