President’s Angle - Dec 2005

By Jim Coursey

HOLIDAY PARTY

December 13th is the date of our annual Holiday Party and fundraiser. This is a great time to attend a chapter dinner and celebrate the Holidays with your flyfishing friends. It's also a good time to thank the generous contributors who make the fundraising part of the party possible. Individual members like Jim Brown and Marc Amstadter as well as area fly shops contribute material and time to make our chapter fundraising effort a success. So come on out to see all of the goodies that have been gathered for your viewing and bidding pleasure and take a chance on winning something nice for your holiday enjoyment. And remember, all of the money raised goes back into the cold water resource in areas where we spend most of our angling time. So come on out and PLEASE remember to RSVP so we can have an accurate head count for the chef.

PLEASE RSVP TO KENT CARLSON AT - kentrcarlson@sbcglobal.net OR (312) 663-9601 OR ON OUR WEBSITE (Calendar of Events)

NEW CHAPTER FORMED DOWNSTATE

A new chapter has been formed to serve central Illinois. This chapter will be named after Illinoisan Stephen A. Forbes (1844-1930) who was an early pioneer in the founding of aquatic ecosystem science. The chapter will serve members residing in or near Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, and Springfield. Current residents in those areas who are members of the Oak Brook Chapter will have their memberships transferred to the new chapter. This will be a huge step forward for TU members in central Illinois. Now they will have the opportunity to attend meetings a reasonable distance from their homes. The downstate chapter is still formulating some of their plans regarding meeting locations, dates, and other items.

LAKE BARRIERS MAY LOSE POWER

A recent article in the Tribune caught my eye regarding the fight over funding of the electric power to run the barriers designed to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes. It seems the House-Senate budget committee decided not to pay the approximately $1 million annual electric bill claiming it's the responsibility of the State of Illinois to do so. The state of Illinois disagrees. Let's hope this gets worked out soon.

WATCH WHERE YOU'RE WADING !

Wisconsin outdoors reported in their last issue that police shot and killed an alligator sunning itself along the Rock River in southern Wisconsin about 20 miles east of Beaver Dam.

And remember, good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. See you at the party.