Bravo Group Three’s “Dr.” Schuester!!
| I agree to commit the $350 of funds. I will probably make the payment before the restart of First Tuesday and let you send it out for me.
I really enjoyed this years Extravaganza and so did Susan. I am planning to join the Extravaganza again, myself, next year.
Kindest Regards, Rodger Schuester
|
Greetings fellow Extravaganzers in the post glow of it all!
With now nine [count ‘em] round trip cross-Continental Divide motor coach trips now fully under our E-11 belts, I want to reach out again to each of you E-11ers to restate and repeat my request that each and every one of you look inside your hearts and wallets to make a (tax deductible) contribution to our growing Montana Matters bison restoration campaign—a collaboration for conservation between the 75 year old Montana Wildlife Federation and the equally 75 year old National Wildlife Federation. The goal of this campaign is, in further collaboration with other organizations such as the American Prairie Foundation, to raise sufficient funds to restore bison to the Eastern Montana prairie—providing a 4.5 million fully preserved habitat for their free roaming and repopulation.
Whether you were on Group One’s “The Trout Tub”, or Group Two’s “The Extravaganza Express”, or Group Three’s (appropriately named!) “Montana Matters”, collectively you saw all that makes Montana truly matter in this world—wide open spaces, big unpolluted sky, wild animals galore (including the black bear, deer, antelope, elk, eagles, osprey and beaver that some or all of us had the privilege of seeing in their natural habitat), and the over 2,000 wild trout that tantalized our collective fishing lines.
The only reason we were able to see and experience what we did, unlike any other prior Extravaganza, was because those before us saw the same thing and fought hard to keep what is there in place. As I mentioned to you at each of our closing night’s ceremonies, our witnessing that beauty and success gives rise to a duty and privilege to give back a bit to Montana to make sure that others in our footsteps/bustracks have the privilege of the experiencing the same thing(s) decades and centuries after us.
Montana Matters is the perfect way to make that expression. What I ask of each of you (every man, woman and child who experienced E-11) is to step up to this (very small) plate and each make a $350 cash donation to this wonderful campaign. You can do so in one of three ways: (a) going on line to www.montanamatters.com and making a credit card donation (in addition to purchasing some wonderful MM gear, if you so choose!); (b) sending your check made payable to “Montana Matters” to our mailing address P.O. Box 1175, Helena MT 59624 or (c) my sending your Montana Matters check to my attention at the address below.
Right now Group One is leading the donation pack with wonderful $1,000 donations from each of “Josh ‘ Gosh” and “Spit” Genser and Brian “Moraine” Shepard and an equally special $500 check from Mechanics Bank co-owner Eddie “Two License” Downer, followed by Group Three with Geri “Stick It To ‘Em” Flynn’s marvelous $1,200 individual MM donation. And this is just the beginning, gang!
Each of you think back on what you experienced during E-11 and do not tarry in giving back to the wonderful Montana based on what you experienced; please make your gift in any amount you deem appropriate, but, again, my special request is that we get a 100% E-11 contribution of $350 per capita to Montana Matters, which would aggregate into a nearly $25,000 cumulative gift—a sum that truly would matter to this wonderful campaign.
Best to all in the aftermath glow of it all,
Rock Creek Ron
----<’///><
p.s. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements of the dates for next year’s to-be-truly lights Tenth Extravaganza blow-out event, to which each of you E-11ers are hereby wonderfully invited.
RCR
Fawn Lady Lori Ware beautifully says it all:
Thank you dear Montana Man for your continued tales of E-11s 20+tails, and the glory of Montana! I look forward to your weekly blogs and wish they were ongoing year round. This years extravaganza was nothing short of spectacular even in the face of such adversities! My heart and soul continues to stay full and I daily, still have Montana on my mind. Thank you, thank you. Your lead and continual examples of drawing out the positives in all, are always so inspiring to me and I look forward to my own school year with enthusiasm to 'try on' some of your lovely style. As always, you continue to be such a lovely mentor to me.
I love you Montana Man.
Hugging you and Kathy both.
Fawn Lori
And a nice note from Group One’s “Mel Formerly Known as Minnow” McCormack:
| And thanks to you for E-11s Moral. Couldn't have done it without you! Thanks again. MEL
|
Not a chance, Group Three’s “Dr. Schuester”, not a chance in hell—what happens in MT stays in MT!!
RCR
| You need to call that newspaper and the writer and tell them what we experienced. Kick their ass and tell them they screwed up by not telling the other side of the story - the untold story of how to get her done. Rodger S. |
Thanks, DRD!!
