The worms have (re)turned to Big Pine
The mighty worm; composter, fish bait, fundraiser. Following a tradition that is more than 40 years old, seniors at Big Pine High School will be selling worms the Friday before the opener, known as Worm Day. The kids, all five of them, will be in front of the school, trying to lure anglers otherwise headed north to drop a line in Eastside waters. Look for the marquee and signs on the east side of Highway 395. “Your catch of the day is only a worm away.”
All proceeds from the fundraiser go toward Senior Grad Night, this year at Six-Flags Magic Mountain.
Big Pine eighth graders will also be on hand offering coffee, donuts and orange juice, for a donation. Those tweeners are saving money for a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Ronald Reagan Library.
Worms on the side of the road can take you far. It’s what got the graduating Class of 2005 on the Ellen DeGeneres Show for a self-explanatory segment called, “Small Town, Big City Prom.” Senior Advisor Tim Steele told The Sheet, the DeGeneres show read about Worm Day in a Los Angeles Times story. DeGeneres bused the kids to her show, bought the girls prom dresses and brought in hair dressers, and the boys got outfitted with fine tuxedoes. Mariah Carey performed for them before they hung out at a club DeGeneres rented for the occasion.
When the worms are gone, so is the sale; like good barbecue, they can’t make more. And the wigglers sell out fast. Steele said the Worm Day sale starts at 8 a.m. and all 500 boxes will be gone by the end of the school day. The worms are $5 a box.
Seniors used to make their own worms, kinda. In the past, students would place mattresses on the ground, soak them with water to create the perfect worm habitat. Students would then harvest the worms from Mother Mattress. Worms are now bought in bulk and packaged by the students.
