Opinions, musings, ideas, pearls of wisdom
Thank You
by Jon Bowman
Thank You
by Jon Bowman
I want to thank Jim Hall and family for their generosity in funding the Dame Juliana award again this year. I also want to thank the club members who voted for me to receive this award; our club has been so important to me and has given me much more than whatever I contributed. Not only have there been so many individual acts of kindness and generosity to me over the past twelve years, but each club member has their own unique way of doing our sport that makes the club membership experience enriching: John Fong, who said "I'm just a meat fisherman, Jon" as he showed me his beautiful baitfish flies that he kept in the showcase of his optometry office while encouraging me to go from being his patient to becoming a club member; Ed Marcillac, who gave me casting lessons; Kathy Powers, who tried to show me how to mend dry fly casts on Hot creek; George Petersen, and Elaine Cook, among others, who taught me to tie flies; Bruce Dau who helped me learn to nymph; Tom Donovan and J.D. Dodson, who taught me to be patient and persistent on the stream;... the list is way too long to write here.
A portion of the award is being donated in dedication to the Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen to the Friends of the McCloud, the folks who maintain the McCloud river conservancy.
Editor's Note: The Dame Juliana Award is an annual $200 cash donation given by Jim Hall and his family. It was inspired to recognize to those who go out of their way and give of their knowledge and experience to teach and help others learn and enjoy the sport of fly fishing.