Goto the VFB site and take a look at the Caddis for Kids article. I just finished my 24-hour tie-a-thon and rased a lot of dough for the Children's Miracle Network (CMN). CMN is a non-profit, 501C-3 charity that has a network of 170 hospitals across the nation. There's probably something similar in the UK. CMN benefits approximately 17 million kids annually through financial assistance, disease research, and family support services.
For the event I just held I tied 425 flies in 22 hours (would have gone the full 24 but a broken index finger finally swelled up so bad it was hard to manipulate). Pledges were taken on a per-fly basis or as a straight donation and we had a raffle for a rod donated by St. Croix. Most of the flies were given to the local CMN affiliate to use for fundraising and the rest went into my Miracle Caddis Packs. These are retail packs of a half-dozen flies where a portion of the proceeds benefits the charity directly. As for staying awake...get a lot of sleep the night before, drink a lot of coffee, eat light and make sure (this is the most important) you have a comfortable chair! In my experience, the press is going to be the biggest drain of your tying time, but it is a Catch-22 because you need the exposure. I tried to get the TV, radio and newspaper scheduled before I actually started tying but, especially the TV, wants to see you bleary-eyed, wiped out and exhausted...which you will be. As for the pattern to tie, I did the same one over and over and over and over. That was the most productive for what I was trying to do because the more I tied the more $$$ I raised. Hope this helps, Don Johnson > > At 08:01 PM 4/9/02 +0100, you wrote: > >OK guys, listen up, > >I am hatching a plan here. There is a fairly local > charity which I support > >and would like to do something 'fairly big' for it. > The charity is based > >in tadworth, Surrey, England and cares for children > - I am going to be > >receiving some more info from them with exact > details so I can give more > >info when I get it. > > > >Anyway, what I was planning is a 24 hour tyathon. I > will (try and) stay > >awake for 24 hours and tie as many flies as I can. > I am aiming for about a > >dozen flies per hour (considering the last few > hours may be considerably > >less especially if I fall asleep!) I will then sell > the flies on for a > >price which is reasonable to all (to be decided) > and all money will be > >given to the charity. > > > >IF, flies were �0.60 each and I did 12 an hour, > that makes 240 flies in > >total, which would make �144.00 in total - that to > me sounds like a good > >sum to raise for the charity. > > > >I therefore want to tie a pattern that is fairly > easy to tie (maybe a red > >superglue buzzer?). > > > >I will talk to the local tackle shop owner about > doing 6 hours or so of > >the tying in his shop where some people may buy > them there and then, and > >raise a bit of awareness etc. > > > >I will pay for all the materials so all money > raised will go to charity, > >none taken back to pay for materials. > > > >OK, so the questions: > >- is a fairly simple red buzzer pattern likely to > be sold? > >- am I likely to be able to sell all the flies that > are tied? > >- what can I take to stay awake for 24 hours > (serious question by the way) > >- is doing some of the tying in the local shop a > decent idea? > > > >- is �0.60 a fair price for the flies? > > > >So many questions, PLEASe help as much as you can > so that I can get this > >worked out even more, dates set, and plans > finalised. > > > >I will of course keep you up-to-date with > information and will try and get > >something up on my web page about it. > > > >Kind regards > > > >Chris Cook > ><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flyfishingworld>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flyfishingworld > > >- E-mail group > ><http://www.geocities.com/flyfishingguru>http://www.geocities.com/flyfishingguru > > >- Main website > ===== http://www.geocities.com/salmn8r/caddisforkids.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
