Alaska moose & his hunter!
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3786" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Mom & Dad J. @ banquet"]
[/caption]
State capital - look close for Hamilton.
By Phil Knapper
Benton Evening News
Thu Oct 29, 2009, 01:55 PM CDT
Benton, Ill. -
Bennett Page was able to go on a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska last month as part of a trip sponsored by Hunt of a Lifetime, a non-profit organization for kids under the age of 21 with life threatening diseases.
Page, 15, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on February 20, 2007 — his 13th birthday. He has undergone extensive chemotherapy for 15 months and cranial radiation. He will undergo chemotherapy treatment until July of next year.
But on September 8, Page and his family — mother Cindy, father Sid, and brother Hamilton — traveled 3,500 miles to Chisana, Alaska, a small settlement between two mountains in the wilderness of Alaska.
“A little plane flew us in there,” Page said. “The closest road is 100 miles away. The people that live there are in the middle of nowhere between two mountains.”
Page, an avid hunter, was on the lookout for a moose when the hunting expedition started.
“I picked moose hunting because I wanted to go somewhere I would probably never go in my life and Alaska is pretty far away,” Page said. “And I chose to hunt moose because most go for elk and it was something different.”
Page and his father went out on the hunt with guide Amber Lee Dibble of Pioneer Outfitters.
“It was different that hunting here,” Page said. “You really didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. We slept in and took off about 11 a.m. and rode until it got dark and we went back to camp.”
The first couple of days, Page saw four timberwolves, but no grizzlies.
“We saw some timberwolves, and you can shoot four in Alaska,” he said. “But they were too far away to shoot.”
The rest of the hunt was spent stalking a moose to see if it was large enough to shoot.
“We saw it and we stalked it, but when we would get close, it would run away,” Page said. “We got about 20 yards from another moose that dad heard rubbing against a tree, but it was just a baby. It still weighed around 1,300 pounds, though.”
The group then circled its tracks and found the original moose again.
“My dad was up on a hill watching it and telling us which way it was moving,” Page said. “There were a lot of pine trees and bushes around which made it hard to move.”
When the moose got into an open spot, Page was able to fire.
“I laid my gun on a dead tree and put it on him,” said Page. “I hit him in the heart with the first shot and hit in the same spot with the second shot.”
The moose fell on the third shot.
“I was excited when I shot it, but I like hunting myself better than with a guide,” he said. “I think making your own choices leads to success and I like to put my stand where I want to when I deer hunt and doing it myself.
“But it was a really cool experience,” he said. “The mountains, the snow … everything was cool.”
In all, Page hunted for 10 days and was in Alaska for 12 days.
The moose head and shoulder mount were shipped to a taxidermist and Page will get to pick it up in the spring.
“I am going to a taxidermy convention in Springfield in March to pick it up,” Page said. “Then I will probably put it in my room.”
For more information on the Hunt of A Lifetime organization, you can visit its web site at huntofalifetime.org.
Tina Pattison, President and founder of HOAL, was inspired to start the organization after her stepson Matt’s wish to hunt moose in Canada was turned down. Matt passed away from battling cancer in 1999 and Pattison is determined to continue on his dream and love for hunting to other children with life threatening diseases. The organization will provide 80 children with a hunting/fishing dreams this year.
Bennett in left field
[/caption]
Bennett on First Base
[/caption]
Tyler & Bennett in dugout
[/caption]
Benton Rangers
[/caption]
Bennett & His favorite Nurse
[/caption]
Believe In Miracles!
This month’s edition of the SI Sports Connection magazine features and article about Bennett being named on the Jr. High SI All star baseball team while fighting leukemia. The magazine is published by Jim Muir and photos by Ceasar Maragni. A letter at the front of the magazine from the publisher states this:
Also this month is another story about another young man who also overcame great odds just to be able to play sports again. Bennett Page, an eighth grader at Benton Middle School, was diagnosed two years ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which took him away from the baseball diamonds and basketball courts that he loved and left him battling for his life. Earlier this fall Bennett returned to sports and played baseball for BMS team and was chosen to compete in a year-end all-star game. Bennett’s triumphant story is a testament to willpower, positive thinking, and prayer.
Here is the link to the article: http://issuu.com/sisportsconnection/docs/nov_2008/8.
A special thank you to Jim and Ceasar for bringing Bennett’s journey to many sports fans and southern Illinoisans! I pray that Bennett’s positive attitude and willingness to never give up will bring others encouragement, believe in God and provide faith that they can do anything. I’ll never forget this quote, “whoever said,” “winning isn’t everything, never had cancer.” Bennett continues to win this fight! God has blessed us in so many ways. He has given more than what was ever taken away.
This story about Bennett will be televised on SI Sports Connection program on channel 3 (WSIL) this Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
A Portrait of Courage
The video below is from the Benton Middle School basketball banquet on March 29th, 2007 when Hamilton received the Best Ball-boy Award and Bennett received the Courage Award. Following that, Bennett says a few words about the award.
NOTE: Slower computers and dial-up internet users may experience choppy video.
Who remembers this game???
NOTE: Slower computers and dial-up internet users may experience choppy video.