I am starting this post because we were kicking the idea around last year about having a "NAFC 25th Anniversary Celebration". Those of us that have been involved in planning a meet knows what all is involved. And in order to get this ball rolling, we need everyone's involvement. There is going to be much discussion on this as I believe that it can and will get done. Yes, we all have our own state meets and it's great, but we should have a 25th Anniversary  Celebration for our club. First off, we need volunteers to help organize the different committee's. I will be the first volunteer, do we have another ?????   BD

 

  

NAFC Life Member, NAFC Ohio Chapter Co-Chairman, NAFC Ohio Chapter Chaplain, USMC Veteran Semper-Fi, Assistant Pastor, John 3:16,17

I'll do what I can,   where I am needed!.gif">  I am assuming that you ment a North American Celebration!  Which means you folks that are north and south of the boarder should get involved (I pray for this) and make your feelings known!  Woo wee, this could be the "best ever" member meet!!

LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif

What would make this " National" ? I don't understand what would make it so.  ????

 

I just don't get it but if it can be done I'm sure you two can do it....................

 

Pardon me for my ignorance; but how can you expect members to get involved with a "National Celebration"... The members we have most contact to or with; cannot even commit themselves to a State or Area Meet. The lack of interest shows more and more as time passes by. I've taken part in three (3) Gwinn, Mich. Meets; only to see the number of attendee's drop more each year.  There is just not enough loyalty among members as it once was.  With hundreds of members in  Michigan, Minnisota and Wisconsin; only ten (10) people showed up for the Gwinn Meet. Three of those were my son and his wife, and Larry Nelson as first timers. I will attend Gwinn again next year  as a die hard Michigander living in Wisconsin myself. I don't think you will generate enough interest in a National Celebration that will be anything short of a waste of effort and time. If anything at all get yourself involved with a local meet with another spot or location. Time of year also has allot to do with it. Concider a Spring or Fall event. I'm for cooler weather over the hot days of summer. I hope something good comes out of this so I'll continue checking on results.  Good luch to all; and may God bless...Dennis/Papa_d
Dennis/Papa_d

 

Papa_d....Some words were edited to accomodate the new post.  BD

I'm afraid I must agree with Papa d , here in Arizona I have tried for a year to get LOCAL members to meet and fish together . I've gotten a positive response from 1 member . I get better resulte asking fishing friends to go fishing with me who aren't N.A.F.C. members .  Best of luck to you , I hope members from elsewhere will be more responsive than Arizona members are.     Happy fishing.

~N.A.F.C.~B.A.S.S.~BoatU.S.~N.R.A.~A.M.A.~

 

I think that those of us that attend member meets in various locations will attest to the fact that attendance varies from year to year.  And the resaons for this fluctuation are as varied as there are stars in the sky.  If you have read my journals, you know of MY desire to get everyone together at the same place and time.  Lordy, that would be wonderful!  I think realisticly you could only plan to do this once, or at the very most at every 25 years of club anniversary...Loyalty?  I think there is plenty of loyalty.  You must remember that folks join this club for many different reasons.  And perhaps how we communicate is part of the answer to participation.  If you are relying on this site to communicate all activities, I think you should rethink this.  There are many, many members with basic dial-up service, making it extremly difficult to access this site.  And the club mag is not much help either!  Can we make this happen?  If we really want it...

I also like the idea of cooler weather camping.  The drawback to this is the children are still in school.  But if I really desire to attend a meet, hot weather such as what there is at the LaCrosse meet and the 2007 Gwinn meet, won't keep me away!

So, rather than listing all the reasons NOT to do this, how about if we try to look to the positive...After all, there are many folks out there that know how to bring a meet such as what is being proposed here together.  What say you all?

LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif

  I think we have already been doing this. Wouldn't the LaCrosse meet qualify as a National event? We had attendies from Kansas, Pennsylvania, and california over the last two meets.

 

 

Jim USArmy 1986-Present Life Member NAFC Member Western Fishers Member Full Moon Fishers "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -- Calvin

  I hope that my previous comment wasn't misuderstood. I was not suggesting that any one meet was better than another. I was just using the meet that I have attended as an example.

  If we want to pursue a National Celebration it needs to be at a place and time that does not conflict with the other established meets. But then it will conflict if the individual has to chose from one or the other.

  I think if there is a National Celebration it should be hosted by the club at a place accessible to all the members (ie. those with boats, those without boats, handicap accessable, reasonable license fees.).

Jim USArmy 1986-Present Life Member NAFC Member Western Fishers Member Full Moon Fishers "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -- Calvin

 

Jim, some words have been edited to accomodate this new post.  BD

" I think we have already been doing this. Wouldn't the LaCrosse meet qualify as a National event? We had attendies from Kansas, Pennsylvania, and california over the last two meets."

Fish-aholic:  If what you posted would "qualify" as a "National Meet", then a few other meets would fall into that category also.  The Gwinn Meet also had folks from PA., Calif., Kansas and Canada the past couple of meets, but I do not know what "they" are really "looking for".  I too feel in a sense, that if a "National Meet" is held, it may have an affect on those meets already in progress and building well on their own.  We here at Gwinn have seen a drop in attendance this year, but I am sure there were circumstances that contributed to that, such as our dates, the price of fuel and so on.  All one can do is try, announce the meet and hope for the best.

