BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – April 30, 2013— B.A.S.S. will host the Alabama River Charge presented by Star brite, May 9 – 12, on the Alabama River in Montgomery, Ala., the fifth of eight Bassmaster Elite Series professional bass fishing tournaments scheduled in 2013.

One hundred of the top bass anglers in the world will compete for a $100,000 prize and coveted entry into the 2014 Bassmaster Classic to be held in Birmingham, Ala., with fishing on Lake Guntersville. Among the field of competitors will be fishing legend Kevin VanDam, 2013 Bassmaster Classic Champion Cliff Pace and 16 Alabama anglers.

From watching the first boats launch at 6:30 a.m. on Thurs., May 9, and the final weigh-in at the Montgomery Riverfront on Sunday at 3:15 p.m., to participating in the family-friendly Elite Series Expo, the activities planned throughout the weekend are free and open to the public, including:

Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey will launch the “Ending Child Hunger in Alabama” campaign at Wares Ferry Road Elementary School in Montgomery, Monday, April 29, 2013, at 10:00 a.m.. “Ending Child Hunger in Alabama” is the first initiative of the newly established Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University. Lieutenant Governor Ivey serves as the campaign spokesperson.

With nearly one-third of Alabama’s children living in families that experience food hardships, the goal of the campaign is to move Alabama into the top 25% of states with the highest degree of child food security by 2020.

         Demopolis, Al.—On Friday April 26  the ‘Pinta’ and the ‘Nina’, replicas of Columbus’ Ships, will open in Demopolis.   The ships will be docked at the Kingfisher Bay Marina, Lock 4 Road, Highway 43 N., ( next to Demopolis Yacht Basin)  until their departure early Tuesday morning April 30th.

     The ‘Nina’ was built completely by hand and without the use of power tools.  Archaeology magazine called the ship “the most historically correct Columbus replica ever built.”  The “Pinta” was recently built in Brazil to accompany the Nina on all of her travels.  She is a larger version of the archetypal caravel.  Historians consider the caravel the Space Shuttle of the fifteenth century.