President's Message

It’s Spring Time!

A time for renewed growth and greening, flowers and trees coming into bloom and the waters of our area coming alive with bugs and fish. It’s also a time for CVTU to get out and make a difference and I hope you will choose to join us. We have many opportunities for upcoming volunteer projects and fund raising efforts.

CVTU will be planting trees on Deep Brook and the Pootatuck River on May 7th, we will meet at the Kiosk behind the dog park in Newtown at 9:00 AM. We have 15 large trees to plant and so far turn out is light, please try to lend a hand. Conifer revetment projects are planned for numerous areas of Deep brook, these will have dates assigned as water levels drop and make it possible to complete the projects.

Our first ever Wine, Beer and Bourbon fund raiser is Saturday, May 21st at Dickinson Park In Newtown CT. This is our first opportunity in 2 years to raise funds for our Trout in the classroom, conservation projects and education for the community. I hope each and every member will support us, with friends, donations and participation on the day of the event. John Forlenzo is our event chair and is in need of volunteers, we need everyone to get involved for this to be a success! Please contact John at johnfo3@sbcglobal.net to lend your support. Get more details here or at the link in “Upcoming Events”

CVTU is your chapter and participation is crucial to our success.

Thanks for your support, and I hope to see you at an upcoming event.

Mike Fatse

President - CVTU

Upcoming Events

Tree Planting on the Pootatuck River and Deep Brook

Volunteers are needed

Saturday, May 7th - 9:00 AM

Meet at Deep Brook Kiosk

May Chapter Meeting

Featuring Phil Sheffield

Wednesday, May 11th - 7:00 PM at Edmond Town Hall

CVTU Spring Fundraiser

Saturday, May 21st - 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Dickinson Memorial Park Pavilion, 50 Elm Drive, Newtown,

Q1 Happenings

CVTU Has Been Busy in 2022

The first four months of 2022 were a busy period for CVTU. By March we pretty much moved beyond the pandemic and we were able to hold our first in-person chapter meeting March 9th, at Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall. That meeting was exactly two days short of two years since our last in-person meeting on 3/11/2020. Approximately 20 members showed up for the traditional pizza and beverages, followed by a presentation by CVTU Board Member Paul Shafer. He shared the adventures of he and son Jim, chasing Redfish in the Mississippi delta south of New Orleans.

January and February chapter meetings were held via Zoom. That platform continues to be of value, as our in-person chapter meetings are also broadcast via Zoom for those members who can’t make it to Newtown, or chose not to attend in person. As in the past all of our meetings include presentations from experts that share our passion.

Torrey Collins presents to CVTU

January’s meeting was all about Salmon River Steelhead and was hosted by Scott Prindle of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He gave the chapter an unbelievably detailed look at the Salmon River, and shared the phenomenal work the state and volunteers have done to maintain and improve the watershed. February featured Torrey Collins of Upcountry Sportfishing with a valuable presentation on both the Housatonic and Farmington rivers.

CVTU members and friends took part in conservation events over the last four months. Our usual “Trees of Trout” collection of Christmas Trees was held on Saturday, January 8th. With the help of the Boys Scouts we were able to collect an abundance of trees that will be used in future conifer revetment efforts on Deep Brook.

April 23rd saw close to 30 volunteers come out on a beautiful Saturday morning to Sandy Hook for CVTU’s Earth Day trash cleanup on both the Pootatuck and Deep Brook. We had several new members participate along with all the usual suspects. The effort was coordinated with the the town of Newtown who sent trucks to pick up to dozens of full trash bags. About half the volunteers were kids from local schools.