"Doc" Life Member NAFC Best Club Around CYA when I CYA! Take Care, God Bless, AND be careful out there! Had 4,000 + posts under old ID

 

Well, my thought was not to compete with any existing meet or to just have a national instead of what we have now.  Those of you that know me must surely realise I would never promote anything like that.  I certainly understand all the work and time it has taken to get them (meets) where they are today.  For ME, it would be nice for one time to have everyone together at the same time and place...I don't know how else to state this!  I think every meet that I ever attended has had folks from other states attend.  That being said, the NY folks do not get together with the LaCrosse folks, or the Ohio folks with the Gwinn folks, or the Texas folks with the Finger Lakes folks, etc!  Perhaps we could have a "national" celebration held at or near our club HQ...

I don't want anyone turning this into something I never intended it to be...If it is to much bother then I'll just let it go...For me, I'll just have to keep going from state to state in order to see my friends (I don't need a patch to do this).  And that is a good thing, also!

 

 

 

 

LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif

 

Pete, your post has been edited to accomodate the "new" post. BD

I think all the points made (pro's and con's) are good points. But I think you'll run into the same problem the regular states run into - money, high gas prices, etc. I think if one wants to meet as many members as possible, then it is up to that person to make it to as many state meets as they can. I know I for one have to stick to hanging around Wisconsin (or neighboring states) because I just can't afford the gas prices. And we all know gas will not get any cheaper.

 

I like the idea of patches, but again, why limit who can get them - why not have a patch for each state that has a meet and then collect them as you go to the different meets.

 

 

I don't think the intent is to have a National Celebration every year. There's not enough of us that could afford getting to one...and still try to participate in our various "home" Meets.

 

Last year I was lucky to have rolled over 1 week of vacation from the previous year....which allowed me to attend BOTH Gwinn and La Crosse.

 

This year I couldn't go anywhere...since I was saving money to move back to Wisconsin. MANY other Members face other financial / life issues that keep them from attending even a single Meet. A good example has been WalleyeWayne and his son's baseball.

 

That being said...a 25th Anniversary Celebration somewhere would be way cool. And that would give everyone close to 5 years to plan ahead. This would probably put the Celebration around Minneapolis though since Club Headquarters are there....unless the Club actually got super involved like the Nevada Jamboree, in which case Missouri would probably be the most logical area....with one of these lakes in mind more than likely.

 

       Bull Shoals Lake (Also extends into Arkansas).

       Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir

       Lake of the Ozarks

       Mark Twain Lake

       Norfolk Lake (Also extends into Arkansas).

       Pomme de Terre Lake

       Stockton Lake

       Table Rock Lake (Also extends into Arkansas).

       Lake Taneycomo

Here's a link to a map of Missouri showing waterways...

 

http://www.anglersfishinginfo.com/mo/statemap/index.html

I like the idea...but we should see 1st IF the Club has any thoughts about it...and it's MY understanding that canepole got some kind of a response from them about it...so let's see what he's got to say.

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Coast Member of da EH! Team Kangaroo Kounty Razzer-in-Chief

 

Dave, some words were edited to accomodate the "New" post.  BD

I love the idea of a national celebration. If there is anything I can do just let me know. I actually I know a guy that works for embroid me who might be able to help out with patchs, hats ,t-shirts ect.

 

dk, i edited the word to accomodate the "new" post. BD

HEY Fish-a-holic,   Forgetting someone?  I came to the La Crosse meet from "The Show-Me State" =  Missouri.

 

If Harry S. Truman Res. were picked as a National Celebration site I can help there. My Parents live on the Grand River arm of it, between Clinton and Warsaw, Mo. AND I have fished below the dam and above in the lake in many places since it was opened to the public in the early 70's.

I also know several nice places to camp, sight see and eat around the lake. And many locations of the boat ramps also. Not to mention [brag, brag] how to fish it in many interesting places as well.

 

My two cents on the National celebration is this... First we keep all current established meets going as is.[Esp the Grandpappy - The NE meet]  and any more that develop. Divide the USA into 4 sections and every 5th yr we meet at a different one of these section locations for a national celebration. [Trying to find a date that won't affect any annual meets already in progress] On the 25th yr we always meet near NAFC Headquarters for a National celebration to show our unity.

 

And every 4 USA sections should try to plan a new location each time their turn comes up. But if there is one centralized location where the most can meet, use it all the time. // I think the  25th national hdqtr. meet should change locations too, but with 10,000 lakes to choose from, that should / or won't, be easy.

 

Right now the biggest problem [I'm sure many will agree] for any Annual, National or Sectional meet is fuel prices. Followed by travel time & expenses, and location.

And some members just can't afford to go to more than one meet a yr, due to $$ or vacation / time off from work. And you can add in medical illness, surgery/recovery, and other personal obligations to that as well.

 

I suggest that each section distinguish a contact leader and all members in that section vote for a location to hold their 5th yr meet. The the winning location is announced to ALL NAFC members, and the planning can begin to attend or not to attend that sectional meet per each one of us.