A Local Supermom Gone

Carolyn Kazar knew that her son Garrett was not made to sit through college classroom lectures. He was not a book learner but rather a child prodigy of outdoor living. At an exceedingly early age, Garrett Kazar had learned to hunt and fish with his dad Ed. As a youngster he became local star that graced a few sports covers. When Garrett was of college age, Carolyn had become a very intuitive mother of each of her three son’s future vocations. She accepted the realization that college would not be the place to develop her son’s natural talents since he had already attained an expert level as a seasoned hunting and fishing guide well before the age of 21. Carolyn convinced Ed (a corporate Chief Financial Officer) that opening a hunting and fishing store would be a better investment for their son instead of college. In 2012, an ambitious 18-year-old Garrett Kazar opened Andover Hunt and Fish with his most devoted partner Carolyn Kazar. The store branched out into bigger and better things for the community. Garrett created a fishing camp to teach kids how to learn to fish and Carolyn was with him all the way. The Daily Record columnist Jim Stabile, captured the synergy and enthusiasm of this mother and son team in his July 30, 2017 article:

We have football camps, baseball camps, basketball camps, tennis camps to teach kids sports.

But what can nonfishing parents do when their kids want to learn to fish? They can now send their kids to fishing camp.

Garrett Kazar, 23, of Andover Hunt & Fish came up with the idea. He started a three-day fishing camp from 8 a.m.-noon for ages 8-16, and will continue the camp in August.

Garrett, who's been fishing since he was 3, said the children are fishing in Cranberry, Little Swartswood and Aeroflex lakes from shore and boats. The camp teaches kids to cast, tie knots and fish with lures and live bait.

His mother, Carolyn Kazar, said "The Andover Hunt and Fish Fishing Camp has been an overwhelming success. Garrett's passion for the outdoors transfers to the kids. ... He really connects with the kids.

"He had one child with autism who never went out on a boat and only fished with his dad." she continued. " It gave him a chance to be with other kids, which will give him memories."

Since 2012 the Kazars have seen the ups and downs of running a small business together. The 2020 New Year’s Resolution brought promise of Garrett looking for a different career path and Carolyn had her own retirement dreams too. They had hopes of transitioning the business over to someone new.

Then came the circle of life that had other plans. In late April Carolyn’s life abruptly ended in a non COVID related illness. It was difficult for all us that we could not express our memorial tributes to an awesome mother while consoling ourselves in a traditional final rite of passage with hugs, kisses, and wiped tears over a great loss.

Carolyn leaves us a legacy of what unsung great mothers do - setting our children on the right path to life even when it is not the traditional one but a custom and unique one that adds the wind against their backs in this starting out journey of priceless succession.

Mother Day’s is good time to find gratitude in a mother’s intuition that devotedly guides so many great people with the essential starting out paths of their lives.