Another testament to our remarkable, fearless leader!
Kudos to ya RCR!
Dave Studeman
Principal
Connector Branding
Unlike those of us E-11ers who figured out a way to make huge lemonade out of otherwise potentially sour lemons by “goin’ to Da Mo”, the attached recent AP article cites what up to 80% of others have done, namely scrub their Montana fishing vacations/adventures in light of the high and turbid flows of virtually all of Western Montana’s blue ribbon fishing streams.
E’11’s Moral: Do your homework well in advance as the where to fish, hire the right outfitter to guide you, and then safely transport yourself to and fro nature’s finest bounty. Indeed, 111 tails on the Twenty Inch Board tells E-11’s tale!!!
Best to all in the yet glowing aftermath of it all,
RCR---<’///><
Now THIS is the perfect use for Circle C huckleberry jam!!
Thanks Group One’s “Steve The Man”!!
Ron
Amazing, You must be exhausted! I hope the rest of the summer is as
fun and productive for you. Here is a picture of my little grandson enjoying
Rockin C Huckleberry jam.
Cheers
Go Giants!!!
Steve ( the Man) Manfre
A nice note of appreciation from Houston Group Threer Martin “Maddog” O’Malley:
Ron,
Thank you for inviting me to an awesome event! I had a wonderful time, caught lots of trout, and spent time with a really congenial group.
I will come back for 2012.
Western Montana really caught me off guard. It is a gorgeous place where I want to spend more time.
I am looking forward to our next encounter.
Martin O'Malley
Principal | Director
Colliers Investment Services Group
Your report card from Commander Cliff:
Ron:
I have been been getting caught up on some home things and haven't gotten around to writing you a note about how much I appreciated your wonderful support over these last three "extravanganza" experiences. I had no expectations of how my role will play out when I begin a bus (read "motorcoach") gig. My primary goal is just to drive people from point A to point B in a safe and responsible manner and to be as helpful and friendly as possible in the process.
In this instance, I felt like your treatment of me was reflected in how wonderfully all of your people interacted with me throughout the entire nine days of driving. This sense of genuine acceptance and warmth was true of all three groups. So I just want to say thanks for the great experience.
Knowing how much work it must have been for you to make all three weeks come off so smoothly, I hope you are having a little time for some R and R yourself.
Best wishes to you. I hope we are able to connect again in the future.
Sincerely,
Cliff (AKA "Commander Cliff")
PS I also want to thank you again for your financial generosity towards me -- much appreciated!
Congrats, all; wherever we went this year, as we always do, we took the Extravaganza spirit with us and embraced all whom we encountered!!
RCR
Ann “Tangles” Flynn signs in:
Hi Ron, thank you for having me, my brother Ed and my mom in Montana for the Threes Extravaganza. It was the trip of a lifetime for us. Your generosity of time, money and spirit are unbelievable, you bring a lot of joy to a lot of people.
Thanks for sharing your slice of heaven – the bus to the Missouri was super, I can’t imagine how you pulled this off with the water situation, but it was better than ever.
Ann
A nice note from Da Two’s “Will the Thrill” Burke:
hi Ron:
A great year in Montana. Thanks for your hospitality and sharing you little creek of Montana. Also send my best to Kathy and wishing her well.
- Will
A gracious One, “Emperor Jim” Pacatte, shouts out congrats:
Congratulations to all of the fisher people, we ones thought we did good, but just like golf, it an't over till it is over.
Jim Pacatte
A nice note from one of our dignitary fishing guests, Dr Mike Dixon:
Dear Ron:
I am a friend of Jeff Hagener and he invited me to go with him on the fly fishing extravaganza that you so graciously hosted. I am an Ear Nose and Throat physician in Helena. I really have never been fly fishing and haven’t fished much in the past so this was a new experience for me. It was a great time! I wanted to thank you for your generosity and I hope I can meet you in person sometime to thank you personally. Jeff and I were on the boat guided by John Gould and he was awesome. We had fun and kidded around and I learned much in just one day. With John’s expertise I was able to catch quite a few nice trout. They really put up a good fight. I have included a couple of pics of Jeff and I and I just wanted to thank you again.
Regards,
Mike Dixon
A sweet, sweet note from Group Three’s “Grinnin’ Penny” Shawback that, frankly, brought warm flowing tears to my eyes:
Hello Ron,
I want to thank you once again for the great time. It was the best year for us. ( The bus was so much fun – it gave all of us a chance to really get to know each other and see gorgeous country. Also, with several boats going to the same place we got to interact with our fellow fishing (Extravaganzites!!! ) throughout the day which was even more fun.
