by the White House office of Freedom Corps at a local National Estuary Reserve about the environment and volunteerism.Late last week our organization was invited to hear president George W. Bush speak
Since we have a volunteer educational program we fit the format. We had 10 tickets so I got to take my husband too.
I had a black binocular bag with our program logo on it to give as a gift to the president. My husband
makes wooden (basswood that is) hand carved lures so he put one inside with a note, then he said
why don't you put in a fly. I replied I wasn't sure either of these 2 fishing implements with sharp hooks
would make it past security. He said, let's try. So, since the Bush family fishes for Tarpon in our area,
I selected a 1/0 Lefty's Deceiver I had just tied for my own box. We were shuttled from a nearby shopping
mall to the event. Security was a metal detector and a hand search. Secret service just watched from a distance.
My husband explained the gift bag and it was handed off to another table for inspection. It passed. We were told it would be given to the White House Staff. We may never know for sure but one can only hope someone will present our fishing lure and
fly to the President. And how could he resists those gifts :). We were about 50 feet away from him as he
spoke and although I will not mention my own political views (that is another story) we were very excited
to see the president and hear him speak. Oh yes, he did say he was determined to not only stop the destruction
of American wetlands but also restore some, thereby increasing the acreage. One can only hope.
Ginger M. Allen Sr. Biological Scientist Florida Master Naturalist Program Coordinator www.MasterNaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu www.MasterNaturalist.org Department of Wildlife & Ecology Conservation UF/IFAS 2686 SR 29 N Immokalee, FL 34142-9515 PH (239) 658-3409 (suncom974-3400) Fax (239) 658-3469 (suncomfax974-3469)
