The 10th annual Dan Sandstrom Walleye Tournament will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, with take-off at Bukolt Park in Stevens Point. Tournament results and a raffle and music entertainment will follow at 4 p.m. at the Moose Family Center, 1025 Second St. N., Stevens Point.

The event will include a Kids’ Casting Contest, a United Way Summer Sizzle Reading Series event, a bike drawing with other prizes and a raffle with proceeds benefiting United Way’s Learn for Life Reading Initiative.

Tournament organizer Rollie Vallin said the event is held to pay tribute to his late brother-in-law, Dan Sandstrom. The entry fee is $80 per boat, with two people allowed per boat. All entry fees will be paid back as prize money for the top 20 finishers in the tournament, with first place being $1,000 if a minimum of 50 boats participate.

In addition, the entry who catches the smallest legal walleye will receive $100 and the “mystery fish” winner will receive two $100 fishing rods.

Vallin said each boat that participates will receive enough free fishing tackle from companies like Berkley, Reef Runner, Mepps, War Eagle Lures, JB Lures, Booyah Lures and Strike King Lures for entering to cover their entry fee, which he noted no other tournaments offer, as well as free food and drink with the entry fee.

Entry forms are available online at www.unitedwaypoco.org/walleyetournament by clicking on the entry form link in the story. More information is also available by calling Vallin at 715-340-4859 or 715-345-0645.

Kids who participate in the free casting contest at the Moose Lodge will receive a goodie bag and one ticket toward the two grand prizes of a Trek bicycle and a Kindle Fire HD8. Additional tickets can be purchased for the grand prizes and other raffle items for the kids.

After the casting is done, each caster will receive pizza and soda, with the top three casters in each age group receiving prizes for their accomplishments. The contest starts at 1:30 p.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m., with results to be held at the Moose Lodge. Kids must be present to win the grand prizes that are offered.

New this year, United Way of Portage County’s Learn for Life will hold a Summer Sizzle Reading Series event at the Moose Lodge at 2 p.m. A local “celebrity” will read to children attending the event, and each child will receive a free book. The Worth Co. is sponsoring the event. Geared for children ages up to 10, the Summer Sizzle event will also include literacy-related activities.

This year’s raffle will offer nearly $12,000 in prizes, including six flat screen TVs, two laptops, a signed Green Bay Packers football, six $100 fishing rods and $200 in gas cards.

Following the raffle and new this year, The Gray Catz, a country and rock cover band, will perform from 7 to 10 p.m. AM Construction LLC of Stevens Point is sponsoring the band. The public is invited and there is no cover charge to attend. Three $100 bills will be raffled off while the band performs.

Vallin said the tournament is a way to give back to the community while honoring the memory of his late brother-in-law.

“United Way’s Learn for Life does so much for the children in our community,” he said. “It helps develop the foundations of early reading and learning for children.” Last year’s tournament raised $16,850 for Learn for Life.

Second- and third-grade students identified as needing additional reading help work with United Way’s Learn for Life trained tutors to improve those skills.

More information about the tournament is also available by calling Vallin at 715-340-4859 or 715-345-0645. More information about United Way of Portage County and Learn for Life is available online at www.unitedwaypoco.org or by calling 715-341-6740.