It won't be long now before leaders of the Park Rapids chapter of the Minnesota Darkhouse and Angling Association (MDAA) visit Delaney Sports Center to deliver the hottest calendar in town.
"People have been calling for weeks to see if it's in," said Kevin Lempola, the bait shop's co-owner.
The local fishing club's desktop date keeper isn't for sale. Rather, it's kept at Delaney's checkout counter as the only way area residents, church groups, school children, scouting groups, military vets and caretakers of the disabled can sign up for free time in the club's cozy, well-equipped Community Fish House.
Now entering it's ninth season, the heated eight-hole trailer is a vivid example of how fishing brings certain Minnesota towns together over winter. Locally, it's proven to be a wildly popular community service.
"As soon as it goes up, there isn't a day goes by when someone isn't in that fish house," Lempola said. "And there's a whole pile of volunteers who make sure it's open in the morning and closed at night. … It's truly a community pitching in."
David East, president of the 40-member Park Rapids MDAA chapter, said the red-sided fish house hosts 400 to 600 ice anglers a year — people who come from all walks of life. The key to attracting a diverse local crowd is requiring users to sign up in person at the bait shop. No phone reservations are accepted and no one can book an angling session more than two weeks out from an appointed date.
"We've had people calling from Fargo wanting to reserve it for the weekend and that's not what it's for," said Armin Hawkins, a Community Fish House volunteer and charter member of the Park Rapids MDAA.
People are free to drop money into a donation box inside the structure, but the only requirements for sign up are that the signature user holds a driver's license and fishing license. Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited and users have their choice between an 8 a.m. to noon session or 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. session.