The Phippsburg Sportsmen’s Association thrives by focusing on kids

 

Phippsburg-Sportsmens-Association-1024x682While many Maine fish and game clubs are struggling, the Phippsburg Sportsmen’s Association is not one of them. The club’s January 2015 newsletter reminded me of just how much I have always appreciated the work, at the local, regional, and state level, of these folks.

On February 8th, the club hosts its 16th annual Dickie LeMont “Take-A-Kid-Fishing” ice fishing derby. The derby committee meets every Wednesday night, planning this very popular event. “This is our biggest annual event,” reported the newsletter, “and we are getting excited to see what this year’s event will have in store.” Members and local businesses donated to help pay for the pack baskets, traps, services, and gift cards that are given to the kids as prizes.

Winter Youth Field Day is scheduled for March 1. “This free event has become as popular as our Summer Youth Field Day,” noted the newsletter. “We continue to introduce local youth to activities that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. The day consists of snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, dog sledding and a rescue dog demonstration. This is a great event where we partner with Maine IF&W, Yankee Chapter of NAVHDA, Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, and Maine Youth Sports Opportunities.”

The newsletter also provides information about Maine’s Free Family Fishing Days on February 14 and 15 and May 30 and 31. On these days, anyone may fish without a license.

The January newsletter lists dates for safety courses offered at the clubhouse for bow and firearm hunters, along with a schedule of bean suppers and breakfasts at the clubhouse.

This club is active statewide and will be participating in the spring sportsmen’s shows from Presque Isle to Augusta. I loved the newsletter photos of the club’s float in the Phippsburg 200th Celebration Parade.

The Phippsburg Sportsmen’s Association now has a Facebook page with 750 followers, if you’d like to know more about these events or get involved in this great club.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.