Serving Northern Illinois

I am very pleased to announce that GBTU elected the following slate of Officers and Directors at last night’s chapter meeting:

President: Darwin Adams (2 Year Term)
Vice President: Kyle Kamp (2 Year Term)
Treasurer: Bob DeGraff (2 Year Term)
Secretary: Fung Chin (2 Year Term)
Outings Director: Kurt Meier (2 Year Term)
Conservation Dir.: Matt Jennings (2 Year Term)
Membership Dir.: Mark Mellicker (3 Year Term)

Please join me in welcoming them to their new positions and supporting them in continuing the good work of the Chapter.

Scott Foster
Past President

Once again the Gary Borger Chapter will be participating in the Great Outdoor Expo in Woodstock, IL.  The dates of the Expo are Saturday March 3^rd and Sunday March 4^th at the Woodstock North High School.  Like last year we will be hosting a booth where we can inform the folks at the Expo about Trout Unlimited, learn about our conservation efforts, see the trout the kids are raising in the Trout in the Classroom program.

The organizers of the Expo have really worked hard on reaching out to the youth in the area for this year’s show.  We will be needing folks for a variety of activities we are going to be involved with ranging from manning the GBTU booth answering questions, managing the raffle, tying flies, to working with kids on activities tied to the Boy Scout Merit Badge program.  We will need volunteers for tying flies, teaching the basic knots of fly fishing, stream safety and ethics and casting.

Please try and find some time on one of the days to help out.  If you have any questions or want to volunteer contact Barry Coddens at bac248@northwestern.edu.

Thanks.

The GBTU Winter Party is all set for Thursday, February 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.  The location will be the Heller Nature Center, located at 2821 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL (just north of Half Day Road – Rte. 22).

There will be cross country skiing, an outdoor bonfire, indoor and outdoor games, warm drinks and the renewal of many a warm friendship, as we share this beautiful facility together.  Plan to bring your family and friends.  The cost is just $15 per person, with kids under 16 free.

The Chapter will provide hot chocolate, soft drinks and coffee as well as the main entrée.  We are asking folks to bring a dish to share; organized by last names:

A to G – an appetizer;

H to M – a salad; and

N to Z – a dessert.

Don’t forget to bring your head lamps or flashlights for the cross country skiing (not to mention the snipe hunt).  You can even try out those snow shoes the family gave you.  For details, please contact Kurt Meier at:  wkurtmeier@hotmail.com

The GBTU meeting originally scheduled for Jan.12 has been rescheduled for Thursday Jan.19 with Pat Elhers still our speaker.  See you then.

A GBTU special meeting is being called for ratifying the chapter by laws and voting on the current slate of officers.  Download the proposed changes to the bylaws here.

All members should plan to attend as the voting needs to be in person- no proxy voting is allowed.

Need

• A voting quorum of at least 30 members in good standing – members that are listed on the GBTU roster and current with dues.

What you can do

• Attend the January GBTU meeting- there will be a special speaker and a raffles for great prizes

• Make sure you are currently registered with national TU as a GBTU member and your dues are current.

• Please contact at least 2 other members to attend the meeting- to insure that the voting requirement can be met. November’s meeting did not have the sufficient number of voting members.

Agenda

1. Ratifying revised chapter by laws

2. Election of officers

3. Speaker

4. Raffle

GBTU Member Jim Tingey and Trout in the Classroom mentioned in a National Science Teacher’s Association report.

http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=59154

Most of our schools came thru with most of the fish intact after the holidays.  Hubbard Woods  School had most of it’s fish disappear.  The likely cause was the premature release of the fish from the breeding nets.  The  natural instinct of the fish is to hunker down into the gravel.  Many do not learn how to feed and succumb.  This has also been the case with a number of TIC programs across the country over the holidays.  Former GBTU member Dean Lippold, now located in Boulder, Co. sent a note with the same trouble in his school’s TIC program. GBTU was able to give him a couple of tips.

Not to fear, The Illinois DNR and Marv Strauch have come to the rescue with the delivery of 100 new fish this past Monday.  Thanks to GBTU member Jim Tingey for assisting with the delivery.

Next outreach- GBTU will be displaying trout at the Woodstock Outdoor Show on March 3 & 4.

View a cool GBTU TIC video here: http://www.winnetka36.org/HubbardWoods/ResourceCenter