President’s Corner
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)
WOW!! I’m still totally blown away over how successful our 2014 Troutfest Banquet & Auction was on April 25. The food was great! The facility and services were great! The donated prizes were phenomenal! Everyone had a great time.We awarded the 2013 Eddie George Award to James Locke. We honored Steve Moore’s long and successful service with the Park by establishing the Steve Moore Youth Education Fund. And, oh by the way, did I mention that we raised in total about $20,000!!!! Wow, amazing! What a great time!
The Troutfest team, led by Chairman Joe McGroom, did an incredible job. Donation Chairman Chuck James and team did an outstanding job at soliciting donations. It never ceases to amaze me how giving and supportive folks are here in east Tennessee where we call home.
Thank you to everyone and every business that provided donations. Thank you to everyone who attended the banquet and participated in the auction. And thank you to all of the volunteers who gave their time and talents to making this a successful event.
If you were able to attend Troutfest this year, many thanks for coming and supporting our efforts. I hope everyone will consider attending next year.
On a personal note, as much as I enjoyed Troutfest this year, I’m happy it’s behind us. It’s time to focus on fishing. This is my favorite time of the year. Warmer weather makes for happy bugs making for happy trout. I’ve been fishing mostly the smaller mountain streams lately. Water flows for the most part have been good. Bugs are coming off the water. Seems early, but I’ve seen yellow sallies and yellow mayflies already.
Remember, the May 22 Chapter meeting will be at Calhoun’s in Maryville. Social hour and dinner starts at 6:00 pm. You do not need to order dinner to attend. Our May program will be something a little different. Dr. Dave Unger will present a program on black bears. The program will interest anyone who spends time in the national parks or other wild areas, including hikers.
Our future will have its challenges, but I’m more confident than ever that we will continue to proactively work together to conserve, protect, and restore our natural resources. I hope to see you at the May meeting!!
Thanks,
Mike
