..and the only Hacklebarney banquet of the year.
March 1st, 7:30pm at Il Giardino in Cedar Knolls. We have the whole banquet room downstairs to ourselves.
The food is good, the auction prizes will be great and we should have some celebrity guests this year. Everyone is free to ply me with wine; you may just get lucky.
The main prizes this year will include...
The West Branch trip with Ben Turpin, with two days of guided float fishing and an overnight stay at East Branch Outfitters. This trip is worth $1000 bucks and was won last year by Pete Romano, who made the most of his time with Ben.
The other main prize will be a custom bamboo rod (A blond 8 foot 5 weight with two tips, garnet colored wraps and silver hardware) made for us by chapter member John Marci. This rod will have all the beautiful accoutrements you would expect from a soon to be classic. I saw John's presentation on bamboo rods and let me tell you, this guy knows bamboo!
We will also have many other Trips, Lessons and items up for auction to keep your check writing hand limber.
So book your seats now. Wives are welcome too. Last year, I brought my wife and so did mike Russo. Just keep reminding her it's for charity.
You wouldnt want to be left out in the cold!