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2007 FFF Southern Council NominationClub of the YearOzark Fly FishersI'm proud to nominate the Ozark Fly Fishers as the Southern Council Club of the Year for 2007. The Ozark Fly Fishers continue to support the goals of the Council after more than three decades of existence. Throughout its history, this organization and its members continue efforts not only to promote the sport of fly-fishing but also to work strenuously to protect and enhance our environment for future generations. At the same time, the club also provides an opportunity to bring people together and develop new and often lifelong friendships. And people have responded--our membership has remained consistently at the 290-310 level. Ozark remains very active with education programs, providing fly fishing and fly tying programs through the St. Louis County, St. Charles, MO and Eureka, MO Parks Departments which introduce several hundred people to the sport every year. Our members share their time generously through these programs and in response to all community requests. Whether it's fly tying session at a school in Granite City, IL., at a Boy Scout troop, the Kid's Fishing Fair at the Busch Conservation Area or a festival at a state park, we have always responded. Our meetings are a source of entertainment and enlightenment for our members featuring speakers like Dave Whitlock, Mike Lawson, Lori-Ann Murphy, Mel Krieger, Jack Dennis and Tyler Befus. We have both Certified and Master Casting Instructors available before each meeting along with a monthly fly tying demonstrator. We have a video library and our raffles provide prizes at each meeting. To publicize these efforts our web site, www.ozarkflyfishers.org, and our monthly newsletter are both very informative, offering articles on club activities, information on conservation issues, photos, fly recipes, recommendations, or simply an opportunity for club members to share their thoughts. Our interest in conservation issues remains a priority. Our club members are also registered members of the Conservation Federation of Missouri and we have established a directorship in that Federation. We continue to monitor and support efforts such as the Missouri Stream Team project, the Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers, the Smallmouth Alliance and others. This year the Ozark Fly Fishers as a club have pledged $15,000 to the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation – Cold Water Fund. This pledge is to help purchase and preserve the new Bohigian Conservation Area containing 500 acres with 1.7 miles of wild trout water in the state of Missouri. This property is now owned by the Missouri Conservation Department to be used by all from now on. In the same spirit, we continue to participate wholeheartedly in Southern Council and other conclaves including the national conclave. Our members are serving as directors, presenting programs, tying flies, supervising casting contests and in general volunteering their time and skill to contribute to the success of these events. Ozark was the first club to step up when the Council requested that member clubs underwrite a portion of the Conclave expenses and we have funded the Annual Council Awards and Casting Awards. Ozark has become involved with the national Casting for Recovery program for breast cancer survivors. In 2004 we supported the first Missouri/Arkansas gathering in this program. For the last two years, Ozark has provided the funds for one participant at the Missouri CFR Program. In addition we supply flies and fly boxes for the participants. Fifteen of our members traveled to the retreat site for the second year in a row and served as River Helpers for the ladies. We have also made a connection with the St. Louis Boy Scouts of America Council, by helping scouts qualify for and achieve the new Fly Fishing Merit Badge. Each year we try to develop new activities and monthly outings for the enjoyment of our members. This year we held the sixth annual Ozark Women's Outing, which has grown in attendance each year. We have an outing of some nature almost every month of the year. Two of these outing are attended by almost half of our membership. The August outing is well on its way of becoming the most attended outing. The club reserves all of the motel rooms and the corporate meeting room for the weekend at Montauk State Park. During that weekend the Ozark Fly Fishers will be holding fly-casting and fly-tying classes. All of this involves a lot of volunteer effort--effort that was recognized by our parent organization, the Federation of Fly Fishers, when Ozark was awarded the 2005 McKenzie Cup as the FFF National Club of the Year. Respectfully submitted, Mike Swederska |
