Best ever…doubled attendance, more kids, more door prizes.
Please join us on Wednesday December 14th at Pietro’s Back Door Pizzeria from 6:00PM-8:00PM for our holiday social. There is no cost to attend and the whole family is welcome. We will have salad, bread sticks, pizza and soft drinks for all.
Come say hi, meet the board, catch up with friends and tell some fish tales. We will have some prize giveaways and raffles.
Please RSVP at info@swmtu.org by December 12th. We look forward to seeing you there!
With the assistance of SWMTU and the East Grand Rapids Middle School PTSA, Pete Miller (SWMTU Board Memeber and EGR Middle School teacher) is proud to share his Trout in the Classroom Experience!!!
They placed 200 Chinook Salmon eggs in their tank on November 8, 2011 and will be releasing them in a local river in May of 2012. Students will be learning about the life cycle of salmon, will maintain the tank, monitor water quality levels, and will help release the salmon that survive.
Please check back often to do the following:
- watch the live webcam
- see updated pictures of the salmon
- see updated salmon population data
Trout Unlimited CEO Chris Wood delivers the State of TU address at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Bend, OR.
2011 State of TU from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo.
SWMTU is trying to establish a permanent endowed fellowship program at Michigan State University to continue a tradition first started by Sis Schrems in honor of her husband, and our founding member, Cornelius “Cornie” Schrems.
Every year since 1987, our Chapter has awarded a $2,000 scholarship to a graduate student at MSU who is interested in coldwater fisheries and wild trout populations. Sis Schrems established the scholarship program initially, and our Chapter supplemented the fund via a fund-raising effort around year 2000.
The future Dr. Bryan Burroughs sits with Sis Schrems upon his winning of the Schrems Scholarships. Dr. Burroughs is now the Executive Director of Michigan Trout Unlimited.
To award the $2,000 scholarship in recent years, the Chapter has used $1,000 out of the Schrems Scholarship fund and $1,000 out of our general operating account. At the start of this new fund-raising campaign, the Schrems Scholarship fund had an approximate $20,000 balance.
The Chapter’s intention in setting up the endowment at MSU includes the following:
- Permanently honor the intentions of Sis and Cornie Schrems to help support a current MSU student of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife who works toward the mission of SWMTU.
- Annually recognize such student with a one-time $2,000 award known as the Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited Graduate Fellowship.
- Establish a minimum endowment fund at MSU in the amount of $40,000.
- Allow MSU to manage, invest and grow the endowment in perpetuity.
In order to make this happen, our Chapter is attempting to raise an additional $20,000 in 2011 to achieve our goal of $40,000. So far, we’ve raised about $17,000 through private donations and matching funds from environmentally-oriented endowments.
Now, we need the support of SWMTU members to raise $3,000 in 2 months.
The easiest way to make your donation is to make out a check to Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited, and mail it to P.O. Box 230094, Grand Rapids, MI 49523.
Donations in any amount will help us meet our goal, and keep in mind that your donations are tax-deductible. Read the rest of this entry »