Sons and Daughters of the Salt and Sea,
It’s been an interesting year so far. We’ve undertaken a new tournament in May and we’ve already had a Members Snowbird Tournament which was a bit disappointing. Only one of our Snowbirds entered the tournament, Mark Gotch our Canadian member. Mark was on Erik Sanvik’s boat along with Charlie Mack, when Erik landed the winning fish. They caught plenty of fish and we’re all glad Mark got a chance to catch a lot of fish while he’s here for the winter. We’ll certainly miss Mark when he returns home to the frigid North in a few weeks.
Last year we lost a lot of sponsors of our annual May tournament due to the lousy economy, and we had to cancel it. This year, the officers got together and thanks to our Treasurer, Jamie Smith, Jamie came up with the idea that we should down-size the tournament-make the payout smaller and reduce entree fees, as well as making it a one day tournament.
So far, sponsorship has been very promising. Members Mikee Wilkes, Charlie Smith and I have landed about 15 sponsors- most for $50.00 and a few for $100.00. The sponsors were very receptive to the more affordable fees, which proves so far, that we can have a tournament without expensive sponsor fees. Well, so far, so good. We need to have more members selling sponsorship’s and we need to get more posters out there as well as many more sponsors.
We have the Raffle tickets to sell and to date, not many of the members are taking tickets to sell. Thanks to Discount Printing of Pasco, they printed the tickets for us in exchange for advertising on the back side of the tickets. Members Joe & Laura Neri and their lovely daughter Joelle have also been a big help with the printing. It’s this kind of resourcefulness that has brought the club a long way and it’s really appreciated.
We hope the tournament is successful for other reasons too. We intend to donate 10% of what we make to the Angelus House, our favorite charity.
We have also planned another trip to Anclote Island and another couple of Scalloping trips too. We need the money to do these things and the tournament helps pay for them.
All in all, the only thing lacking in the club this year is member participation. Let’s all try to get out there and do a little work and it will pay off in the long run.
On a sad note, Daisy Madsen, wife of member Bob Madsen passed away a few months ago. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Bob and the family. As many of us know, Bob missed a few meetings because he was taking care of his Daisy. Bob was at Daisy’s side all through her illness. But anyone who knows Bob well, knows that’s the way Bob is.
Member Joe Cooper is re-cooperating from yet another surgery on his leg. Joe broke his leg several months ago. They put screws in his leg to hold it together but the screws came loose so, the Docs had to re-break his leg and set it again. Now Joe has two halo’s on his leg and he’ll be laid up for about three months until it heals. We wish Joe all the best for a speedy and successful recovery. I spoke to Joe the other day and he’s going crazy because he can’t get out on his boat and do some fishing. Chin up Joe, they say time flies- but I guess it doesn’t when you have a broken leg.
Good luck and good fishing,
Your Beloved President,
Emil
