I haven't had a chance to type up a reply for this until now, so here goes. This past weekend's events were satisfying, but attendance was strangely lower than average. At my event on Saturday, we estimated around 200 people came and participated, I was expecting around 300. On Sunday at Rice Lake, there were around 400, normally it was around 800.
Anyways, still very good indeed. Fortunately, thanks to all you volunteers from FWR and FishBC, it went very smoothly and everyone went home happy. Thanks to Trout Slayer, D_W, Rowdy and Nicole for teaching kids how to tie flies once again. Hiker and his girlfriend Teresa made some fantastic sandwiches for volunteers and Teresa babysat a bunch of kids at the fish drawing booth. Floon, being so vocal and interactive, was stunning at the flycasting workshop, and produced several new fine young casters. Leadbelly, Canoeman, Chrome Mykiss and LukeYVR were very patient and helped a bunch of kids who were just trying out fishing for the first time. Richard (Bushman) and Rod (Rowdy) were kind enough to meet me early in the morning to pick up all the tables and chairs, without your assistance this could not have happened. Dr Spin n Glow, your tent came in very handy during event day, as the sun was so nasty that day. Hung, I like to thank you for bringing your neighbors' kids down and let them to find a new passion that may just brighten up their life from now on. Carole, your donation of rod and reel made some kid very happy! Thanks! I hope I didn't leave anyone out!
The setup on Saturday was way faster than I thought. Tents, tables, chairs, banners and signs went up in 30 minutes, it was incredibly impressive. Although attendance was down, the good part was we got to talk to every single person who showed up so their questions were all answered. I would also like to mention that every kid received a prize or two at the event.
This year we came up with the fish picture colouring activity. My brother designed two different pictures for colouring that had small messages in them. I will have those online to show you soon. They were very popular for the younger kids as most did not want to fish for too long. A alternative activity at site kept them interested for a few more hours.
Our draw prize ticket, pop and chip sale made 135 dollars, which will be very helpful for next year's event.
I also want to mention and show my appreciation to the following sponsors who generously donated prizes and time to make this a great day for the kids:
Chris Bos at Family Fishing Weekend Society (funding, hats, t shirts)
Brent McCallum at Redl Sport (25 rod/reel combo, fly tying material)
Mike and Michelle Berry at Berry's Bait and Tackle (10 dozen dew worms and two reels)
David Ho at Delta Tackle (90 salmon jigs)
Dale Yamauchi at Nikka Industry (license issuing at site)
Scott Baker at Anglers West (Fly tying material and the popular Sponge Bob Square Pants fishing combo)
Shawn Flemming at Office Depot (various tools for our display)
ZoAnn Morton at Pacific Streamkeeper Federation (tents)
Michelle Imbeau and Joanne Day at FOC (brochures, posters, various educational material)
Also, the exhibitors who patiently spent the entire day under the sun talking to visitors:
Doug Liu and Diane Ramage of Pacific Salmon Foundation
Marc Guimond of Seymour Salmonid Society
Waterwise Boat Safety Team
Burns Bog Conservation Society
Your effort is invaluable as small community events like these brew responsible recreational users who will also become stewards of the environment in the future. I thank you for your support.
On a side note, this is our second year doing the event, and I am looking for feedbacks that may make next year's event better. Several main questions I have include:
How to generate more visitors next year?
Would more exhibitors be more attrative?
What other activities that we could do to make it more interactive?
More photos are coming soon.
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Topic: Fish For The Future 2004 (Read 7101 times)