September 2009 President’s Message

Dear fellow TU members,

I hope you had a great summer. My summer seemed to go by much too fast. This is my first message to you since Ted Gardziel stepped down as president of the Hammonasset chapter. HCTU has been very active and ambitious under Ted’s leadership and we accomplished a great deal. Ted is no longer able to devote as much time to the chapter but he will continue to be involved at the State Council and National level.


When I first joined this Trout Unlimited chapter eight years ago, I wanted to learn more about trout fishing and meet people who shared my enthusiasm for fishing. Since joining the Hammonasset chapter I have learned to fly-fish better, got fishing tips from many knowledgeable anglers, learned to tie some flies, gone on group trips, and made some friends. The activities that the chapter offered were great opportunities to pick-up new fishing techniques and fly patterns, discover new places to fish, and learn from other fishermen. After I got involved, I was asked to help out with the chapter raffles, kids fly tying programs, fundraising activities, and then the chapter newsletter. Sometimes volunteering seems like work, but it can also be very rewarding when you share your time and pass on your experience to others, and you usually have a great time while doing it.

We all joined Trout Unlimited because we like fishing and care about protecting our watersheds. Conservation and clean rivers are very importation to preserving good trout fishing, but many of us are fisherman first, and we joined Trout Unlimited for the fishing. My goal is to make our chapter a little more enjoyable and a little less work. It’s possible to spend more time on fishing and education programs and minimize the effort toward others business. But I can’t lead the unwilling, so I am asking the membership for your input on the activities that would interest you, and programs you want to see at HCTU.

Our directors have already started planning chapter activities for the season. We will have fishing presentations at most of our monthly meetings and we will also try pizza and a movie, and fly swaps that we believe will be interesting. As soon as we arrange some group outings, we will post them on our website.

In the next few weeks our chapter will have two major exhibits that are important to promoting what TU is doing. We will have a Trout in the Classroom exhibit at the Durham Fair and a TU 50th Anniversary exhibit at the Hammonasset Festival. If you can spare a couple hours of your time, it’s an easy way to get involved.

Please consider becoming more involved in the Hammonasset chapter and don't miss all we have to offer. I hope to see some of you at our monthly meetings or on the water.

Kevin Fuller
Acting President, HCTU