The Catfish Festival and the Shoals News

The Catfish Festival does just about everything you can think of to celebrate the catfish and the Fourth of July. It’s a hometown reunion that embraces patriotism, community pride and the river culture of Shoals, Indiana
The story of Catfish Festival cannot be told without detailing the involvement of the Shoals News. This weekly newspaper has had only three editors in the last 94 years. Sanford Deckard purchased the Shoals News in 1945 and it’s been the family’s business and life ever since. Sanford married his wife, Lucile a year after he purchased The Shoals News. An experienced Linotype operator and handled the typesetting, proofreading, and bookkeeping duties for her husband while their son, Stephen A. Deckard began writing a weekly column at the age of 7. After learning the newspaper business from his father, Steve has been editor of the newspaper for 55 years.
My interest in doing a video documentary on the Shoals Catfish Festival stemed from the childhood remembrances of my father taking me fishing on White River in Martin County. Fishing at Shoals and Hindostan Falls meant staying up late fishing from the bank while my brothers ran a trotline in the middle of the night. I somehow was always able to get up at dawn to fish with my Dad while my brothers snored on till midmorning when my Dad & I had made breakfast. Sitting on the riverbank listening to fish stories with my dad and brothers, I’d hear about the big ones that were caught and of course the ones that got away.

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Shoals is a very small quaint little home town feel Everyone is friendly and just has that friendly home town atmosphere all around