CVTU Holds Virtual Chapter Meeting — Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited

As we all continue to shelter at home and social distance, CVTU continues to engage with membership through virtual platforms and social media. Our chapter has been using the Zoom Communications webinar platform to hold Board meetings, fly tying sessions, and this Wednesday night, April 15th, our monthly chapter meeting.

After tackling a few minor tech issues, the meeting kicked off shortly after 7:00 pm with over 30 attendees. Board Director John Hildenbrand, acted as host to control entry into the Zoom meeting room and maintain decorum. President Mike Fatse opened the meeting with insightful thoughts on the current situation and the need to continue chapter engagement. Mike promises that when this is all over, “we’re going to gather together to have a fantastic BBQ on the Farmington River”. Our speaker for the meeting was Board Director Randy Walker, who shared a presentation about his recent trip to Patagonia with his son Ryan, a professional guide in Colorado. The presentation was filled with incredible pictures of the Patagonia near Trevelin, Argentina. It also included some excellent video of the many local rivers and lakes that Randy and Ryan fished.

All in all the meeting was a success and ended shortly before 8:30. It should be noted that attendance on this virtual meeting was very close to our average attendance at the Stony Hill Firehouse. Nobody had any real difficulty getting online (if they had the correct link), and John’s familiarity with the platform kept chaos out, so all could enjoy Randy’s presentation. We will continue to use Zoom to keep the chapter engaged throughout these trying times and in to the future to augment and enhance our events, whether in person or not.

For those that were able to attend, we would love to hear your honest feedback on what we did right, what we did wrong, and how we can improve these virtual events in the future. You can comment directly to this blog post or on our Facebook page.