PEDRO — It was sunny and already starting to warm up when the 13th annual Wheelin’ Sportsmen Fishing Event kicked off at Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area.

“Whoever ordered the weather, thank you,” Tim Slone, Ironton District Ranger for the Wayne National Forest, said. “We’re proud to host this year’s event.”

The festivities kicked off shortly before 11 a.m., with a presentation of colors by the Symmes Valley Veterans Post before a truck from Kincaid Fish Hatchery and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife stocked the lake with thousands of rainbow trout.

The event, coordinated by the forest services, is one of many nationwide geared toward those with disabilities.

“It’s an open invitation event and an opportunity for those who normally can’t come out to get use of the lake,” Patrick Marcer, district biologist for the Ironton Rangers District, said. “It’s a day set aside so they get full use of the boardwalk and can bring buses in here.”

Dozens of anglers lined the quarter-mile boardwalk and the parking lot was used for loading and unloading wheelchairs and scooters and helping mobility-impaired arrivals.

In addition to Wayne National Forest, this year’s event was organized with help from the South Hills Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife and City National Bank.