By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

For Destrehan senior D.J. Rebstock, his senior project has gone from being a means to an end to so much more.

Like all DHS senior students, Rebstock is required to put together a project to graduate. His instinct was to mesh what was a necessary evil with something he loved: fishing, which has been a lifelong interest of his.

“I love fishing and I love the outdoors,” said Rebstock. “I’ve been interested in fishing my whole life, ever since the first time (my parents) took me out when I was little. Our senior project is supposed to be something related to your life, and I felt this would be ideal.”

On Saturday, “this” refers to the first annual Christina Sternberger Curtis Memorial bass tournament, which kicks off Saturday morning at the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Norco.

Rebstock has named the tournament in honor of his late grandmother, who passed away after a bout with breast cancer at the age of 53.

At first, the project was to intended to raise funds entirely for the fight against breast cancer.

That is still a focus, but Rebstock has expanded the project after meeting a young lady in his Spanish class while putting the tournament together. Madison Tully, a junior, suffers from a rare illness: sickle cell lupus. She is one of only 12 known people in the world to suffer from the affliction, and Rebstock learned that his new friend needed a bone marrow transplant.

He decided to help. While a portion of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society, a large portion will go to her family.

“We felt like the money would go further in this way than donating to a large organization,” said Rebstock. “Her family’s been very gracious.”

He said that beating breast cancer remains a theme.

“We still plan on donating to the Cancer Society and we still want to promote awareness to the serious nature of breast cancer at any age,” he said.

Rebstock said that some weeks ago, he and his friends held a fishing tournament. But this is the first time he’s done anything of this magnitude.

“It’s nowhere near anything I’ve ever done. There’s so much preparation, especially on the day of, something I’ve yet to experience,” he said.

He estimates and hopes that at least 30 boats will participate at the event.

The check-in spans from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Final weigh in is at 2 p.m.

Entry fee for two man teams is $50. The youth division (14 and under) is $10.

There will be a 50-percent payout to the winner, with the rest of the proceeds benefiting cancer research and the Tully family.

For more info or to sponsor, call Rebstock at 985-652-1815.