Bob was the best guide – we have been fortunate enough to have had really good ones and I know you have a lot to do with that – so thank you!
As always, the food was fabulous. I certainly did not get enough time to visit with Julie, Barbi and Jeff though. (They definitely add to the success of making every part of the trip go so well.) All the fabulous gifts too – another thank you and of course the “Moose Room”. Love that room.
Grady and I are still saddened about Kathy. It was hard to believe she was not with us and so ill. Our prayers are that the right thing happens for you both and that she can be healthy and happy again.
We would love to be informed of her health as time goes on. Please tell her – she was missed and we wish her all the best.
Love, Penny and Grady
Ps – Oh - THE FISH!!!! Grady’s 22 and then all of our 20’s. Holy Cow! That was the best part. Also, I finally learned how to bring them in!!!! What a thrill!
Lots of love to you Ron. I know your days ahead will be challenging and if there is anything we can do, please let us know.
Ann, Ginny and Ed – what can I say - other than “we want to see them again”.
RCR
From bro Kers:
Ron,
The KCYC Clan had a wonderful time this week. THANK YOU.
Best to Kathy and you,
Kers
RCR
With Extravaganza 2011 now officially in the record books, take a gander at the cumulative damage done on the Twenty Inch Club board during this year’s event. Each year I order two boards (just in case we need an extra, as we have several times in the past). Well, as shown above, this year, mid-Extravaganza, I doubled down on that order and it was a good thing that I did, as we filled all four of the Twenty Inch Club boards ordered for E-11.
The Ones started the pace with a total of 23 twenty inchers (filling the first of the four boards), and they were followed by the Tattoos (who filled out the second of the shown four) with 35 entries only to be followed by Them Threes who needed those extra two boards just for themselves, racking up 19 twenty inchers on their Day One, 15 more on Day Two and then [count ’em!] a(nother) 19 on Day Three, bringing the Three’s total twenty inchers to 53.
Hmmm….let me see here: if the Ones tallied 23 twenties, and if the Tattoos added 35 to that number and then Them Threes posted an additional 53, that brings E-11’s total to a stunning 111 twenty inchers!!!
Whether you are a One, a Tattoo or a Three, you hereby each receive the doff of my E-11 cap for a job stupendously well done. Indeed, during all of E-11, (a) to the Mo we came and went, (b) to the Mo saw and (c) to the Mo we conquered—one wonderful group after another with increased success even as the water of the Mo continued to rise. When the Ones arrived, the Mo was flowing at 10,400 cfs; upon the Two’s arrivals that flow had more than doubled to 21,000 cfs, and while the Threes feasted on their bounty the flow increased to 22,400 cfs…the normal result of which would be a decrease in fish production but, in our case, saw an counter-cyclical increase…attesting further to the prowess of our wonderful Double Up Outfitter John “The Great But Propaneless” Gould an to each of his cadre of special fishing guides, many of whom came to learn, know and conquer the Mo just as did each of you.
Bravo, bravo, bravo, all---E-11 will be forever known as “the year of the motor coach”, “the year of the big water”, “the year of the Mo” and, because of you, “the year of the twenty inchers”.
Best to all from the now closing scent of it all,
Rock Creek Ron
---<’///><
Well, gang, we have now finished our final day of fishing for Extravaganza 2011 and what a story Them Threes have told. Using as a barometer our Twenty Inch Club board (which in a “normal” Extravaganza year finds an average of 15 entrants), the E-11 Ones started the E-11 pace by registering 23 twenty + inchers in their three days of fishing, only to see this then all-Extravaganza record short lived for but a week, as the Tattoos picked up where the Ones left off as they posted their (new record) 35 twenty + inchers to the big board, only to see Them Threes come into town this week and, on their first day, post 19 twenty inchers on their Day One, followed by 15 more on their Day Two and then, get this, pounding the 34 cumulative posting with 19 more beasts on the Three’s Day Three, making a total of 53 twenty + inchers for Them Threes—a record that I simply cannot ever see being exceeded (unless we end up with a[nother] big water Mo year, that is!).
