ORANGE, Texas —There is more to Russell Bottley’s omnipresent smile than meets the eye. As lead liaison between the Greater Orange Chamber of Commerce and B.A.S.S., the Orange native relishes his role, being able to do what he loves the most.
“I love volunteering for my community and I love B.A.S.S.,” Bottley said.
So do more than 100 volunteers, many of whom work from before sunup until after sunset, and for weeks before B.A.S.S. comes to town. Why so many volunteers? The reason is a Bassmaster Elite Series event here is more than a tournament. Such is the case at the 2021 Dovetail Games Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River sponsored by Bassmaster Fishing 2022 — the official video game of B.A.S.S.
This event, like others since B.A.S.S. first visited in 2013, includes a carnival with rides and food vendors, a kid’s fish tank, live entertainment and a car show. Country music artist Neal McCoy headlines a concert on Saturday evening. The venue is the City of Orange Boat Ramp and surrounding festival grounds, including a new addition. That is the Riverside Pavilion, built to attract even more events to the area.
Wearing a smile on his face and a handie talkie on his belt, you’ll find Bottley anywhere there is a need to connect the volunteers with a need of B.A.S.S.
“I’m on the B.A.S.S. committee for the chamber, and we all have different roles,” he said. “Mine is being the link between us and B.A.S.S.”
Bottley, 51, has a deep connection with B.A.S.S., as indicated by his comment. A member of the Fishin’ Tradition Bass Club in nearby Jasper, he is a longtime tournament junkie.
“I grew up watching The Bassmasters on TNN (The Nashville Network), with Ray Scott and my favorite of all time on the show, Bob Cobb; I just loved his narrations,” Bottley said.
There is more to Bottley’s constant smile than his love for serving the community and affinity for B.A.S.S. Bottley is a cancer survivor. In 2010, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma Stage 4, given a 20 percent chance of survival.
“I got away from fishing because I didn’t know what the future would hold for me,” Bottley said.
The smile returned in 2011 after a successful stem cell transplant, and with it, a renewed outlook about life.
“I decided that I would not sit on my laurels, that I’ve got to do more,” he said. “I started volunteering, felt like I had something left in me.”
He also started fishing again.
“A friend told me that I needed to get back to fishing, which I did,” Bottley said. “That put even more about what I wanted to do into perspective.”
At the time, he wouldn’t know what that would be. Call what happened next divine intervention. Bottley was approached by Jay Trahan, director of economic development for the City of Orange, about working with him and other civic leaders on an Elite Series event.
“It was a dream come true; I mean who would have ever thought B.A.S.S. would come to my home town, and at the Elite level?”
The community rallied in a big way. On Saturday, March 16, 2013, the one-day Elite Series attendance record was broken, with 14,950 fans on hand for the festivities. After four days, the all-time attendance record was reset at 33,650 fans attending the weigh-in and festival.
Surviving cancer, bass fishing and volunteering for his community with a dream event all combined to keep the indelible smile on Bottley’s face. Volunteering is a way of life for him. Bottley is a community liaison for West Orange-Stark High School, also serving as a wide receivers coach for the varsity football team.
An outgoing personality is part of the smile. Over the years, Bottley has developed long lasting friendships with many of the B.A.S.S. staff, and even the anglers.
“We keep up with each other, talk on the phone and stay up to date on social media,” he said.
An ongoing friendly wager with Kelley Jay was settled this week. They bet each other on the winner of the college football game between Auburn University and Texas A&M University. The Aggies won the game.
“The loser buys the winner a boiled crawfish dinner,” said Bottley. “This year, Kelley bought mine.”
Bottley’s deep love for his community is grounded with his volunteer spirit.
“I’ve been through floods, had my house totally destroyed and I’m not alone,” he said. “But here in Orange, we are resilient, survivors, and we all pitch in to help one another.”
Those points are visible whenever B.A.S.S. comes to town. Bottley is not the only one of the 100 or more volunteers always smiling. His is just the biggest, for many reasons.