Togus VA Medical Center, Augusta, Maine
14 March 2007
Twenty two of you have volunteered to help in any way you can with the new Project Healing Waters fly fishing program for disabled vets at Togus VA Medical Center. Because of your interest, and until you e-mail me and ask to be unsubscribed, I intend to send out an update from time to time of how the program is going and what plans we are making so that you can participate if you are able.
We had our first Project Healing Waters session at Togus VA Medical Center Wednesday, March 14th and several of the vets were pleasantly surprised to find that they are going to be able to tie flies and cast a fly rod when they thought their disabilities might prevent it. Of 19 VA patients who had expressed an interest to the Togus Recreation Therapy Department, only nine came to the event. This turned out to be a good number to work with given the limited space for casting lessons available at the Togus gym and we were able to give every participant time to tie at least 3 flies and an hour to practice the 4-part cast and some false casting. Something tells me the word is going to get around that this was fun and not as hard as it looks and we will have more participants next time.
We had eight volunteers representing Kennebec Valley and George's River TU Chapters, Maine Federation of Fly Fishers, and even a registered fishing guide from South Africa with British instructor credentials so the student-to-instructor ratio was about as good as it could get! Hard to say which group, volunteer or vets, was more pleased when we closed the day at 5 pm with a brief critique.
The participating vets asked if we could hold sessions twice a month on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the months of March, April and May but have them from 1 pm until 4 pm rather than 2 to 5 as we did today so people could get home for supper. (If you're wondering "Why can't we do this nights or weekends?", the vets who are outpatients come to the hospital clinics for their medical care and therapy on weekdays. Many are dependent on third parties for transportation. They have families they want to be with in the evenings. Their preference is for Wednesday afternoons, 1 to 4 pm except for special events we may schedule when the weather warms up.)
So please check your calendar, our next Project Healing Waters session at Togus will be Wednesday, March 28th, 1 pm to 4 pm. If you are able to be an instructor that date, please confirm this week by e-mail dhedrick@adelphia.net so I don't interrupt your dinner with a phone call next week. (Those of you who have told me you are not generally available weekdays need not restate that. If you ARE available the 28th though, please let me know you are coming.)
Subsequent meetings are planned:
- Wednesday, April 11th, 1 - 4 pm
- Wednesday, April 25th, 1 - 4 pm
- Wednesday, May 9th, 1 - 4 pm
- Wednesday, May 23rd, 1 - 4 pm
Thank you all for your interest and support. The look on one guy's face yesterday when he discovered he could strip line with an artificial forearm and hand that looked like a Boga Grip told me that this program has already lived up to its promise.
Dave Hedrick
KVCTU PHW Coordinator
