Saying Goodbye to the 2015 Regional Meeting Circuit

Today marks the last day of regional meetings in 2015. This is particularly bittersweet for me this year, as I write this note from the runway in Cheyenne, Wyo. where the airline decided to re-route us due to severe weather. Another night in a Denver airport hotel is about the last thing I had in mind. Still, while I’m thrilled to get back home for a summer reprieve from travel to enjoy my home waters with my husband, daughter, and friends… I’m already missing my Trout Unlimited family. This spring, TU staff and volunteers found ourselves in Branson, MO, Minneapolis, MN, Asheville, NC, Jackson, WY, Providence, RI, and finally Frederick, MD. During this grand tour, I met in person with over 500 TU volunteers. These are people who dedicated perfectly good weekends to windowless meeting rooms in the service of learning how to be more effective at accomplishing TU’s mission locally. These are men and women who, without ever being paid a dime, are healing streams, veterans, outdoor-deprived youth and whole communities. I also had the great pleasure organizing and facilitating these meetings with the finest colleagues on the planet. And, when you put TU staff and volunteers together you not only generate a lot of ideas, but you generate a lot of fun. We fished, we competed in casting and tying competitions, we enjoyed some excellent live music, we shared a beer or two and many laughs. I’m humbled and inspired by the quality of human being, both staff and volunteer, that I get to work with every day. 

 

Counting the days until I see many of you again at the Annual Meeting in Scranton, PA or as part of the 2016 regional meeting circuit.