Hook the line: Hellbender Outfitters honors Gold Star families with custom fishing rods for Memorial Day

ELIZABETHTON -- Not forgotten. It's that singular phrase that Matthew Moore emphasized as he came up with an idea to honor fallen military soldiers and their families this Memorial Day – something personal to him as a Marine veteran himself. "I have some friends that I lost overseas, and it's just part of the culture there, y'know?" he said. "And I always thought they have younger siblings or they may have kids, and I thought, 'Man, this has got to be a tough time of year, what if we can do something that brought them just a sliver of joy?'" That "sliver of joy" is custom fishing rods. As the owner of Hellbender Outfitters in downtown Elizabethton, Moore said making custom fishing rods is something his business offers to its regular customers. However, in honor of Memorial Day, his idea inspired him to partner with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2166 and American Legion Post 49 to fully fund the customization of a fishing rod and give it to a Gold Star Family. This Gold Star title is for families who lost an immediate family member during their time of service. Moore knows the weight of that loss, and he said he wanted to take the opportunity with his business to give back to Gold Star families. "My last tour in Afghanistan, I lost a really close friend to a gunshot wound," he said. "His younger brother continued to serve, and it became a really big deal to everyone that was close to him, because in the service, we all know someone who's lost their life, but no one who's extra close to you, and when that happened it really hurt a lot of us…[I] purchased this business a year and some change ago, and I always said if I was in a position where I could help veterans and their families, I was going to do it. This became my opportunity to do that." Moore explained the customization idea is to tailor the fishing rod toward the deceased family member's branch of service, wrapping it in a chevron wrap and having the veteran's name and rank displayed on the rod itself. He added the fishing reel seats are also going to be hydro-dipped to be an American flag graphic. "We're going wild with it," he said with a grin. "Just for context, some of our custom wraps, they're pretty intense, because each wrap is done with one single layer of thread. So, it almost becomes a weave or macrame, if you will." When he presented the idea to his friend at the VFW, Moore said it was an automatic response of support to help complete the project. The VFW then took the idea to the American Legion to secure another partnership. Moore said the support from the local veteran groups has helped to make the fishing rod project come to life, with an even three-way split of the costs to customize the rods and freely give to the families chosen. Moore's goal is to present the custom rods to their correlating families on Memorail Day. While he said he can only speculate as to how the families will react, he believes the outcome will be positive and will reflect his purpose of taking on the project: to honor the ones "who answered the call." "I personally believe that in today's political landscape, we're so divided as a country," Moore said. "There's no hiding that. I think it's going to be a good feeling for the family that receives it, to let them know that hey, even though the world is crazy right now, there's people that still care and recognize your family's sacrifice. This isn't about politics, this isn't about was this the right thing to do as a country. It's your family member stepped up to answer a call, whatever that call may be, and people supported them." Moore added his hope is that the rods will show that the memory and appreciation of military service members is still recognized by people in the community. "I want families to know that people still care," he said. "It's not going to be a forgotten war. It's not going to be that veteran who's forgotten. Being a veteran-owned business, we recognize the sacrifice, and we carry that pride with us every day. Every time that we turn the light switch on here, we're able to do that because of them."