Shown above in the aftermath of the Three’s third day of fishing are Group Three’s Yellow Shirt winners (posing with Montana Matters’ inimitable Bob Wire who, as shown in the second of the above shots, serenaded the Threes on Headquarters’ back porch with such favorites of his as “The Ballad of Rock Creek Ron”, “Erry’s Place” and, the perpetual crowd pleaser, “”You’re On My Shit List”) Paul “Heel” Miller on the left with Grady “GQ” Garret on the far right and the Wireman posting center stage—each landing [and releasing] a 22 incher {every 22 incher—all five of them--winning a Yellow Shirt in each of our groups this year}, with GQ shown separately doffed in his brand new Yellow Hat and, appropriately, Houston’s “Gentleman Jim” Carmody pouttingly boasting the Three’s Cry-die towel, he limiting himself to just one fish each of the Threes three days and suggesting that E-11’s “fairness in fishing” mantra was asterisked in his case.
Yes, Them Threes have done it to the Mo and their celebration all the way home après Day Three’s fishing told the story of their regal success—a tale that will most likely nerve again be either matched or exceeded in forthcoming Extravaganzas.
Bravo, bravo, bravo, Threes…may you bask in the glory of your success until your return next year to defend your honor in Extravaganza 2012!!
Best to all from the scene of it all,
Rock Creek Ron
---<’///><
Here is your first fishing report on the antics of Them Threes who, as of this writing, are just finishing up their third and final day on The Mo and getting ready for the final, final E-11 motor coach return to Rock Creek under the artful and safe guidance of Commander Cliff. The Threes named Da Coach “Montana Matters” and showed in just two days of fishing just why Montana now matters to each of them more than ever.
Get this, The Ones set an all time one-group Twenty Inch Club high by inking in 23 [count ‘em] twenty plus inchers only to have Da Twos beat them (badly) by posting 35 [recount ‘em!] twenties and, now, to have that record last just less than a week, for the Mighty Threes in their two days of fishing blasted the two-day all time twenty inch record with 34 such beasts posted and the results of their final day of fishing yet to be tallied.
Shown above are a gaggle of entrants to the boards, all three of the current chock-filled boards being shown in the final pic above, highlighted by the brother-sister combo of Ed and Ann “Tangles” Flynn posting their second day bounty of a 20 ½ brown , a 21 1/8 bow AND a 21 5/8 bow, sufficient tillage to pluck a c-note from the pockets of each of long-in-the-tooth veterans Scott “Crack” McAdams (shown above posting his two twenty plus inch fish on the very same day) and RCR, each of whom were foolish enough to bet that amount over the biggest fish between them on Day Two---tut, tut, tut…no betting on them pescadors, now!
Going into the Three’s Day Three, shown cocktailing above, Paul “Heel” Miller is shown priding his yellow hat for his 22” beauty of a bow that has him as top dog for the Three’s yellow shirt award as well. Paul had a bit of a rough start on Day Two, however, as it seems that sometime during the evening hours he de-bedded from his Bear Room twin bed in such a manner as to put his elbow (literally) through the adjoining wall’s sheetrock, giving rise to the Miller-de los Reyes boat now being monikered as the “Paul In The Wall Gang”.
News at 11 as to the Threes’ third day; while pending, however, you Tattoos out there should continue to revel in your newly found Twenty Inch Club royalty, as that chalice is about to be passed your successors in crime (er, I mean fishing).
Best to all from the wonderfully nutty scene of it all,
Rock Creek Ron
---<’///><
Group Two was honored to have Sweetgrass Rods’ Jerry Kustich and Dave Delisi fish with them on their Day One, the “booboys’” report with respect to which follows:
Hi, Ron,
Just wanted to say thanks again for all you are doing and for treating us like royalty. Being relatively humble rod-builders, we aren't used to that...but, we take pride in what we do and hope it shows.
Regarding the fishing, we had a super morning, both of us boating 5 fish and having several more on; then, in the afternoon (we floated till 6), things just shut down and the fishing was quite dead. Adam, our guide, was a trooper and helped us try everything, from different kinds of water to flies to depth to you-name-it. It was fun, but unproductive. No complaints from us, though, and we took Adam's card to recommend to our own customers looking for a guide. He was polite, professional, an outstanding guide, and makes a helluva sandwich. Not sure exactly how you found him, but we'd recommend him to anyone.
Here are a couple fish from the day--Jerry and I each landed one 20" rainbow, and here are a couple photos from our adventures.
Thanks again....glad you liked the rod...we'll work on the brand on the reel-seat butt cap and see how it looks--will share it with you when we get a prototype.
Best till then,
Dave
The mode of transportation to and fro E-11 for Group Two’s veterans Ralph “Red Baron” McLeran and [his (rookie) navigator] Doug “Popeye” Hamilton!!
RCR
Click on the play button above to hear the new song written about the Montana Extravaganza and Rock Creek Ron.
