I am still amped up by the success of our Santa Cruz Fly Fishing’s Annual Fund Raiser on Saturday, February 18th. This is the first fund raiser we have had since Covid shutdown and we wanted to get our members back together. Last winter, the SCFF Board was worried that we were not going to be able to have an event since the rental cost for the church had gone up, all of the expenses for an evening sit down meal had gone up, and we didn’t have the donated wild salmon that is traditionally served. Instead of giving up, we decided to try something different: daytime event, catered lunch, utilize the Aptos Grange and give it a go. Blessed with the first sunny, warm Saturday in 2023 everyone had a great time.
We sold 105 admission / meal tickets and club members as well as guests enjoyed the meal both indoors and outside.
Annual awards were presented to club members who have volunteered their time to help the club and fellow members. Our most significant annual award has been renamed, the “John and Pat Steele Award” to recognize Pat’s decades of contribution to the club for the producing the club newsletter 30 years and hosting the Board of Directors meeting at their home.
The winner of the 2022 John Steele award was Mike White for leading the Pyramid Lake fishout and helping new members learn how to catch these great cutthroats. Mike was awarded a $400 gift certificate to The Fly Shop in Redding, CA.
Tom Hogye received a 13′ Beulah Spey rod and Echo reel as a thank you for his unprecedented 5 years as club president. And three long time club members, Kathy Powers, Barry Burt, and Tom Hogye were granted lifetime membership for their years of contribution to the club.
And finally to cap off the day, we had the annual raffle. A rapid fire reading of ticket numbers as winners went to the stage to select their prizes. Prizes this year included a FishCat 4 float tube, 10+ rods, 10+ reels, lots of tying material, apparel, accessories and on and on.
Fellowship is my focus for the club and the annual fund raiser happening during my first month as president was absolutely perfect. The entire Board of Directors volunteered, however I want to highlight those directly responsible for its success: David South (fund raiser lead), Elaine Cook (facility planning and volunteer coordinator), Emily Marriott (catering coordinator / swag seller), Kevin Murdock (raffle and silent auction coordinator), Bob Peterson (ticket sales), Kathy Powers (Program MC), and Jeff Goyert (Pyramid Kit Raffle).
Hope to see you at our next general meeting on March 1st with speaker Alvin Dedeaux! – Scott Kitayama, President SCFF
Posted on February 24th, 2023