Welcome to the first edition of Blog Tuesday. During this time of covid-19 and social distance or a better term, family time, we hope to connect all our members, friends and guests in a small way. We will be posting a weekly blog with musing from various members, friends and guests. This blog entry is from our current President John Divenere. John will be stepping down in October, but will not be allowed to travel far.
We hope you enjoy,
FVTU Editorial Board
In my early 20’s I moved into a 2nd floor apartment of the house that my great aunt owned. She was a quiet, rather robust old Italian woman who wore black every day, even though her husband had passed 25 years ago. While rummaging through the attic of the old house I spotted an old blue cloth bag. Inside was an old, unmarked, bamboo fly rod in great condition. I was an avid fisherman and hunter, but my fishing had always been with a spinning rod, so I thought this fly rod was very exotic. I had several friends at work who fly fished and when I told them about the rod, they offered to introduce me to the sport. Of course, first I needed a reel, line, flies, boots…. So, I took the rod to the local sporting goods store so they could tell me what I needed. Needless to say, I walked out with a new fiberglass rod and all the fixings. While I enjoyed several opportunities to fish with my friends along the Farmington River, and caught some nice fish, life soon got in the way and the rod found its way into the attic where it rotted away.
Fast forward 35 years and I find myself retired and looking for something to do. My father, who passed at 95 years old, had always told us that when you retire you keep busy or you die. I wanted to keep busy. I found that old bamboo rod, still in its old blue bag, in my closet. True to form, I took it to my local fly shop to learn more about it. I left that store, as I had left a similar store 35 years ago, with a new rod and all the fixings. I practiced with it in my backyard while my wife, who was still working, watched and grew interested. She was a nurse at UCONN Health Center, and they hosted a fly-casting clinic sponsored by Casting for Recovery and supported by several FVTU members. On her lunch break she decided to give it a try and was soon “hooked”. Off to the store we went to gear her up and we even signed up for an Orvis 101 class. The first class was fly tying, knots and casting. Assisting Orvis were several members of FVTU. Along with the class program all attendees received a free 1-year membership to TU.
When my wife gets interested in something she goes full steam ahead. So…. off we went to our first meeting of FVTU. Nothing has been the same since! Bill Case was the Chapter president and those of you who know Bill can attest that he’s friendly, informative and helpful. He pulled us in like a 9-inch trout on a 3X tippet and we were hooked for life.
Our membership in TU, and FVTU, has been a fun ride. We’ve met some great people who we now call close friends and have had some great experiences along the way, too. We’ve kept busy while enjoying great company, doing fun things for a great cause.
I’m a lucky man in that my wife enjoys being in the river with me. We’ve taken fishing trips together and have fantastic stories and memories to tell. I’ve had the pleasure of taking several fishing trips across the country with a group of friends and will enjoy many more, if the good Lord allows. All of this, thanks to our first excursion to a meeting of the local chapter of TU, for us it was FVTU. Thank you to Bill Case and the rest of the FVTU membership for allowing us to keep busy in our retirement. You should try it too. When this virus passes us, and it will, and life gets back to normal, look us up, pay us a visit, give it a shot. What do you have to lose? Look what you can gain! And you never know, Bill Case may be there to rope you in, too.
-John Divenere