February 2023 Newsletter *** We Found a New Home!!! *** As shown above, our next meeting will be held at the VFW Post 5985 in Pacific Beach. We spoke with several places to try to find our new home and this place seemed to fit all our needs … to meet on the 1st Thursday of each month, allow people to bring their own food (if needed) and a bar to purchase your drinks. There will be plenty of parking, too. There are spaces on site, as well as next door in the business center since they are closed after hours (we have been given permission by VFW). I would love your feedback on our new accommodation! Poway Lakes is having a Youth Fishing Derby on Saturday, February 4th. So grab your kids, grandkids, nephews, nieces and/or young siblings and head out there for a great time! Better yet, get in touch with their friends’ parents and get them to join you. It’s always great to see kids catch fish. The SDRRC used to participate in cooking all the hotdogs, but their Optimist Club has taken over those duties. So, now your hands are free to go help the kids you know catch fish! I am attaching a modifiable Calendar of Events. We will have tournaments on the specified days, but we are leaving the species open for now to see what’s in store for us. There are also some events that we usually help out with, but we’re not sure yet if they are happening; such as the Lakeside Catfish Derby and the Shelter Island Pier Kid’s Fishing events. For now, I just have a question mark next to those dates. Bart Hall Show is right around the corner. We have about 16 volunteers to help work our booth, so please see Arnie Seko about filling in your time slots. Remember, your volunteering will get you into the event for free! We will give you more details about that at our next meeting, so please be sure to attend. We will have a Wheel for people to spin and win prizes from, a raffle for a Custom Wrapped Rod from M&M Custom Rods with a matching New Reel, trifolds about the club to hand out, a slide show on our TV and lots of pictures from different events on display. This will be a great time for all who help!! Our next event will be Day At The Docks on March 19th. We will need help with the fishing pens to get kids hooked up (many for the 1st time!). This will involve getting the rods prepped with hooks and squid, keeping up with the supply of cut squid, helping at the booth to hand out time slot tickets to the kids, and helping kids with catching & releasing the fish. If you’ve never done this before, it is truly a rewarding experience. So, be sure to sign up! Until then … Get Bent! (For those who don’t know or remember, that’s the name of my boat.)