From the Director’s Desk

Posted on: October 26th, 2011

angler

October 22, 2011 It was 26 degrees this morning on my way to the duck blind! I always greet late October with mixed feelings. The open water fishing season is very definitely on the wane up here in the northwoods. Alas even our web-footed adversaries will only be around for just a few more short weeks. They are, after all, migratory! That said, the next few weeks will bring the absolutely very best open water fishing and water-fowling of the year. Again, mixed feelings. Mixed feelings as well, because very shortly our museum operations will end for the year. On November 1st to be precise. We had a good year from a visitor standpoint. No records were set, but our crowds were enthusiastic and steady. This year will rank in the top five seasons from an attendance perspective. Given our lukewarm economy, I will take it. Thank you to all who took time out from your very busy schedules to visit us this year. It is very much appreciated.

Our Awards Committee met last August and selected a very fine crop of honorees for 2012. I will be forever grateful for all the dedication and expert input this committee puts forth. I can't thank them often enough. Thank you one and all! Our awards recognition program is certainly one of our cornerstone missions and I am extremely proud of it. Please review the fruits that their hard work produced beginning on page 4. I read somewhere that the upper Midwest is the land of getting ready. Meaning, of course, we are always getting ready for the next season. Life up here seems to be an endless cycle of winterizing, cleaning-up, breaking out the summer clothes and winterizing all over again. Seems crazy I know, but this ever-changing cycle does tend to keep lethargy at bay. To top it all off, the National Weather Service has predicted a "brutal" winter for us this year. We'll see. I'll report on the accuracy of their prognostication in three months.

Until then.

Warmest regards,

Emmett A. Brown, Jr.
Executive Director