Chapter Displays at Three Recent Events
Our participation via displays at the California Rivers Festival (Fair Oaks), Off The Hook Fly Shop 2nd Anniversary Party (Placerville), and Kiene's Fly Shop Open House appear to have been well received. It was nice to meet some members who have been unable to attend any of our prior events, and to talk with local residents about fishery conservation issues. As a result of our participation in these events several lapsed members renewed, several people joined for the first time, and we raised some funds for the chapter by conducting raffles and providing recycling buckets for collecting cans and bottles.
Through the donation of materials from the Department of Fish and Game, Pasco Scientific, and the USFS (ElDorado National Forest), our displays are really looking nice.
The first Annual Wild Steelhead Festival, held in 2008, brought public awareness to this threatened species. Attendees celebrated the annual return of our wild Steelhead and learned of the benefits they bring to our community and the efforts being made to enhance their natural habitat through many fun and educational events during the three days.
The Redwood Empire Chapter of Trout Unlimited provides educational information on the status of wild fish in the Russian River Watershed and what needs to be done to help the threatened species.
http://healdsburgsteelheadfest.org
Last year Joe and I put together a month-long display at the Cameron Park Library for Hangtown Fly Fishers on the history, equipment and adventures of fly fishing. The display was so well received it was given special recognition by the El Dorado County Library system. As a result, Hangtown Fly Fishers was asked this past summer to repeat the display at the Placerville Library in December. Hangtown Fly Fishers is not going to do the display and the library would like to have the Sac-Sierra Chapter prepare a display on coldwater fisheries conservation.
I need your input as to the type of material we should include, and what you may have to lend to the display that would be unique. The library specifies this is to be an educational display (not an advertisement for an organization, but the organization can be subtly referenced in the display), and we can have Chapter brochures and TU membership applications on the checkout counter. I am willing to coordinate the display since Kevin is taking over some of the responsibilities I now have, but we need material that will fit the display cases -- I need your help!
The 11th Annual Salmon Festival at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery concluded this afternoon, and it appears to have been another great success!
Even though the Chapter has been active only 13 months, this is our second consecutive year of participation. Quite a few of our Chapter members contributed ideas and materials during the planning stages for our booth, and enough members volunteered to have at least two people staffing the booth for each of the six 2-hour shifts. Mother Nature contributed by providing sunny skies after Friday's rain but, unfortunately, the salmon were not particularly cooperative. It seems they are a bit late arriving this year!
Thank you to the TU members who responded to the call for help to rescue fish from the poorly planned drainage of Prospect Island. The massive fish kill was very unfortunate and unnecessary but, as sometimes happens in various aspects of our lives, we learn from our mistakes. The agencies involved will undoubtedly be more careful in the future, and hopefully will not delay in accepting volunteer assistance as soon as it is offered and needed.