Hello and welcome to my final “Few Lines” as president of the chapter. I will be stepping down from my position at the upcoming March meeting when we have our annual chapter elections.
I joined SLV Trout Unlimited in 1998 and have served on the board most of those years starting with Projects Coordinator and moving to the Newsletter Editor position and most recently as the president. Serving as president of the chapter has been a very rewarding experience and one of best parts has been the people that I have been fortunate to work with. I can’t thank all of the past and present board members enough for all of the help they have provided me and for the work they do for the fish we love. Serving on the SLVTU board is a collaborative effort and there has always been someone around to help me when I needed it (which was often in my case)! I have enjoyed it all and it is hard to pin down one particular thing that was my favorite. Working on projects especially Rio Grande Cutthroat related projects has been particularly exciting. Throughout all of this I have been very lucky to meet and work with some of the most amazing people in the fly fishing and cold-water conservation worlds.
For better or worse the board won’t be entirely rid of me though. I plan to stay on the board in some capacity and hope I can help the new president and board just like everyone helped me…. or maybe I just want to be able to attend the Summer Board Meeting i.e., float trip!
Speaking of the benefits of volunteering and upcoming elections please consider joining our board or simply volunteering to take on one task from the many our board does, we’ll even let you pick what you want to do. You don’t even have to come to all the board meetings although they are usually fun and short! Consider giving it a shot for a year just to see if it is for you. Many of our board members have served in almost all the board positions at one time or another and many are like me and eager for a break. If you love rivers, lakes and fishing, donating a little time to something you love and want to protect can be very rewarding.
Don’t forget our upcoming meeting this month too. Our speaker, Ron Velarde, has some amazing stories to tell us about the early years of Rio Grande Cutthroat reintroduction. Ron is a dynamic and exciting speaker so don’t miss this in-person and Zoom meeting. Please see the information on the meeting and the Zoom link elsewhere in this newsletter.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at our next event or out on the river.
Mark
