The power of the internet never ceases to amaze me. What’s more amazing than that is the generosity of complete strangers. In this virtual world of ever-increasing social media and online networking, there are critics who think that the world is becoming an increasingly impersonal place. While that may be true to some extent, I find that the internet is bringing people closer together. There’s no substitute for meeting someone face-to-face and shaking their hand but since that’s not always readily possible, making acquaintances online is the next best thing. I’ve had the good fortune of meeting some great people lately – people who have been generously willing to help me out. And by helping me they’re helping others.
April Vokey is one such person whom I’ve yet to actually meet in person, but through the internet and Facebook we’ve shared some online correspondence. April owns and operates Flygal Ventures, a British Columbia-based fly fishing guide service. April is also a casting instructor and offers many different casting workshops. She’s a busy gal, and recently returned from Victor, Idaho where she participated in the Casting 4 A Cure event on August 27-29. For those who don’t know, Casting 4 A Cure is a group of like-minded compadres who use fly fishing as a means of having a lot of fun while at the same time raising money for the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. It’s a tremendous group of people fighting to find a cure for a horrible childhood disease. Since my series of children’s fly fishing books have a little something to do with kids and fly fishing, I pledged Olive’s support for Casting 4 A Cure and will do what I can to raise a little money for the group. One of the projects I’ve started is selling Olive the Woolly Bugger stickers, with proceeds going to Casting 4 A Cure.
My friend Sharon Butterfield is another key person who has helped me out. Sharon owns Myflies.com, which is a rapidly growing online collection of fly fishing talent, from fly tiers to artists, photographers to authors, rod builders to guides and adventures and lodging. It’s an impressive assortment of folks that Sharon has assembled, and fly anglers looking for the best of many offerings need look no further than Myflies.com. A while back Sharon generously offered to sell the stickers through her site, saving me from having to set up a sales venue. Stickers sell for $3.00 and of that $1.50 is sent directly to Bill Farnum, Executive Director for Casting 4 A Cure. The other half covers the printing cost of the stickers and postage. If you do the math you’ll see that nothing goes into my pockets.
I recently asked Apri Vokey if she wouldn’t mind posting an Olive sticker link on her Facebook page. She’s much more popular than I am, and by doing so she has helped put the word out to several thousand people. Upon posting the link, one of April’s friends stepped up and offered a free pair of Optic Nerve sunglasses (valued at $100) to the person who places the largest order of Olive stickers by October 4th. K.C. Lund is a fly angler and former professional snowboarder now working as a steel fabricator and is the BC/Alta rep for Optic Nerve. This generous act has left me humbled- thank you, K.C. If you would like to reach K.C. to inquire about Optic Nerve sunglasses you can do so by sending email to E.kc.opticnerve (at) telus.net
I want to thank April for spreading the word and for having such great friends, and to also thank Sharon for all the support in selling the stickers. I couldn’t do it without your help.
So to those who read this blog, and I’m not sure that there are many of you yet, please consider purchasing an Olive the Woolly Bugger sticker and by doing so helping Casting 4 A Cure. Click on the sticker graphic below and it’ll take you right over to Myflies.com.
