Father's Day 2016

My daughter is blessed. My son is blessed. They are what they are today because of the character strength they witnessed through growing up with three of the greatest examples ever, their father and two grandfathers, also known as my husband, my father, and my father-in-law.

Family Portrait

On this Father's Day 2016, I must comment about my patient husband, Van, who put up with years of carpooling giggling ballerinas and rough-housing squirmy boys and enduring teenage angst and setting rules and then reminding our children (and grandchildren) of the rules yet again. He was a saint through it all, well, mostly. And I thank him for that.

He learned his parenting skills from this man, Wesley Griffith, his father, the best father-in-law a bride could ever be so lucky to gain.





He also learned from my father, Glenn Holsopple, the mechanic, the patient man who put up with me and my crazy, immature acts. Perhaps he learned how to deal with me from watching the two of us together.

The bald headed one is me!

On our wedding day, my mother, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my father, me, my husband
A line up of heritage for my children - Wow, oh wow!

Honor. Dignity. Loyalty. Hard working. Those are but a few of the qualities the men in my life have passed along to the next generation. We are so blessed. On this Father's Day, I am humbled.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Our Fly Fishing Heritage

I'm proud to say that I have facilitated yet another fly fishing book. I use the word facilitated because in this case I did none of the writing. The author, Alen Baker, wrote it all. I was the middleman, middlewoman, between Alen and the publisher.

Alen Baker had a vision. He could imagine a museum featuring the art and history and lore of the great sport of fly fishing here in the Southern Appalachians. Eventually he did more than imagine. He planned and he cajoled and he sought out equally minded individuals who would help him make this vision come true. It happened. The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians opened in Cherokee, North Carolina in June, 2015. I toured it last summer and learned so much.

And then he wrote about it, beginning with the early days of his own fly fishing experiences and his deep love for the sport. He tells the why, the how, and the who about creating a museum from scratch. His passion shows on every page.

We just finished the book. That's his hand on the cover, a selfie. 

Quotes from the back cover:

Alen Baker has led the way in creating a museum to capture a sporting legacy of great importance. This book traces the evolution of the museum and provides a vital resource for anyone who cherishes the high country, wild trout, remote places, and the waters of the good earth. It is a work no lover of the lure and lore of southern trout fishing should overlook.

-Jim Casada, author of numerous fly fishing books including "Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insider’s Guide to a Pursuit of Passion"

Alen Baker’s quest to see a Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachian Mountains is borne out of years of experience as a dedicated fly fisher, an advocate for Trout Unlimited, and as such, a dedicated restoration practitioner. Few are more qualified, knowledgeable, or literate in calling for a museum to commemorate the practices, history, culture, and mores that make fly-fishing in the southern Appalachians so important.

-Chris Wood, President and CEO, Trout Unlimited    

Publication date, May 27, 2016, in time for Father's Day. It makes for great reading. Give it a try. 

Catch of the day, (literally!)

Gretchen