I was waiting to make my very first public address as president to the FFF-Southeastern Council Fly Fishing Show and Conclave Saturday night banquet. Before I addressed the audience I just stood silent for a while, a little overcome with emotion. I was taking a moment to reflect on the weekend and just enjoy the beautiful sounds of multiple conversations, friendly camaraderie, joyful laughter, and positive energy from the large crowd in the banquet hall. Tickets to the banquet were sold out and every table was filled with enthusiastic attendees. This banquet included our awards ceremony, an outstanding dinner and of course our annual auction. It was the culmination of what had been a very exciting and fulfilling FFF-SEC Fly Fishing Show & Conclave weekend.
From Friday morning through Saturday evening the show floor was constantly filled with large numbers of people. The place was loud because of attendees talking to our vendors and conversing with our demonstration fly tiers. Many others were attending the various classes, seminars and audio/visual presentations. The large crowds made for a constant noise level on the show floor. The many smiles and the positive energy on the show floor, at the Friday night BBQ dinner, at the Saturday night banquet and during the whole weekend was more than enough reward for all of the hard work we put into planning and running this event.
Many thanks are extended to the outstanding work and effort of the SEC Show & Conclave Team, Unicoi State Park staff & personnel, presenters, vendors, seminar instructors, demonstration fly tiers, casting instructors, donors, and the many volunteers. You all did an incredible and beautiful job. The 2010 FFF-SEC Fly Fishing and Conclave was the most successful and well attended we have had in several years because of you. THANK YOU all so much!
In addition, I offer my heartfelt thanks to all of you who attended the show. You all made a very positive impact on the Helen community, FFF-SEC staff, fellow attendees and Unicoi State Park staff. We owe a tremendous part of our success to all of you who attended. To all of you attendees all I can say is THANK YOU! Your attendance, sharing ideas and supporting the event are much needed and appreciated. I hope you all come back next year and bring your family and friends. If you missed it, you missed a truly outstanding and fun event. If you love fly fishing you do not want to miss the 2011 FFF-SEC event.
For 2011 we are changing the name of our main event to the “Federation of Fly Fishers Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival”. The word “Conclave” has come to have a negative connotation because, according to the dictionary, it means “secret meeting”. So we are taking the name “Conclave” out of our show name to be more inviting and inclusive.
Our Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival will be back at Unicoi State Park & Resort, Helen, Georgia, in the beautiful Blueridge mountains. Mark your calendars for June 2-4, 2011. Next year’s festival, under the direction of Chairman Mike Arnold and his outstanding staff, will be even bigger and better. For 2011 we will be increasing our floor space, adding more vendor booths, increasing the number and variety of fly-tyers and programs, and increasing our banquet room size so more people can attend. We also learned a lot from the 2010 show and will be making some changes to increase efficiency of signing up for programs and improvement of communication. To that end, more communication will be coming soon regarding the 2011 Fly Fishing Festival.
New for next year, Thursday June 2nd will be a fun fishing day for our vendors, speakers, volunteers and attendees who want to participate. Cost of admission to this fun fishing event … just Pre-register for the festival, the Friday BBQ and Saturday’s Banquet – that and a Georgia fishing license will get you in. To make things interesting (and fair) we’ll draw names out of multiple hats to see who’s going with whom and maybe even where. Local guides and fly fishermen have volunteered their time to get us on some decent trout, bass and panfish water. It should be an outstanding time of fun, fishing and camaraderie. So plan on coming in a day early and spending Thursday fishing with us. The special rates Unicoi State Park Lodge has offered us will be extended to the weekdays before the event. There’s plenty to do here, so think about bringing the family.
Please welcome our four new Board of Director members. They are:
1. Cassie Sulzby from Warrior, Alabama
2. Paul Gruver from Wake Forest, North Carolina
3. Gene Barrington, from Buford, Georgia (and a former FFF-SEC President)
4. Captain Paul Rose, from Gastonia, NC, one of our 2010 speakers and a fly fishing guide
Finally, thanks to all of you for making my time as 2010 Conclave Chairman, and now FFF-SEC President, so personally rewarding and fulfilling. It is my pleasure to serve with such a wonderful and gifted group of people. Your FFF-SEC officers and Board members will be working hard to serve you in the coming year.
I hope to see you all at the 2011 FFF Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival, June 2-4.
Until then, God Bless and Tight Lines
Anthony Hipps, President of the FFF-SEC
hippsflies@lexcominc.net
