LYNN — Local veterans are welcome to participate in the fourth annual Freedom Fish Lynn event on Lynn Harbor on July 20. 

The day will begin with participants checking in at 7 a.m. for a parade of 40 boats, which local fishers have loaned for the event. The veterans will fish on the boats.

Those who don’t want to or can’t fish can still attend and enjoy a cruise along the coastline to Boston Harbor. 

“It gives veterans an opportunity to get out on the high seas and have a fun day fishing,” Peggy Phelps, a Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development staff member, said. “You know, a lot of people have road races and they have different things, but nobody has a fishing derby.”

The fishing will conclude at approximately 2 p.m., when a free cookout lunch will be provided, courtesy of My Brother’s Table. 

Half of the funds raised through sponsorship of the event will go toward the Lynn Veterans Council and the other half will go toward Disabled and Limbless Veterans Inc., according to Phelps. In 2023, the event raised more than $22,000. 

Disabled and Limbless Veterans Inc. is a nonprofit organization that provides meals, clothing, and shelter to veterans. President Dominic Marcellino, who is a founding member of the organization, said some of the work the nonprofit does includes bringing blankets to Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and providing supplies to a veterans’ homeless shelter in Worcester.

“I couldn’t do what I do without funds,” he said. 

Each veteran who attends the event will receive a “swag bag” to keep fish in, and there will be prizes for the biggest fish caught during the derby. There will also be a raffle, opportunities to enjoy music, and a close-order drill by the Lynn English ROTC.

The event will be hosted by the office of Mayor Jared Nicholson, the Department of Veterans Services, the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Lynn (EDIC/Lynn), the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development, Lynn Veterans Council, and Disabled and Limbless Veterans Inc.