Thursday, January 8, 2009

The LVH Fishing Club had its first meeting of 2009 with breakfast at the Agate Beach Golf Course. We had a great turnout, 25 members, and I was especially pleased to see our women members there: Ellie LeMaster, Bev Garvey, Jamie Hall and Marilyn Breakfield (of course, we have to include our favorite waitress in the ladies present).

Frank handed out tickets for our great door prize, even though he tried to buy everyone's ticket back for $1. 00.

After everyone visited and ate breakfast, John started the meeting. He displayed a pulaski supplied to us by ODFW for use at the Schooner Creek trap. It was given to Mike Samples as he will be visiting the trap later this morning. He stated it was his idea of a "palm pilot". I guess at this point some of us will never completely join the computer age.

Wayde discussed upcoming projects with ODFW (watch your e-mail for more info) and the event this evening at City Hall with the Newport Police Department, "City at 5:30". As several of the LVH Fishing Club are members of the NPD Volunteers, many of us will be there.

Lee gave an update on Tom McAdams. Not surprising, due to the excellent condition Tom kept himself in, he is doing surprisingly well. He still gets frustrated when he gets tired and can't do as much as he would like but he is progressing very well. Once again, the Angel List must have worked.

Butch gave an update on the CCFF news and meeting information and Brian did the same for the Steelheaders. Our three clubs certainly keep informed about fishing conditions and, as John pointed out, supply many hours (and vehicle miles) in volunteering to keep our fishing sport as healthy as possible. We all deserve a "pat on the back". On that note, I was approached by the owner of the Agate Beach Golf Course who wanted to thank us for our patronage. In this difficult economic time and with the winter weather, they really appreciate us having our meeting there. One more thing to feel good about . . .

The annual award was given to Phil Reed for catching the biggest fish in our salmon derby last year. His name was added to the plaque displayed at the LVH Clubhouse and he received a certificate of his own. He received his pin to display on his hat as did the others who caught a fish in the derby. Kevin McCarthy didn't make the meeting (surely it wasn't in anticipation of this trophy?) so he wasn't able to get the "trophy" for the smallest fish caught. John will be sure to get it to him and Kevin will keep it for 2009 until it is handed off the the lucky "winner" in the Salmon Derby next year.

We had a fantastic door prize for a guided fishing trip donated by Phil Reed. Jerry Gibson was the lucky winner (sorry, Frank).

Well, as you can see, we had an event-filled meeting. Keep you eye on your e-mails to see what is coming up next.

Our next meeting is at the LVH Clubhouse on January 22nd. After a brief meeting we will have an informative and eye-opening meeting presented by our very own Tom Simpson. Tom is a sergeant with the Newport Police Department and is going to present a slide show on methamphetamine and other drug uses in Lincoln County, as well as the rest of the country. I have seen this program and can guarantee you it is worth seeing. Just because we are all retired and probably do not have any problems at LVH, many of us are parents and grandparents and it is important to know what to look for and the damage this can do to our community and society. We can't say for sure but we are hoping our newest NPD "officer" Eyan, the police dog, will make an appearance. We hope to see you all there, and please ask your neighbors to come. This will be a "must see" for us all!