$7000 Raised for Save the Rapid
The 2nd Annual FFIM Spring Conclave was held on June 12 and was a resounding success. The group of over 100 anglers who attended the weekend’s festivities crushed the goal of raising $5000 to benefit the Save the Rapid cause and had fun doing it! FFIM-ers from as far as Virginia started arriving late Friday afternoon, fishing there way up to Rangeley.
Many stopped into the RRG&SA Clubhouse on Friday night where Ken Beaulieu had set up the vast array of Silent Auction and Raffle items. Artwork, fly rods, flies, clothing and more were laid out for all to gawk over. Quickly, activities dispersed back to Black Brook Cove campground on the shores of Aziscohos Lake, passing about 5 moose along the 20-minute drive. A small group of campers gathered in site #2 for some evening fish tales and fine scotch.
Early Saturday morning, the activities kicked off at camping site #1, as Mike Holt of Fly Fishing Only in Fairfield was up at o-dark-thirty to cook fresh donuts and coffee for the early birds. If you’ve never had Mike’s donuts at 5:30 AM, you don’t know what you’re missing!!!
Folks began to arrive at the clubhouse around 8AM with coffee and donuts at the clubhouse, generously prepared by Don and Stephanie Palmer, of the RRG&SA. 8:30 was to be the kickoff of the convoy of vans and SUV's loaded with canoes to the Bass Derby site at the south-side of Pond-in-the-River. The "45 minute" drive turned out to be a bit longer, (who said I could count?), but the group arrived safely and in good spirits.
Shelby Rousseau and others from the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust were on site to perform watercraft inspections for invasive plants.
Bill Pierce, Dave Boucher and several wardens from the MDIFW were on hand to oversee and help coordinate the event. This all took place under the watchful eye of FFIM-er and SAM member Jeff Levesque. Jeff was the mastermind of orchestrating this event, and it went off without a hitch. Nearly 40 anglers, including Trout Unlimited's Jeff Reardon and Greg Ponte, RRG&SA President Don Palmer, and many others hauled in 85 bass. The bass were kept and carted away by the MDIFW biologists for further study.
Meanwhile, back at the clubhouse, FFIM-ers filtered in and out throughout the day, around their activities of fishing the region. There was much to see and do at the clubhouse, beyond just drooling over the silent auction and raffle items. Maine bamboo rod makers David Van Burgel and Scott Chase had setup their work area on the back porch and spent the better part of the day crafting the very bamboo rod that would be given away to a lucky raffle winner later that evening. They even used water from the Rapid River headwaters when mixing their glue!
Kathy Scott had her furled leader board setup and was eager to show anyone with an interest. Bob Dionne of Aardvark Outfitters in Farmington led free casting instruction in the clubhouse pond, complete with you chance to hook into a 16" Brook Trout! Also "around" during the day were Gray Wolf and Wise Owl, with their beautiful assortment and vast knowledge of flies and fly tying. Watercolor artist Dave Tibbets even brought his easal and some work. To cap it off, those there in mid-afternoon were treated to the sight and sounds of a pair of courting bald eagles overhead of the clubhouse…truly magnificent.
In the early evening, the RRG&SA kindly treated us all to a cookout, and as the bass derby participants rolled back into town the reports came in. High boat was Nick Sibilia and Steve Berry of the Saco River Salmon club with 23 fish. They took home a brand new Patagonia fly fishing vest and jacket for their prize. Others fared nearly as well, and some not so well at all. General consensus was that if they were going back for a second day they would know just how to catch them, as it took a while for some to figure it out. Not surprisingly the most effective fly was a size 10 black wooly bugger...go figure!
After the cookout the culmination of all the hard work paid off as the lucky winners of the raffle items and silent auction were announced following a wonderful book reading by Maine author Kathy Scott. Even Cap won something this year! All told, the event raised over $7000 and Don Palmer was presented a check on behalf of FFIM for the Save the Rapid fund.
Awards were also given to MDIFW marketing "guru" Bill Pierce for biologists Dave Boucher, Forrest Bonney, and Dave Howatt for their hard work and dedication in trying to help save the Rapid River trout. Certificates were also given to Bill to pass along to FPL biologists Bill Hanson and Kyle Hanson, who have also committed a great deal of effort.
Capping off the night, Patrick Nealon of New Hampshire was the lucky winner of the Great Canadian Canoe, and Maine resident Charlie Pray became the lucky owner of the one of a kind "Rapid River" bamboo fly rod.
All told, the event was a great success, and will certainly be hard to top next year. Thanks to all for their hard work and dedication in making this grass roots effort be able to make a real difference!
A special thanks to all those companies and individuals who donated Raffle Items contributing to the events success! Also thanks to all those whose hard work made this event possible...including, but not limited to these FFIM super-volunteers: Ken Bealieu (Donations/Raffles Coordination), Jeff Levesque (Bass Harvest Maestro) and Jason Terry (Marketing Power). Thanks!!!
Past Conclaves:
 Spring 2002 - Solon, ME
Fall 2002 - Rangeley, ME
Spring 2003 - Greenville, ME
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The "Big" Check
Silent Auction Items
Donuts Anyone?
Derby Convoy - Ready to catch bass?
Derby Winners - High Boat
Rod makers with their product
A mayfly rests on some bamboo
Casting Instruction
A great cookout from RRG&SA
A Reading by Kathy Scott
Recognition for MDIF&W
Cap got the Buffet Jacket!!!
More Photos:
Who made Bill Pierce eat alone?
Dave Tibbets and Dave Tibbets
Gray Wolf casting at the clubhouse pond
Jeff Levesque with the Bass Derby report
TU's Jeff Reardon - Convoy Leader
Kathy Scott and Bob Dionne
Scott Chase take home Middle Dam
Ken B enjoys a hard earned reward!
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Spring 2004 - Conclave Recap
