President's Message September 2010

The Year of Getting Involved

As summer draws to a close and the days get shorter and evenings cooler we desperately try to take advantage of those last summer days to do the things we planned but never seemed to get to. Very soon it will be too late. It is time to get into the autumn/winter mode which is part of the charm and privilege of living in New England. If you don't get to that summer activity this year there is always next summer, right?

Unfortunately, that attitude can be pervasive, and things that we intend to do, good and worthwhile things, just never seem to get done. Could that be the explanation for the stagnation that seems to have descended on GBTU's membership volunteerism? Due to focus and hard work, GBTU's depth of programming, community service and conservation involvement has grown tremendously in the past few years. While events are usually well attended by other community groups, and interested individuals, it is often the same GBTU faces that are there to roll up their sleeves to get the behind the scenes work done to make these events possible. Is continued growth of GBTU possible without increased volunteerism? I do not think so.

I think part of the problem is that we, the officers and board of directors do not communicate opportunities as well as we could. Perhaps the reason we do not have a Treasurer elect to assume office in October is because we have not explained what a Treasurer really does and how much help there is for them to do it. Is it simply the fear of the unknown? Perhaps our membership does not know of the camaraderie, teamwork and support that our officers and board of director members get and give to each other; that there is the strong unspoken commitment to not let each other fail in our tasks. Perhaps they don't appreciate the tremendous feeling of reward and accomplishment that comes with successfully filling those roles or volunteering to plan and staff events. Well, that poor communication must be corrected!

Could it be our membership feels that getting involved will demand more time than they have to give? In reality, involvement at any level makes light work for the rest of us. Giving just an hour or two working on a favorite project that is meaningful to you can make a huge difference for an event organizer, committee chair, board member or officer. If you don't do it someone else will have to...or maybe it just won't get done.

Maybe that is not the full explanation. Maybe it is just that members don't have the desire or passion to give just a little more time out of their week. Perhaps they have not seen the look of wonder on the face of a 6th grader as they look at a brook trout egg just forming eyes. Surely they have not witnessed the look of pride and worry as that same 6th grader releases that young brook trout, now fully developed from that eyed egg, into a local river. I am sure that they have not seen the smile of a young person as they begin to feel that fly rod load properly for the first time or the little girl, who used to hate creepy crawly things, plucking stonefly nymphs from the underside of a turned over river rock asking "Can I make a living doing this?" They certainly have not seen the glowing smile on the face of a Casting for Recovery participant who has just hooked their very first fish with the help of a GBTU volunteer river host on a crisp autumn day. I could go on...

In short order, the duties, responsibilities, and skills useful in assuming the various roles of our officers will be available on our website. Opportunities for interested new board members or member volunteers to assume will also be fleshed out. As you have, will soon, or indeed are now reading in our fall 2010 Newsletter, we are beginning a new strategic planning phase, and that planning and future growth will depend on membership interest and willingness to participate. We, the membership, are the rate limiting step in the GBTU formula. Without our passion and interest there is no GBTU. So to paraphrase a famous movie line, best said in a gravelly Clint Eastwood voice, "Are you feeling passionate? Well, are you ----?"

Let's make the 2010-2011 GBTU year "The Year of Getting Involved." Don't wait for next summer. If I, or my fellow officers and board of director colleagues, aren't giving you the information you need to pull the volunteering trigger, please, ask us for it! Demand it in fact! Finally, please follow the immortal words of the action hero actor serving as Governor of California and "Do it! Do it now!"

Tight Lines & See you all soon!
Mitch Kalter, President GBTU