Hi VFB, We are all recuperating from several days of working at and enjoying the IFFF Fair in Bend, Oregon. The Fair ran Mon.-Sat., with most of the public activities happening Thurs.-Sat. Over 80 volunteers from two local fly clubs helped make the event happen, and overall, people seemed very pleased with the turnout and events.
It was enjoyable to see fly tyers that were not just the folks we usually see at the NW Fly Tyers Expo in Albany, OR each March. That probably goes both ways, since the Fair this year had a much stronger representation of tyers from the Pacific NW than normal. The annual Fair is usually held in Livingston MT, but this was the 50th Anniversary celebration of IFFF, which was founded in Eugene, Oregon. Bend is way too busy right now with all sorts of tourism related activities going on, so busy busy, lots of traffic. Events for the Fair were scattered around town, and especially trying to find a place to park at the Mill District was more than a challenge. The Fair had a shuttle making the rounds. We were talking about how people from back East were getting a real taste of the wild, woolly West, as there are 26 major forest and range fires going on in Oregon, Washington and northern California. There was a major one 60 miles north of here, that started during the Fair, and exploded from 5,000 acres to 47,000 acres in three days, and is still roaring and not near containment. That blocked one of the major highways from Bend to Portland, so people were being attentive, as a number of folks had to travel to Portland for their airline connections back home. Thankfully, the prevailing winds kept the heavy smoke out of the Bend area. I had a lot of fun meeting and talking to people I only knew by email. I chatted with J Balmer of VFB for a couple of hours over a cold brew at a riverside cafe, and we found we had a number of interests in common. Did not know that J was a professional musician in addition to his IT and business talents. Chatted a bit with Peggy Bremer at her tying table during the fare, and this is a person with a pleasant smile on all the time, very sweet. She had a beautiful display of all the Atlantic Salmon flies she has been working on. Finally, I connected with Misa Ishimura, the spouse of the late Mark Romero of VFB. I had corresponded with Mark and Misa over a pretty long period, so it was so nice to see Misa in person for the first time. Chatted with her several times and got a Tenkara casting lesson from her. Misa was very busy, as she was demo tying, had an author's book signing, and was featured speaker in one of the programs. Misa is lots of fun, enjoys life, and just lights up the room with enthusiasm. Tony Spezio will be interested to know that I connected with Patty Lueken from Arkansas, and Tony is regarded in glowing terms, as we all know. There was a larger than normal number of Japanese tyers participating, some from Japan, and I enjoyed sitting in on their sessions. Always nice to see a much different take on things. In a similar vein, there were a couple of featured tyers from Iceland. Of all the older tyers, I enjoyed sitting in with Bob Jacklin of Livingston, MT, the most. He was demoing a cool ant pattern. The last day, I talked an hour with Bill Black, owner of Spirit River (headquartered in Glide, Oregon). Bill has been a good friend and supporter, and we had a productive conversation. In all, an enjoyable experience right in the middle of Dog Days fishing, so time well-spent. And best of all, this one came to our town, so we didn't have to travel. Wes Wada Bend, Oregon -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VFB Mail" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
