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The Friends have come a long way since March. But there have been a few bumps in the road. The First Annual General Membership meeting (March 17, 2007) was a success. The slate of officers and directors proposed by the founders of the Friends was elected unanimously. The officers of the Friends are:
The members of the Board of Directors are;
(A short biography of each officer and director may be found in the May issue of the Raceway.) On March 14, 2007 the Friends had 41 memberships with 58 members. As of June 15, we have 140 memberships with 202 members. At the MSFF Expo held on June 22-24, we added 20 new members with 5 signing on as Life Members bringing our total member count to 222. The Friends is now an International Organization with members living as far away as Wales and Tasmania!!! According to the USFW Service, The Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery is the largest Friends Organization associated with a National Fish Hatchery On the Hatchery Wish List was the addition of fish food feeders. We are pleased to report that the FNNFH have installed three feeders and are now in service. The fish food dispensers have been a great success. They are greatly enjoyed by visitors to the hatchery and have provided the Friends with a nice inflow of much needed funds. Be sure and bring quarters on your next visit to the Hatchery. You will not be disappointed. We have also arranged to have a drink machine installed so you can wet your thirst as you walk around and see the 2 million trout that call the Hatchery home. |
In March, Davy Wotton, Dennis McCarty, and Ken Boyles participated in a very successful training session for non-profit organizations. This training was sponsored by the Department of Interior. The May Raceway has more information about this session. Flight delays due bad weather caused Ken and Leon to miss the meetings in Washington D.C. with Fish and Wildlife Service directors and with our Senators and representatives. We hope to participate fully when next the opportunity arises! Much progress has been made to the house that the hatchery has provided to us for the temporary Visitor Center. There is still much to be done but we can see that we are on the right path and with some help and contributions, we can expect to open it on a partial basis some time soon. The FNNFH have participated in several community events including the NAFF Sowbug Roundup, Cotter Troutfest, Norfork Pioneer Days, and MSFF Homewaters Expo. These events have helped increase the visibility and membership of the Friends and have given us the opportunity to spread our message. The Kids Fishing Derby, held on June 9, was a great success and was truly a community event!. Kids, parents, and volunteers all had a great time. We had 214 kids participate with every kid receiving at least on prize for their efforts. They were assisted by 39 volunteers. Click on the button below to see some pictures from the derby There have been some bumps in the road also. We submitted our "Memorandum of Understanding" to Fish and Wildlife Service just as the format was changed. This required us to resubmit it. Then there were some issues in the content to be worked out. But, good things come to those who wait, and we received the signed MOU on Monday, June 25! Getting approval of our application for Non-Profit Corporation status has also taken longer than expected. We think that we are in the final review cycle for it also. We have learned that our application will allow sponsors to get the tax benefits available for supporting a non-profit organization. Next, and rapidly approaching, is the 50th Anniversary Celebration. The celebration is scheduled for August 15 and should be a very large event with lots of Federal, State and Local Dignities. There will be events held on the hatchery grounds and at Gaston's Lodge complete with music and food. We will need a lot of help to make these events happen and we will greatly appreciate all the help that we can get.
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