The Sun Lakes Anglers Club (SLAC) met on April 2 to wish one of our longtime members, Dave Gaw, happy trails as he heads to Montana to be around family. Dave joined SLAC back in 2003 and has supported well over 150 fishing derbies during his time with the club. He has touched the lives of over 3,000 children during that time, and we will all miss him greatly. Thank you, Dave, for your giving legacy. An ex-club mate was honored as we all acknowledged the fine support that the late Mr. Jim McWirter provided to help our club over the years.

As the weather starts to warm up, so will the fishing. It’s a great time to be part of something that has over 40 years of history filled with Daves and Jims and countless others who considered their time as very well spent in this club.

Fishing with family and friends beckons us back to the days when we paused long enough to have some – peace, quiet, excitement and fun. Introducing fishing to others, including children who never had that experience before, presents some unique and challenging obstacles in addition to having to deal with windstorm damage, night poachers, fish poisonings and the property devastating out of control deadly fish-eating machine – the Cormorant.

The SLAC deeply cares about maintaining and enhancing the fishing experience for all our community stakeholders. Established in 1975, the SLAC also enjoys its legacy as “stewards of the lakes” as we continue to work on fishing derbies and other club projects that help make our lakes experience more rewarding and self-sustainable.

All that gets regularly validated as one recent example illustrates. A blind young lady who caught a fish with us last year came off the bus several months ago and quickly walked down the path to the lake with her assistant to register. When she neared the registration table, she stopped and excitedly exclaimed, “I smell fish,” “I – smell – fish, I – smell – fish.” Thank you, young lady, for reminding me that it is all about you and all the others who need a memory, a special memory, be it taste, sight, sound, smell or feel, may it be fun. When I need a little pick me up – I now say, “I – smell – fish.”

If you would like to know more about what a club like this can offer you, please contact us at [email protected]. We have many ways to participate, and everyone is welcome.