October 2008
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Greetings and welcome back from another fine Colorado summer. I hope everyone was able to get up to the mountains and enjoy some quality time with your families, friends and fly rods. The fall fishing season is upon us and with the abundance of water this year should prove to be one of the best in quite some time. Now that the kids are back to school (or in my case, deposited at the university of their choice) we can turn some of our attention to chapter activities.
First up is the TU statewide clean-up day, the 13th of September. Our chapter cleans a section of the S. St. Vrain and Hwy. 7 near Lyons. We will meet at Meadow Park in Lyons @ 8:30 a.m., have coffee and doughnuts, then head up Hwy. 7 to our designated area and clean along the river 'til we are done. This will not take more than a couple of hours, so please pack a rod and wet a line once the clean up is complete (my favorite part). Everyone should bring gloves and proper clothing. We will provide trash bags and orange vests. There will be a PRIZE! for the person finding the most interesting or unusual item that day.
Our first general meeting and program is Thursday, September 18th , 6:30pm at the VFW on S. Main. As always, Mark Rayman has been working hard to put together a great season of programs, and this month he brings us Ken Iwamasa. Ken is the author of the book "Iwamasa Flies", contributor to the books "Stoneflies" by Swisher and Richards and "Fly Tyer's Almanac" by Dave Whitlock. Ken is the originator of more than 18 fly patterns and has published many articles in Fly Fisherman magazine and Fly Tyer Magazine in the US, articles in Tight Loops magazine and Fly Fisherman Magazine Japan Edition, and La Fourmi, published in France. He has been actively involved in many fund raising campaigns and guest speaker presentations for the Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited in California, Idaho, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Wyoming and throughout Colorado. He will present a program on 30 years of fly fishing in Colorado and the West and discuss entomological changes that have occurred over the years.
Our chapter has had an eventful summer since the very successful auction in May. The kids' fishing day at Isaac Walton was a big hit as always. Dick Shinton's youth fishing clinic was quite successful as well and looks to be even more popular this fall. Chuck Howard and Phil Cavendor continue to work with the St. Vrain corridor committee, Boulder County and the city of Lyons to improve the St. Vrain as a fishery and resource. Our booth at Rhythm on the River was a first for the chapter. Kids had a good time learning to cast, we made some connections to people interested in what we do and we put our collective smiling face in front of the community.
Our chapter's goals for the coming year include a continuing emphasis on education and outreach, expanding our membership with an eye to diversification by involving more women and youth, and identifying restoration projects that would benefit from our leadership and participation. We welcome everyone's input so please, speak up at meetings, corner a board member or drop an email at stvraintu@gmail.com. We'd also very much like to hear from those interested in moving SVATU forward by becoming involved in leadership roles with the chapter.
I want to thank everyone who has donated time, effort and money to making SVATU what it is today. A special shout-out to Mark Kyner who after 4 years steps down as Communications Chairman but continues on as special advisor and fishing guru.
Thanks. T
SVATU Board:
Brad Wallin, President
James Hooven, Vice President
Barbara Luneau, Secretary
Dick Shinton, Treasurer
Mark Rayman, Programs Chairman
Chuck Howard, River Committee Co-Chairman
Phil Cavendor, River Committee Co-Chairman
Tom Tinkle, Communications Chairman
SVATU Contact Information:
stvraintu@gmail.com
