Post Thanksgiving, Reflecting on the Year, Upcoming Additions to the Program

We took a Thursday off for everyone to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday with Friends and Family.  We hope you had a great time and had a chance to relax.  Please mark your calendars and save December 18^th.  This will be our annual Fly-tying/Holiday Gathering session.  Captain Bob is working on a fly of his own creation that will blend right into the upcoming holidays.  As usual, we will have a few special surprises for our vets and a special presentation for one vet in particular.  The tying session will be followed by a pizza lunch.  We hope you can make it. A Special Link This Week… View a sneak peek from our upcoming Holiday Fly-Tying Session being held on December 18^th https://youtu.be/vC9cALd6rvU

Even though the fishing season has basically wound down. We have plenty of memories to think back on.

How can you top a smile like this from Manny, first trout on a fly.

Tim may not be smiling, but he was thrilled with this catch at Doc's Pond. He has really taken to the program and is one of our most involved vets, rarely missing any event or outing.

Jim, the founder of this group finds peace on the water. His casts and time with the vets and vols has been a blessing to him. Over the years our program has grown from a half-dozen vets and vols to 40 vet participants and an equal number of volunteers.

Its not just about the fishing. Pictured here are 2 of our vets and 2 vols bonding while sitting around the fire at Hawes Campground during our 2 day stay. Water was raging for about a week with the increased flows from heavy rain and releases from the dam, but we still managed to get in a couple of floats down the river.

Vet participant and active Middletown fireman John, tends to the fire.

Here Sonny, our 92 year young Korean War vet participant spends some one-on-one time with Jim, another participant of our program.

Pictured right, Marcos and John are fishing the Naugatuck on a cold November day. We do have some real diehards in our group and they can be found fishing probably 11 months of the year. They would probably fish 12 months a year if the rivers didn't freeze over.

Look for some big changes in 2026.  We will be meeting twice a month in person adding some evening fly-tying and we are moving a few of our outings to Saturdays.  This will allow those that can’t normally attend because of work or other commitments to participate.  We might even get a few more vets.  If you know of a vet with disabilities that might benefit from our program, please send them our way.

Please use this QR Code to help support our program

Today is "Giving Tuesday". Please consider supporting our program. We are a self-funded 501[c]3 with no paid employees. If you wish to donate, you can scan the "Donate" QR code or use the contact links found on this site. We are always looking for used equipment, volunteers, and of course more participants.

If you are reading this after "Giving Tuesday", don't worry, the QR code works all year round.

I will be back again next week with another update on Vets Healing on the Fly.

Tight Lines,

Don

Program Lead