
Our Club: Past & Present
The High Plains Drifters (HPD), affiliate of the Federation of
Flyfishers (FFF) was formed by a few dedicated fly fishing enthusiasts just 17
years ago. The Charter and original by-laws were signed in March of 1991.
There were less than a dozen founding members. The very first discussions were
held at the residence of Frank and Mickey Miller. The original group recognized
the importance of affiliation with the Federation of Flyfishers (FFF)—a national
organization committed to the sport of flyfishing—and chartered the 100% FFF
membership requirement we have today. In fact, the original requirements of
GPD membership were: 1) be a member in good standing of FFF and 2)
attend at least two HPD meetings per year. The original charter was
specific that there were no annual club dues! Such noble
principle was short lived; however, as the club dues replaced attendance taken
in the second year.
The goals set forth in the GPD Charter are (paraphrasing) to:
promote flyfishing, promote friendliness & fellowship among fellow flyfishers,
promote catch & release, and support the goals of the Federation of Flyfishers (FFF).
The founders stressed the point that the club was to be long on
fellowship, camaraderie, and enjoyment of the sport and short on fund
raising for political causes. Such was not to minimize the importance of
political case: in fact, concurrent membership in organizations that do so is
encouraged. The principle of HDP was that it was to be a flyfishing
club—dedicated to the activity of flyfishing & the accompanying fellowship.
The first president was a very outreaching and visionary man, Mr.
John Swenson. In his quiet, soft spoken manner, “Reverend John” stepped forward
to guide the club through its early years of existence. In the first two
years, the membership grew from the original 8 or 10 it its peak of over 70 in
1992. Such rapid growth presented the new club with many challenges. Yes it
was Rev. John’s bunch that abandoned the original Principle and resorted to
annual dues to defray mounting administrative costs—mainly newsletter expenses!
&%#<&*!
Following is the list of our presidents:
John Swensen – 1991 & 1992 *Dale Anderson -
1999
Randy Urlik – 1993 *Greg
Palcanis -2000
*John Ehrhardt – 1994
*Mason Howell - 2001
*Steven Cole – 1995 * 1996 *Terry
Weverstad – 2002 & 2003
Walter Dudley – 1997
Keith Burrett and *Virgil Kelleigh - 2004
*Gregory Palcanis – 1998 & 2007 Brian Cummings –
2005 & 2006
*Bob Appenzeller - 2008
*current members
After peaking in the first 2 years the membership leveled off at
around 65 and has remained at that average number until the last few years.
Our present membership in 2008 is 54. As the group grew, finding a suitable
meeting place became an ongoing challenge. But then flyfishers are always on
the move, right? The following list of meeting places reflect that notion.
The various places where we’ve met, and left, --or been thrown out of – is
listed below. Tracking them all is difficult as there were some “one nighters”
along the way. The places are listed more or less in chronological order.
Patsy’s (36th & Navajo, 1991)
Fiore’s (S. Holley, 1991-92)
Old Morrison Inn (Morrison, 1992)
Jackson’s Hole (104th and 1-25, 1993-94)
Jackson’s Hole (6th & Kipling, 1994)
Piccolo’s (I-25 & Hampton, 1995-96)
Grand Slam Sports Café (East Arapahoe Rd, 1997)
Grand Slam Sports Café (Wadsworth, near Villa Italia,
1997 – 99)
Draft Sports Grill (SW Plaza 1999-2000)
Cappucino’s Italian Restaurant (S Wadsworth 2000-02)
R.T.O. Q’s Pub (Kipling & Chatfield 2002-05)
Red & Jerrys (S. Santa Fe & Oxford 2005-present)
As you can see, our club is always changing. We strive to get new
members on the board of directors early in the process. Some old and some new
gives balance to our leadership. With new members come new ideas. With new
ideas comes change. The changes are intended to improve our club. Some work;
some don’t. The key is to evaluate and recognize what didn’t work—and then
change. Hopefully our changes reflect the goals our charter members set forth
in the Miller’s living room some 17 years ago: To promote flyfishing;
friendliness and fellowship; and the basics of FFF.
A special thanks to John Swenson, Randy Urlik, and Dan Turner for their
help in putting this piece together--however inconsistent their collective
memory tends to be on past events! And thanks to George Torrison for
updating this piece in 2008.
This page was last updated on
08/17/08.