Board Meeting
We held our meeting Thursday March 24th at the Lakeside Methodist Church. We welcomed our new Director Dave London back to the board. Kelly assigned tasks for all at the annual fundraiser to be held on April 9th. Codey gave out a list of dates for chapter activities up to September. A full list of these will be at the end of the newsletter. After the two years with little or no activities it feels good to be back to active mode. We wrapped up our fly-tying roundtable with our session on March 14th. We hosted boy scouts from Curwensville who were learning to tie a fly and catch a fish to earn their merit badge. Thanks to those in attendance lending a hand and helping these boys tie their flies. If you want winter to pass quickly, then mark your calendar for January 2023 when we will once again have the weekly fly-tying roundtable.
Membership Meetings
March 21st, we held our monthly membership meeting, and we were able to have Clearfield County WCO Justin Schillaci come give us an update of the upcoming trout season. We also had Dan Collins come to our February membership meeting with a presentation on his time working for Trout Unlimited. Chapter member Tony Kumitis came to our roundtable and gave a presentation on his work in Wyoming last summer for the Fish and Wildlife Department. The plan is to start back up with monthly meetings with the next two being a field trip and picnic before our usual summer break.
We joined with the Jefferson County Conservation District in applying for a Cold-Water Heritage Grant for Clover Run. The chapter looks forward to helping create a conservation plan and hopefully remove the remnants of the old Punxsutawney reservoir. We have not yet heard as to whether or not the grant was accepted and should hear shortly.
56th Annual Banquet
We had a fun debate on whether this was our 56 or 54 due to the loss of two years from Covid. Since the chapter started in 1966 and we have had some sort of fundraiser every year. I’m going with this being the 56th annual.
April 9th marked our annual fundraising dinner after a two-year break. We had a good attendance and was great to see everyone again after being shut in for so long.
Winners in our annual raffle (Yellow tickets)
1st Prize Gary Lyons $400
2nd Wendy Steele $100.
3rd Joyce London $50.
Congratulations to Rich Ferrara being awarded the Golden Reel Award this year at the banquet. Rich was honored with the work he has done with setting up our new shed and the presentations he has given on Euro nymphing and teaching fly tying.
If you missed this year, here is the save the date on next year. We will once again be at the Falls Creek Eagles the date will be March 25th due to Easter being the 2nd Saturday of April.
We will need some help in preparing for next year’s fundraiser, if you’re interested in lending a hand, please reach out to one of our directors. We really need to have help soliciting prizes and it’s never too early to start.
Dates to remember:
April 23rd Earth Day Clean up at the Tannery Dam in DuBois meet at the lake 8:30
April 23rd Family fishing event sponsored by the Chapter and Lakeside Methodist Church. Help needed to assist kids fishing. Meet at the Tannery at 10am
April 25th Chapter meeting at Cardiff mine reclamation. Meet at St Joseph Church in Force at 6PM
May 6 DuBois Middle School Fly fishing outing at the Tannery Dam
May 12 Cleanup at the Dr Blakeslee Memorial Forest in Medix Run. Meet at the parking lot on 555
May 14th DuBois Girl Scout family fishing at Camp Mountain Run. Help needed to assist the girls fishing.
May 18th Our annual picnic at Walter Dick Park in Brookville. Bring a covered dish to pass. Also bring your fishing gear.
May 20th DuBois Area Middle School Environmental Day at Camp Mountain Run
June 3rd Clearfield County Youth Field Days we host the macro collection for the kids always can use extra hands.
June 25th Jefferson County Youth Field Days Renlow Park. We host the kids fishing at the lake.
August 28th Chapter Picnic with Jim Zwald Chapter Bendigo State Park. We supply all the food
Some background on some of the above.
The April 25th meeting, we will be touring the old Cardiff mine site on Cherry Run in Force. The chapter donated $3000 to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to build passive treatment and replant the area as well as removing a large mound of red dog that was polluting Cherry Run which was unable to hold fish once it flowed into the old mine area.
May 12 We made a major donation to the Dr Blakeslee Memorial Forest to make this area happen and to keep it looking good, the chapter does a cleanup of the area removing dead trees that have fallen on the trails and clearing brush as well. It usually doesn’t take that long so there is time to fish either Bennetts Branch or one of the other streams in the area.
The youth events can always use additional help and it is very easy to get the clearances to work with children. Please consider helping us so we can maintain these very worthwhile events. The field days and the environmental day are very fun and easy to help with as you do not need to be an expert in any field just a willingness to help. .
May 18th and August 28th are chapter picnics and really a good time to just hang out with members share some stories or even cast a line.
As stated above the 18th the chapter will provide the meat and buns all we ask is that you bring a dish to pass. Since it is at the park on the North Fork in the fly fishing only section you are sure to have many fish to try and catch. This is a family event so pack up your children and bring your spouse or significant other for a fun night.
August 28th is our annual picnic with the Jim Zwald Chapter held at Bendigo State Park. We provide ALL the food for this event so all we ask is let us know you will be attending and show up. This is catered so it’s not the usual picnic fair. We have pulled pork, hot & sweet sausage, hot dogs, various salads, baked beans and of course deserts. We have reserved pavilion #1 which can seat 60. We know this is a little bit of a road trip, but it offers a swimming pool and trout fishing regardless of the weather due to being a tailwater fishery that never gets above 65.
The Allegheny Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited, represented by Youth Chair George Kutskel, received the 2023 PA Wilds Champion Award for Inspiring Youth Champion Award (Organization) for its efforts to support youth education related to angling and outdoorsmanship. The Allegheny Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited sponsors DuBois Middle School Environmental day at camp mountain and teaches youth fishing, identification of macroinvertebrates,
electro shocking and identification of invasive species; teaches Punxsutawney Elementary fishing skills and invasive species; and sponsors Trout in the Classroom in Brockway, DuBois Area and DuBois Catholic schools. The Allegheny Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited is having a regional impact by engaging youth in the sport of fishing, a heritage pastime in the PA Wilds region.
by Meredith Hill, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Acting Deputy Secretary, Conservation and Technical Services.
Allegheny Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited 