Club News/ March Executive Meeting

[PeterSL]

There were a lot of topics on this month’s executive meeting agenda but many had a common underlying theme. We reviewed just about all of the events in which the club is involved over the year in light of the questions that arose at the last business meeting regarding the annual seminar: “Why are we doing this? What are we trying to achieve?” It was an interesting and worthwhile exercise and for some of our activities there were few clear answers.

The annual seminar is a case in point. The survey did not tell us much except that attendees liked the room in which it has been held. It is clear, however, that we cannot continue to lose money on it to the extent we did this year. It was sobering to realize that we lost about the same amount of money as we raised from 4 days’ work selling raffle tickets for the Lloyd Shea Fund. That loss could have been close to double if we had the expense of the other presenter who was scheduled to attend from the States. What demographic were we hoping to attract? Why was attendance so low? What were the benefits of holding the seminar? Was the knowledge gained by those who attended worth the cost? Should that money have been better spent on other educational or conservation projects? Does providing educational seminars to those who are mostly knowledgeable anglers meet the club’s aims and objectives? Alternatives have been suggested but are they viable? Should we make more use of today’s technology in bringing in information to meet the specific but varied needs of different members and non-members? It is likely that no matter what the decision is for 2018 it will disappoint some but please others. Anyway, more on this at the Business meeting on April 5^th.

 

The new club logo will be offered up for your approval at that business meeting and, if given, forwarded to TUC. It became clear at the B & S Show that we really need new banners for the club but they’ll have to wait until the logo’s approved. However, we think we’ve found a funding source for some of that cost.

We’re going to reinstate the timbits on a regular basis and try to do something about the disappearing coffee cups and supplies. By the way, everyone is welcome to bring his or her own coffee cup if you’d like to and it would be great if someone would volunteer to make the coffee on a fairly regular basis.

We’ve confirmed that TUC is providing liability insurance coverage for the club up to $5m. It covers members and volunteers working with members on projects, with kids etc. and it’s possible that TUC will help us with our property insurance too.

You may have noticed that the website has been cleaned up some. There were sections in which no one had posted anything in the last two, even three, years that have been deleted. Contact info has been added and the broken links are being fixed. A direct link to our UTube page will also be added.

 

Then there’s those other major annual events:

The Open House on Easter Saturday is well planned and set to go with fly casting, tying, bugs on display, kids’ colouring booth, members there to provide advice on equipment, information on locations and fly fishing in general, on invasive species, fish id etc., hot dogs au chef Emmerson and pop. Posters are in the stores, it’s on Facebook. Please spread the word as and when you can and drop by yourself. The intent is to help and encourage folk new to the sport and thereby, we hope, help a child or an adult experience some of what we value when we’re on the stream or a lake and become committed to some of the conservation values that we support.

 

Fly Fishing Classes are not filling up too quickly but we now have posters in the stores and also hope to sell some tickets at the Open House. If you know anyone who might be interested please let them know.

 

The annual auction/dinner is being planned for November 4^th at the same venue as last year, Kenilworth Community Hall, and we’re in process of booking an auctioneer and figuring out the catering, drafting a donation request letter, etc. It seems a long way off but some businesses want 6 months’ notice to make a donation.

 

The club charter is not really an event but could be considered one given the number of times we’ve revisited it in the last few years. There are a number of housekeeping items to clean up in it, however, and perhaps a need to revisit our statement of Aims and Objectives. We’ve started work on that and plan to post recommended revisions on the website in late August and put it on the agenda for the October business meeting.

 

Finally, look for a write up soon in the TUC Newsletter on the club’s presence at the Boat and Sportsmen’s Show. About 25 club members volunteered and did a great job tying flies with 320+ kids and adults, selling rod raffle tickets, talking to visitors about the club and its activities, flyfishing and conservation, and raising $2,715 for the Lloyd Shea Fisheries Enhancement Fund. This would not have been possible without support from the Show organizers and especially The Fishin’Hole which provided booth space and persuaded its suppliers to donate the prizes for the bucket raffle. Our thanks go out too to the Alberta Conservation Association which provided funding support for the kids’ fly tying.

[vince]

Thanks for the up-date Peter.

 

Vince