Unbelievable! That word doesn't even express the way my life goes. Have I got a story to tell and some photos to show!
Alton Jones, from Waco, Texas, basks in the glory of his Classic win.
Go Alton!
Debbie and I left Greenville last Monday and made our way to a farm near McDonough, Georgia. Met up with Chuck Huffmann, the farm manager for Mike Helton, the President of NASCAR. They have a couple of ponds which need some attention. I was summoned there by Bill Dance and his son-in-law, Robert Chandler to look things over and make some recommendations.
After that quick stop, we headed toward Birmingham, Alabama and met up with good friend Norman Latona, of Southeastern Pond Management Company. We had a nice visit, starting about 5:30 that evening. From there, we headed further west and found a room in Meridian, Mississippi. Debbie and I found an O'Charley's restaurant and had a glass of wine and shared an appetizer, as it was nearly 9 pm.
The next morning, last Tuesday, we rousted ourselves and headed westward again. Called Eric West as we traveled through Jackson, Mississippi and had another good visit with him.
We crossed the mighty Mississippi at Vicksburg and ambled our way through Louisiana and crossed into Texas about 2:00 that afternoon.
About 3:30, my cell phone rang.
It was Ray Scott.
He had already told me that he wouldn't be able to attend the upcoming Texas Outdoor Writer's Association annual conference later that week in College Station. Seems he had a promotion elsewhere.
But, I had to smile inside when he asked me the following question. He said, "Do you think you might be able to make room on the program at the writer's conference if I can get you a special guest?"
I didn't hesitate. "Sure," I told him.
Then, I asked, "What's on your mind?"
He said, "I think I can get Governor Mike Huckabee to stop by and speak to your group."
I started to giggle.
"Really?" I asked.
He said, "Well, I didn't want to confirm it until I talked with you, first."
Then, he told me he had talked with our executive director of TOWA and was told we probably couldn't make room for a presidential candidate.
Wrong.
I called the president of the association. As he digested the possibility of such a fast moving coup, he was a bit cautious. Seems our bylaws don't allow for the group to take a political stance.
I assured el presidente, Ralph Winingham, that we would make sure the governor and Republican candidate for president knew he needed to focus on the outdoors, fishing and hunting in order to speak.
I called Ray back and gave him the green light.
Ray promised to talk with Huckabee's handlers and call me as soon as possible. Rather than become excited about his semi-remote possibility, I stayed cautiously optimistic.
In the meantime, I needed to take a look at Bill McArdle's lake, one I helped him design, near Tyler.
Look at the structure and cover Bill has added to the lake bottom.
Here's a view from the dam.
Look at the lake bottom. It's not random, but rather structured for all sizes of all species of fish.
As Debbie and I turned off I-20 at Lindale and headed northwest on Hwy 69 toward Mineola, my phone rang again.
It was Ray. "Confirmed!" he said.
Then, he said, "I wish I could be there."
I knew his wheels were turning. We talked a few more minutes and hung up. I called the el presidente of the writer's group and let him know we had a confirmation.
Then, the reality hit me. I had already set the speaker program with the ED and now we had to fit in Mr. Huckabee. No problem. We are light enough on our feet to adapt.
We got home around 8:30, exhausted. I unloaded the manly Dodge of our suitcases, unpacked for the day, stuck some clothes in the washer and called it good.
I was asleep by 10:30.
My eyes began to peep open around 5:30. I like to listen to the news on the radio and try to catch up on current and local events. Heck, I'd been gone since Feb. 15 and here it was Feb 26. Just as I was ready to step outside, around 6:30, the home phone rang.
I looked at the caller i.d. "Ray Scott."
Uh-oh.....
I answered the call and heard that familiar voice. "Lusker, this here's Ray Scott, the cowboy from Alabama!"
"Mornin' Ray." I didn't yet have the sleep out of my voice.
He said, "Are you ready for Huckabee to come to Texas?" His voice was sharp and spry.
"Yep," I told him.
"Well, I want to introduce him, if you don't mind," says the father of bass fishing.
"You comin', too?" I asked.
"Got it all worked out...just get me a room at the inn," he said.
You guessed it...the hotel was completely booked. Not a room in the building. I called them, anyway, only to confirm what I already knew.
I decided to deal with that later. Then, about 7ish, I spent some time helping our senior, Ashley, with her Economics homework. Seems she had a test that day.
Before I knew it, it was time for staff meetings with my business manager and biologist.
That time flew by and it was time for Bob Robinson and his Texas field man, Paul Amos, to come. They arrived LL,2 at about 2:30 and gave Walter, Chad and I a fast paced seminar on fountains and aerators manufactured by Kasco Marine. Here's some photos to enjoy.
Bob Robinson, of Kasco Marine, schools Chad Fikes (c) and business manager Walter Bassano, of Texoma Hatchery.
