A redneck ruckus | Community & Lifestyle

Below its muddy banks, the water is as quiet as the village of Bath itself, which is just how the easily spooked invasive Asian silver carp that pour down from the chutes of the Illinois River like it.

Normally, the voracious carp that plague the ecosystem of the rivers and lakes of the Midwest would soon get a rude three-day invasion of their own from beer-drinking, flag-waving, music-cranking participants of the annual Original Redneck Fishing Tournament that put this village of 274 on the map with its inception in 2005.

What started that year as a small gathering of those who wanted to address the problematic carp and raise money for veterans’ causes evolved into a yearly event that garnered national TV coverage and visits from publications ranging from Time to National Geographic. Tournament-goers in the tens of thousands from across the country and overseas crowded into Mason County not just to catch the thousands of carp that jump clean out of the water from the disturbance of engine motors, but also to commune with fellow rednecks for a good old-fashioned weekend of uninhibited, booze-fueled fun.

“They had Illinois State Police directing traffic in the middle of town, it got so big,” village of Bath president Jason DeFord said.

The carp get a reprieve this year. The tournament was recently canceled by its organizers, citing financial issues relating to a lack of sponsors and insurance costs, much of the latter centering on a giant beer tent whose roughly $5,000 cost was previously covered by the village itself. The cancellation has led to a lot of finger-pointing and heated accusations from two camps – one led by tournament founder Betty DeFord and the other by her successor and current organizer, Nikki Gregerson.

The controversy has spilled onto the pages of Facebook, where profane vitriol has been lobbed from one camp to the other.

“People are always going to talk in small towns,” Gregerson said with a weary sigh.

In the kitchen of 70-year-old Betty DeFord’s Bath home hangs a framed, knitted saying that reads “I’m not bossy, I just know what you should be doing.”

To DeFord’s critics, she has been too bossy toward Gregerson and the tournament’s organizers since she relinquished control of it in 2021. That led to a confrontation between Gregerson and DeFord at last year’s tourney that, DeFord said, “left me in tears” and shattered the goodwill surrounding the event. Sponsors seemed to have been turned off by the controversy, leaving Gregerson and other organizers too financially strapped to hold it this year.

All of which could have been avoided, Betty DeFord said, if Gregerson hadn’t “poisoned the water” to patrons and sponsors alike.

“I think there was a big deal with jealousy with her, and she thought she could make money. I never made money off of it. We spent money out of our own pockets,” DeFord says, looking at photos of past tournaments. “She wanted the notoriety that I have received from this and felt that I was taking from her, because at every event, everybody was looking for Betty DeFord.”

DeFord, indeed, always was the person the TV crews and print reporters sought out when looking for a face to put on the tournament. After all, her name is in the original title of the event that she launched following an outing on the Illinois River that saw the frightened carp jump by the dozens around and into their jon boat, some hitting her and her grandchildren smack in the face.

“This was a good thing. It brought people together,” DeFord said of the event. “In 2013, it became a benefit for Illinois homeless veterans. After expenses, everything was donated. Without the veterans, where would we be?”

But, in 2021, DeFord notified everyone it would be the final year of the Redneck Fishing Tournament. An ongoing battle with breast cancer was the major reason, she said, along with having to be the primary caretaker to her husband, a Vietnam veteran battling dementia.

It was at the end of the 2021 tourney, DeFord said, that Gregerson approached her and implored her to keep the event going. DeFord said she just couldn’t devote the time needed, but would serve as an adviser if Gregerson wanted to take over. For a couple of years, the tournament seemed to continue in harmony. But last year came the confrontation between Gregerson and DeFord, the accounts of which differ depending on who is doing the talking.

As DeFord sees it, she was taking ticket money and mingling with others when she was “jumped” by Gregerson and accused of, among other things, badmouthing her to sponsors that had a negative effect on their ongoing participation.

“She accused me of setting up a board meeting to get her evicted from it. You can’t set up a board meeting as a private citizen. Everybody called me, because they know I’ve set up this tournament, and I forwarded her every message and she did not respond to these people,” DeFord said. “I didn’t run around telling people, ‘Oh, don’t give her any sponsorship money.’ But I sure got the blame for it.”

DeFord said some of the vendors from last year told her they will “never, ever come back, because she mouthed off to them. This is the help I got? She ruined it, and I’ve spent many sleepless nights in tears over it.”

Reached by phone, Gregerson, while saying she hasn’t spoken with DeFord since last year, seemed incredulous at such accusations.

“I really don’t know where Betty is coming from,” said Gregerson, who lives a retired life in Browning. “I haven’t spoken ill of Betty to anyone. I haven’t seen anybody badmouth Betty, or else I would have said something, because it doesn’t need to be that way. I couldn’t care less about any notoriety for myself.”

Audrea Cleer, a Bath resident and acknowledged member of Camp DeFord, recalls the situation last year thusly: “I’m sitting there selling shirts and (Gregerson) was going to talk bad about Betty. I’m like, ‘Just so you know, I love Betty and I’m just here to help her,'” Cleer said. “I feel like Nikki was more jealous because of the people who were coming from out of state who all wanted to see Betty.”

Cleer said she thinks lack of organization is to blame for this year’s cancellation.

“(Gregerson) didn’t get her stuff together and tried to blame something else. If she had her ducks in a row, the tournament would still go on. It’s a shame,” Cleer said.

Members of Camp Gregerson, however, have portrayed DeFord in a more unfavorable light and say Gregerson should be credited with doing her best to keep it going after DeFord stepped down.

Gregerson, when asked if the tournament might be finished for good, said she’s already receiving offers from nearby towns to hold it starting next year.

When asked why, in her opinion, the tournament had such a big drop in sponsors – from about 35 to five – Gregerson said: “I think the tone itself of the tournament kind of changed a little bit. Not all of the people in Bath enjoyed it. Not all of them hate it. The majority of the people there are always very helpful. I just think the tone changed, and when we took it over, we were trying to bring that fun back. And we had to change some things, and it wasn’t a popular choice with everybody. But the majority of the people liked it. So, it may be the economy or I don’t know what it is for sure.”

The person seemingly most caught in the middle of all this is Jason DeFord, Betty’s nephew, who has only been on the job as the mayor of Bath for two months now. He swears he has no dog in this hunt, despite the family name.

“This is all pretty new to me,” Jason DeFord said. “But to be clear, the village of Bath did not cancel the tournament. They (Camp Gregerson) did. What the village did was, we decided we couldn’t do a beer tent due to some other financial obligations and problems that are unrelated to the Redneck. Why they’re canceling it altogether, I’ll leave that to them.”

Betty DeFord, meanwhile, is organizing a Bring Back Bath celebration Aug. 1-2 in the village square to aid Illinois veterans and rehab the local playground. There will be food, games, a cake walk, raffle baskets and open-mic karaoke.

“We’re looking for some sponsors,” she said.