|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
The Massachusetts/Rhode Island Council of Trout Unlimited held its second annual dinner last weekend, raising $2,600 for conservation projects. This is only the second council dinner in the past twenty years. The Council stopped holding dinners in the mid-80s because individual chapters started holding their own events.
“We had a great evening that brought chapters from across the state together. I'm delighted with the results,” said Gene Chague, Chairman of the Council. While the event was more lightly attended than last year's event, the dinner is more than about just raising money. “We need opportunities for people who work hard on issues all year to get together and have a fun night. This event was fun. We had great food and great prizes.”
There were nearly 90 prize items auctioned off, so many of the fifty guests who attended went home happy. The prizes including three fly rods and a custom-made rocking chair donated by the Squanatissit Chapter. The Southeast Chapter showed up en masse, with more than 12 members and their guests in attendance. The Boston Chapter was represented, as was Worcester , Cape Cod , Rhode Island , Nor'east, Millers River and Taconic.
John Salemi and family cooked a delicious pasta dinner, and many of the guests went home with bags of meatballs and pasta.
Jeff Reardon, TU's Northeast Regional Conservation Director, came down from Maine and gave a talk on the Back the Brookies program that will begin in New England this month.
“Next year, we want to build on the successes of this year and last, and bring more chapter members together,” Mr. Chague said. The money raised will help fund the Council's ongoing conservation projects.