Bob Robinson, fisheries biologist with Kasco, with an aerator-type fountain in the background.
The entire group, hanging onto the circulator.
Here's the entire group. From left, Walter Bassano, Bob Robinson, Paul Amos and Chad Fikes.
A "v" pattern fountain
That day, too, ran so fast we were at the end of it in short order.
I arose Thursday, packed and headed off to Bryan-College Station, Texas, to prepare for the TOWA meeting. Boy, was I in for another surprise. Seems our illustrious ED was in a foul mood. Long, ugly story. He resigned. Good decision. Bad timing. Here we were, on the cusp of our conference, no executive director (which was a good thing) and a presidential candidate coming in two days. My job, as the program chair, was to be sure the speakers were on time and they had everything they needed.
The Thursday reception was fabulous. The Friday program was good, too. Here's a few photos of both.
Ray Scott talks with John and Joyce Thompson. John was on the plane to Lake Mead for the first BassMaster Classic, in 1971. John wrote for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the town where I grew up. John was the first person to take me outdoors, with his writing every day. I'll always be grateful to John Thompson.
Our good friends, David and Patti Redwine, from Andrews, Texas.
Pond Boss writer Dan VanSchaik was a featured speaker at the conference.
Total Lake Management owner Paul Dorsett gave a speech, too. He is a long time advertiser in Pond Boss.
One of the highlights on Friday was Trevor Knight, a Texas A&M Student and member of the national champion collegiate bass angling team. He gave a great presentation on the status of collegiate bass fishing and got to meet one of his idols, Ray Scott.
Alan Warren, left of Alan Warren Outdoors, Ray Scott and Jerry deBin, an executive in the marketing department of Academy Sports and Outdoors.
Then, I cut out at 1:30 and headed to Texas Motor Speedway to meet my wife and attend a gala for the Whitesboro Education Foundation. We danced the night away and feasted on banquet food. Well, we enjoyed banquet food. Actually, we ate the banquet food and thrived on the company and the music.
Ashley gave a speech. Since she is the Student Council president, it was her duty to address the group. She was nervous, as she should have been. But, she got up there, gave her speech and was really good.
We arose at 6 a.m. (for those of you who know Debbie, you understand just what a fete that is). Headed back to College Station, 200 miles to the south/southeast.
What a fantastic day!
We had a fantastic group of speakers ahead of Governor Huckabee. I received a phone call from his advance team, led by Chris Caldwell. Chris is a young man on the rise. He handled things like a seasoned pro. Checked over the facilities, decided how to bring in Gov. Huckabee and finalized the plans.
Our good friend, Alan Warren, was the speaker just in advance of Huckabee. When the governor's plane landed, Chris was to call and let me know. That way, we had about ten minutes to wrap up Alan's speech and things would be smooth.
At around 1:30, after an outstanding speech about involving youth in high school Outdoor Education, Alan finished and the governor entered the building.
The national press corps came in through the front and set up shop. CNN, Fox, CBS, ABC and CBS all had people on site. President Ralph Winingham introduced Ray Scott. Ray gave a fantastic introduction for Governor Huckabee. For the next 40 minutes, the entire attendance of TOWA's conference sat enthralled by Mr. Huckabee's speech. One of our friends recorded the speech. If I can get my hands on it, I intend to transcribe it and put it on the website. It was absolutely fantastice. Afterward, he took a handful of questions. I asked him what he thought about the pending bill allowing the Federal government to control ALL private waters. His answer was interesting, although I'm not sure what he said. When I get the audio, you can read what he said and draw your own conclusions.
Ray Scott introducing Gov Huckabee.
A shake of the hand and Huckabee was center stage.
Huckabee gave a rousing speech. He is definitely on our side.
Q&A almost finished.
Chuck Norris and Ray Scott
Afterward, I got the shake hands with Chuck Norris, who is traveling with Gov Huckabee and then have a photo with him and Ray.
Pond Boss editor, Bob Lusk, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Ray Scott.
Headed home Sunday, after our board meeting in College Station. Took all day yesterday off and rested. Heck, even slept a little bit.
Then, yesterday afternoon, Pond Boss subscriber Shawn Svob and his buddy, Sheldon, arrived at LL,2 for a cookout. The wind was howling out of the north and it was snowing like crazy. We enjoyed a good wine and some chicken on the grill and several hours of fun conversation. All you subscribers will read about Shawn's project in the next issue of Pond Boss....which was mailed Monday, by the way.
Today, try to climb out of the avalanche of two weeks worth of emails and write some overdue reports.
Geez...North Carolina, the BassMaster's Classic, one day home to learn about fountains, then meet up with a presidential candidate and dine with an important Pond Boss subscriber.
I live a charmed life.
Come...please go with me. It's exciting.
Fish on.....
