2007 Calendar of Events

Regular Monthly Meeting will be held on the second Saturday morning of each month beginning at 9:00 a.m. The normal meeting place is the Kiwanis community building in Blue Ridge; however, occasional meetings will be held elsewhere to accommodate the program for that month. Directions to the Kiwanis Community Building: From E. Main, W. Main or E. 1^st Street (the main north/south streets in downtown Blue Ridge) turn onto Church Street heading east. Go up the hill on Church St. past the big Baptist Church parking lot and in about a block, turn left onto Austin Street. The Kiwanis building will be at the fairgrounds at the corner of Austin and Jones Streets.

January Chapter Meeting – January 13. Annual Planning Session

Rabun Rendezvous – Our TU compatriots from the Rabun Chapter will be holding their big shin-dig on January 20. Several of us poor TU brethren from the “wrong side” of the mountain plan to drive over from Blue Ridge to hob-knob with those Rabunites.

February Chapter Meeting – Trout in the Classroom – February 10^th – The Trout in the Classroom project is well underway for a successful first year.  We will meet with biology teachers Jeff Weaver and Tony Tichler at Fannin County Middle School who will give us an up-to-date report on Trout in the Classroom. Note: We’ll be meeting at the middle school. The school is located just off Old Hwy. 76 just down the hill past Ace Hardware, the Aska Road turnoff and the cemetery where the entrance to the school is on the right.

February Stream of the Month – Following the Trout in the Classroom program at Fannin County Middle School we’ll head to the Toccoa Tailwater near Hogback for some fishing and lunch. BE SURE TO BRING YOUR FISHING GEAR TO THE MEETING!

March Chapter Meeting – Fishing North Georgia’s Trout Water – March 10th – Steve Bettis, who many of you know from the Unicoi Shop in Blue Ridge, will share information about the area’s streams, fishing techniques and equipment.

Toccoa DH Litter Clean-Up – Following the chapter meeting on March 10, we’ll head out to the Toccoa Delayed Harvest section for a litter clean-up session (Sandy Reinauer – our Rivers Alive coordinator --emphasizes that we’ll be cleaning up litter, not cleaning fish!). Following that, our March Stream of the Month will be fishing the Toccoa DH during the afternoon.

State TU Council Meeting – The Georgia TU Council will meet on March 17 at Vanna BBQ near Royston.

Trout in the Classroom Fingerling Release Field Day – Students who have participated in the Trout in the Classroom program at Fannin County Middle School will go on a field trip on Thursday, April 26 to release the fingerlings at Tammin Park on the Toccoa below the dam. Volunteers from the TU Chapter will be cooking a hotdog lunch for the students and in the afternoon doing some mentoring -- flytying, casting, etc. The students will be leaving school at 11:00 to go to the park and will head back to school in time to catch their buses at the end of the school day..

Hoot on the Hooch – The Foothills TU Chapter will be holding their annual event on March 24. Winners of this year’s Dream Flyfishing Vacation will be drawn during this event. More details to follow.

South Holston Group Trip – In April – on the 19^th through 22nd – our group will pack up for a trip to Tennessee’s South Holston River. More details elsewhere in the monthly newsletters but mark your calendars now.

Back the Brookie Stream Samplings – Dates and places that will be assigned for the next round of Back the Brookie stream sampling has not been set as yet, but be on the look out for information to come from Paul Mailman when details are finalized. Our chapter will be responsible for some streams in our area.

Trout Camp Applications Due – Applications for the two campers our chapter will be sponsoring for Trout Camp must be in to the State Council before May 1^st.

High Country Boil– This year’s popular social/fund raiser for our Chapter will be held on Saturday, May 19 at Jay and Martha Campbell’s place on the Toccoa. More details to follow from event chairman Mike Maginn.

Art in the Park – The Chapter will have a booth at the art festival in downtown Blue Ridge over Memorial Day weekend (Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27). We’ll need members to sign up for time slots to man the booth. For those who participate either day, we’ll have a BBQ cookout at John Pool’s cabin on Saturday evening, May 26.

Pretty Branch Habitat Improvement Work Day – A work day for the Blue Ridge TU Chapter and coordinated by Jim Wentworth with the U.S. Forest Service is set for June 23

Kids Trout Camp – Oh to be age 12 to 15 again! The youngsters will be attending this year’s Trout Camp from June 10 through 15

Little Rock Creek Habitat Improvement Work Day – A second work day is scheduled for on this stream for August 11. When we did this project last summer, it was the biggest turn-out for a work day Jim Wentworth could remember -- let’s do it again!

Rivers Alive Clean Up – The Blue Ridge TU Chapter will again volunteer to clean up the Upper Toccoa DH section during the Chamber-sponsored Rivers Alive project tentatively set for the third or fourth Saturday in September. Details to come from coordinator Sandy Reinauer.

Cattaloochee Group Trip – The Blue Ridge TU chapter is planning a return trip to the Cattaloochee area of the Smoky Mountains in mid-October, with a stop at Roger Lowe’s fly shop in Hendersonville on the way in for some late minute pointers.

Monthly Programs and Streams of the Month – Dates and details will be added to the calendar and publicized in the newsletter as plans are finalized. A big thanks to Jay Campbell for taking on Program Chairman duties this year. Stay tuned for more information. . .