Colony High School teacher, Tim Lussow, is all smiles after receiving fly tying material donations to support his “Alaska Wild” course. Photo: Eric Booton
After spending the past couple of months hosting a fly tying material donation drive for Colony High School, I have two words to share with my fellow anglers: THANK YOU! The Holiday High School Fly Tying material drive was a tremendous success because of you, your generosity, and your support for introducing our younger generation of Alaskans to the joys of fly tying.
I had a smile on my face when I met Tim Lussow, the biology teacher Colony High School, earlier this week to pass off the donations. But his smile was twice as big when he saw the three large boxes overflowing with feathers of all varieties, every color of chenille imaginable, and much more. Your donations will ensure that in the face of budget cuts, fly tying at Colony High School will live on and 180 Alaskan students per year will get to participate in the unique “Alaska Wildlife” course where they learn the salmon life cycle, the appeal of rainbow trout and the mysterious allure of steelhead, discuss the intersections of humans and wildlife in the outdoors, and explore the importance of fisheries conservation.
Thank you to the dozens of individuals that purchased materials or procured donations from their own stash of tying materials. Thank you to Mossy’s Fly Shop and Mountain View Sports for your sizeable contributions and for serving as donation locations. And thank you to the Southcentral Alaska Trout Unlimited Chapter for generously donating a $100 gift card to 3 Rivers Fly & Tackle to cover any missing materials. I continue to be impressed with the greater Anchorage area fly fishing community and greatly appreciate everyone’s dedication to helping educate the next generation. So if you see a young angler on the river with Colony HS gear on, make sure to say hi and maybe share a fishing tip or two!