A Brief History of the Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited
By Alen Baker
On November 19, 1980, Dr. John Benbow and Joe Hedrick called for a charter meeting to resurrect a chapter of Trout Unlimited in Charlotte. The meeting was held at the S&W Cafeteria (no longer there) at the Park Road Shopping Center with 18 fishermen in attendance. As the chapter became established all current Trout Unlimited members in the area were contacted for consideration of transfer to the Rocky River Chapter. John considered a newsletter essential to building the chapter, so he personally published the newsletter until a volunteer came forward that wanted the role of editor and publisher.
Membership had grown to an average of 70 members, doubling under Dr. John Benbow’s leadership. The big event for the Rocky River Chapter occurred on March 20, 1982 at the YWCA on Park Road. The first Trout Expo and Auction was held. The event netted $1,330 and was deemed "simply amazing" and an "astounding success" in terms of attendance.
In 1983, the monthly newsletter was named Trout Tales. A creative member designed an original logo for the Chapter (Ron Gmerek’s daughter later designed the current logo). The Rocky River Chapter completed Phase I of the Frankum Creek Project, construction of a rough fish barrier. The project established a mile of new trout water for the public. The $5,000 in funds needed for the project came from grants and the local fundraising exposition. The first Chapter BBQ was held in Veterans Park with 67 people in attendance. The key issue for the year included the Smoky Mountain Park bill to prevent a road into Hazel Creek – "The Road to Nowhere". From the chapter newsletter, November membership was 119 and the December membership was 122. There were 795 member in North Carolina and 31,850 members in Trout Unlimited in total at year-end.
In 1985, the Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited signed up for the North Carolina Adopt-A-Stream Program. The chapter adopted Wilson Creek and Frankum Creek. Other streams considered before selecting Wilson Creek were: Davidson River, Bradley Creek, South Toe, North Toe, South Mills, Elk River, Boone Fork, Howards Creek, Basin Creek, Catawba River, Mill Creek, Curtis Creek, Steel Creek, Upper Creek, Harper Creek, and Lost Cove Creek. The Watauga River was considered but was already adopted. As the new signs arrived, the chapter held workdays to post the trailhead signs, establishing the chapter as "guardian" of these streams. The Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited held its first Trout Unlimited National Banquet, raising over $8,000 and setting a national record. We later received an award in recognition of the chapter with the "Highest Dollar Net With A First Year Banquet".
In 1987, the Rocky River Chapter was recognized as the outstanding chapter in 1986 among the 450 chapters. Alen Baker, the past president traveled to the Trout Unlimited National Convention in Seattle Washington to personally receive the Trout Unlimited Gold Trout Award. During the year, a trout pond (Caps Pond – named in memory of Cap Wiese) was developed at the Boone Fork Campground. The fishing pier, designed for the disabled and physically challenged was the first build in the mountain region of the state. The $60,000 project was funded in partnership with the United States Forest Service, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and the Trout Unlimited National Banquet Program. Also during the year, the Rocky River Chapter Trout Unlimited National Banquet raised over $26,000 and set an unbroken National record for money raised at a single banquet.
1991 marked the beginning of the second decade of the Rocky River Chapter. The spring Trout Unlimited National Banquet was a huge success, again establishing our banquet as the highest ranking or number one (No. 1) in the country. The chapter signed up for the Adopt-A-Park program and adopted South Mountain State Park. As part of the adoption, an educational display was designed, built and put into service under the direction of Gene Vaughn.
ADOPT-A-PARK EDUCATIONAL DISPLAY PROJECT
Educational Display – South Mountain State Park Display Close-up from Gene Vaughn’s final report
Late in the year, the Park Road Park Trout Project brought trout fishing to Charlotte with great enthusiasm from the city – an annual stocking of trout in the Park Road Park Lake. A spring under the pond proved to provide cold, oxygenated water year-round, making a limited, sustainable trout habitat.
The big event for the year 2000 was participation in the Muddy Creek Restoration Project where willows were planted and boulders were placed in an important section of the stream. Once Muddy Creek is restored to a point where sedimentation is greatly reduced, the Catawba River tailrace will then become a much more productive fishery for trout.
With over 650 members, the Rocky River Chapter was struggling to attract monthly attendance at the Pineville meeting. Attendance was solid, averaging 30 members at a meeting, with possibly over 40 with a good speaker like Jim Casada coming on the right month. In a bold move to improve participation, President Tim Wilhelm committed to a minimum of six months of dual meetings, one in Pineville and one somewhere in North Charlotte. Attendance at the second monthly meeting was better than expected with some members attending for the first time in many years.
Considered a year with many challenges, the Trout Unlimited National Banquet was once again held in conjunction with the Fly Fishing Show held at the Convention Center in 2003. The Banquet was a huge success. Over $14,000 was raised with 210 people in attendance. Attendance at both the North Fork meeting and the South Fork meeting at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Pineville averaged 20-30 members and guests monthly. Just as for many rounds in the past, the big issue for the year, the threat of a road across Hazel Creek, surfaced again. Stream restoration projects included the sloping and grass stabilization of stream banks on the East Prong of the Roaring River in Stone Mountain State Park. Membership reached approximately 700.
Monthly chapter fishing trips were planned and completed during 2004 to South Mountain, Helton Creek, Appletree, Davidson River, Tuckaseigee and Wilson Creek to encourage greater membership participation. The Appletree trip has since become an annual event, drawing a good number of members out each spring to camp, fish and socialize. The chapter renewed its vows with the state-wide Adopt-A-Stream program by holding a clean-up day on August 21 for the trails leading into Wilson Creek.
In 2005 and in 2006, the annual Trout Unlimited National Banquet was held in February at the Grady Cole Center. Returning to the proven formula of scheduling the event during the off-fishing season and associating the event in conjunction with the Fly Fishing Show weekend, the chapter has revitalized it’s fund raising roots. The chapter continued to make an annual contribution to the Muddy Creek Project and financially matching support to RiverCourse. Streamside meetings and the July chapter picnic each summer at Davis Lake have become traditions. Monthly programs for both the South Fork and North Fork meetings have provided a rich variety of entertainment and fishing knowledge as well as a conservation forum. In looking back over 25 years, the Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has endured a few rough times and overall has been a premier element of a very successful conservation organization
The expanded version of this History of Rocky River Trout Unlimited is available in book form from RRTU Officers. RRTU offers a 177 page color book compiled by Alen Baker. Ther are pictures, stories, commentary and useful information form members of RRTU and those that help form our chapter. There is a book on CD that is also available for purchase.