Lydia Ann Fly Masters Tournament Cancelled
Destruction Means Cancellation of Lydia Ann Fly Fishing Tournament on Texas Gulf Coast
FROM ROB BURLINGAME:
Fellow anglers and CfR supporters,
After a lot of groundwork and fact finding over the last couple of weeks, we are unfortunately going to cancel this year’s tournament due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Aransas Pass/Port Aransas/Rockport area. While I tried to remain optimistic that we could still hold this year’s event, it looks like it won’t be possible.
If you haven’t been down there in the past couple of weeks, I can tell you that the photos shown on the news don’t do justice to the devastation that occurred. Many of the hotels, restaurants and businesses, especially those with prime waterfront locations, were badly damaged and aren’t expected to open up for a while. Add to that the personal homes for many of the owners and staff of those locations that are in disarray. Many of our sponsors were impacted as well from the coastal areas and from Houston. Needless to say, the folks living in these areas are facing a tough road for quite some time.
Since many of us like to frequent the area outside of the tournament when we get the fishing bug, please be careful and plan ahead if you plan to head that direction. Hotel rooms will be difficult to find and restaurants will be very limited. Many of the boat ramps are still closed and being used for staging areas for utility trucks and other contractors helping to rebuild. There is still a lot of debris in the water as well, so be extra careful on the water if you do head down.
While we are all waiting for next year’s tournament to take shape, there are a few things I would encourage everyone to do:
- Join the Facebook group: If you haven’t already joined the tournament Facebook page, please go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/110508092316938/?ref=bookmarks and send me a request to be added to the group. This will be the fastest way to get updates for next year’s tournament.
- Support Casting for Recovery: I would encourage each of you to continue supporting Casting for Recovery, especially this year since they will not have the tournament to support their retreats. There are two main ways you can do this:
- You can make a personal donation at https://donate.castingforrecovery.org/checkout/donation?eid=139760.
- If you shop at Amazon.com, please sign up for Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com). You can select CfR as the beneficiary and Amazon will donate a portion of each purchase you make.
- Support the affected areas: There is a widespread need for assistance right now and it will likely continue for quite some time. Please consider supporting the fundraising events being held in your areas that are aimed at helping Rockport/Aransas Pass/Port Aransas or the Houston area recover from the storm. If you are able to, I would also encourage you to head to these areas to lend a hand with the cleanup and rebuilding efforts. Many of these areas are inundated with supplies and donated goods but they are lacking willing volunteers and strong backs to help.
Thank you to each one of you for your past support of the tournament and for your understanding of the situation this year. Let’s help get these areas put back together and back on their feet so that we can celebrate at the 2018 tournament.
Category: Body-Mind-Soul, Causes, Complimentary Reading
