Retired Game Wardens Launch New Project

Good news from retired game warden and popular book author John Ford: “Many of the old warden retirees may have faded away from the everyday onslaught of catching poachers and enforcing the laws of the land in order to protect the natural resources of our great state, but that doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared from serving the public completely.

“Recently the group formed a new non-profit charitable organization titled, the Maine Game Warden Foundation. The purpose of this Foundation is to proudly serve the public through various youth programs and other community supported organizations around the state, in addition to providing  (help) to supportive community members who have fallen upon hard times or are needing assistance with logistical issues in a time of serious health issues or other unforeseen crisis.”

I was very pleased to learn about this in John’s column in the November issue of Northwoods Sporting Journal.

“Hopefully the sportsmen and businesses across the state will assist the Foundation by making donations or purchasing advertisements in the Maine Game Warden Magazine… Their support is needed in order to make this worthy effort successful,” wrote John.

If you are interested in advertising in the new magazine, contact Brent-Wyatt East, Inc. 110 Marginal Way #955, Portland, Maine 04101, 207-877-2494.

Mark Warren is President of the Foundation, Dan Carroll Vice President, Michael Pratt Treasurer, and David Georgia Editor. They have also retained a marketing and publishing company for assistance. The group intends to be at outdoor events and sportsmen’s shows.

The Foundation has a Facebook page, but not much information is available. I’m hoping more info will be available soon, including a website. And perhaps on that website John will write some stories about the Foundation’s work and projects.

John concludes his column with this: “Many of the old retirees still have a burning desire to serve the public. By creating this Foundation these men haven’t totally faded out of the picture as in the past. There’s a strong desire from with us ‘old retirees’ to continue providing the sportsmen and the youth of today with services and assistance that will benefit all of our citizens.”

All I can add is good for them! And of course, that “old retiree” John Ford certainly did not fade out of the picture! And I am also grateful for that.

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.