Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!! I hope you are enjoying the Holidays with your families and loved ones. I have taken some time to reflect and review what the club has done this past year.

Trout in the Classroom, donations to Cal Trout and the FFF, the Matilija Dam project, the Casting Clinic, monthly fly tying sessions, the Save Westlake Bass project, a great Fundraiser, topped off by a spectacular speaker program, just to name a few things.

Also, many of our members have teamed up and gone fishing on countless outings and fishing adventures. We have been very fortunate as a club, and have been able to provide and accomplish great things!!!

I am very proud of this club, and I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your help and support in our efforts this year!!!!

We had our annual planning meeting this past week. The board members and a few of the club members got together and reviewed the past year, and planned for the next 12-24 months.

We accomplished many things, which included setting up our speaker program for the next year (which looks terrific!!!), setting some key club goals, and planning the annual budget.

To accomplish our goals and provide these great programs, it was clear that we needed to increase our dues, which haven’t been increased in 7 years!! The cost of speakers and their expenses has increased significantly, as well as many other ongoing club costs.

There was a unanimous decision to increase the annual dues to $45, and $50 for a new member. We have also initiated a “Lifetime Member” program, which is a one-time dues payment of $500. As you know, we rely heavily on the annual fundraiser, as it generates much of our annual funding, and together with the dues, keeps our club operating in the black each year.

This dues increase will allow us to continue to provide high quality speakers, and fund the club’s donations goals and projects. If you would like to see the annual budget, we would be happy to provide one for you!

Once again, thank you for your help and support this past year. 2001 looks to be even better than this year, thanks to the efforts of our club members! Enjoy the holidays and best wishes for the new year!!