Ask not what your club can do for you

One of the first things I did when voted in as president was to familiarize myself with the club bylaws. We all know they exist and have a pretty good idea of what they contain. For me however I was immediately struck by the very first few:

I PURPOSE:

To bring together those like-minded people who enjoy high lake fishing.

II OBJECTIVES:

To promote quality high lake fishing.

To preserve the environment of the high lakes and sur- rounding country.

I believe the club is first and foremost a social club. The winter socials, summer picnics, fall overnighters, highly active forums and general good banter at meetings are clearly all evidence of just how well we are upholding the first bylaw. I see friendships formed within the club that will last a lifetime. It is truly a pleasure to behold.

In addition, the number of surveys performed keeps increasing every year, we have fantastic fish ID cards and survey kits available, a database that is without doubt the most comprehensive fishing database any club could ever dream of, inspiring presentations each month, and new members are invited on an exclusive trip where they get to learn more about high lakes fishing. Several members including Steve Regis, Rex Johnson, and Yanling Yu have worked on the Tiger Muskie project in Anderson Lakes in an attempt to control the trout population density. So, all in all, I think we’re also doing pretty well on the “…pro- mote quality high lake fishing” front.

Now, the third one, “To preserve the environment of the high lakes and surrounding country.” In 1966, one of the “requirements” that had to be met to be a Hi-Laker was “No debris will be left in sight of camping areas. This in- cludes parties which contain non-members”. I’m sure that all members today abide by this without it being an offi- cial requirement. While I believe all members individually do their best to preserve the lakes that they visit and the trails that they use to get there, I feel that there may be opportunities to work collectively to do more.

In the 1980’s the Hi-Lakers helped rebuild the lookout at the 5600 foot summit of Granite Mountain and main- tained that building for a further 15 years. This group
of Hi-Laker volunteers took it upon themselves to do something extra. I’m asking you, my fellow members, for suggestions on how we can do the same. While I para- phrased President Kennedy’s famous inaugural speech
in the title, I will not be asking for us to get to the moon, more something along the lines of trail repairs, trash cleanup or helping maintain one of the hatcheries. I look forward to hearing your suggestions (president@hilakers. org) and plan to put something together for later this year.

–Darren Barnes,
President 2011

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Club Meetings and Membership

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