Leaders Line

Building Community For 12 Years

 

I have been giving this column a lot of thought since it is my last one. The next time the newsletter comes out Bill Wheeler will be the Council President. I know you will continue to give Bill your support as you did for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back over the past 12 years as Council President made me Colorado and joined a fly club in LA, thelook back at how I got involved in fly fishing. I started fly fishing in 1966 in Acadiana Fly Rodders.

Along the way I joined the FFI then the FFF. After my first wife passed in 2001 I joined the Evergreen Fly Fishers. I became the club’s FFF representative and then became Council Treasurer in 2005 and President in 2006. The Council put on the first Fair in Ellensburg in 2007 and this year we had our 12th Fair in Ellensburg. During this time the Federation of Fly Fishers became the International Federation of Fly Fisher and now Fly Fishers International. While it will take a long time for me to not think of myself as a Federator, I like the new name. The part that I really like is the mission: Conservation – Education -Community. And it is Community that I am thinking about. It is the fly-fishing community that is so special to me and I am fortunate to be a part of that community.

Normally, I would be thanking everyone who supported the Washington Fly Fishing Fair in Ellensburg this year, but this year I want to THANK everyone who has helped the Washington State Council of the FFI over the past 12 years! Many people have put in a lot of hard work to bring the Council to where it is today, and I have been very fortunate to be a part of the community. Unfortunately, a number of folks who were very active in the Council during this time are no longer with us. As I write this column this Memorial Day I stop and remember those folks.

I want to Thank everyone who served on the Council Board of Directors for the past 12 years some for all 12 years. Your help has been invaluable, without your efforts we would not be where we are today, Thank You! There are four organizations the Council has supported, all are members of the fly-fishing community and they all do wonderful work. They are: Casting for Recovery, Project Healing Waters, Olympic Peninsula Fishing Innovations and the North-west Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Academy. I encourage everyone to support these organizations.

I will end by thanking the fly fishing community for the support they have given me and the Washington Council over the past 12 years. Thank You

Carl Johnson

A big thank you from Len Zickler, FFI President and CEO and all of Washington FFI. Mara Johnson accepts a basket of goodies from Bill Wheeler as Carl looks on with a smile. Gifts include a good cognac and some days of guided fishing on the river of the Johnson’s choice.