As a precursor for what we all hope will be a very mild Hurricane season, our Northwest Creek Dock Master, Bud Ellis addressed some 60 or so members and guests to expound on the proper precautions for storm preparation. Bud emphasized that there isn’t any boat in our Harbour that is worth risking a personal injury by visiting during a storm.  All preparations should be made well in advance of the inclement weather. It was further pointed out that many insurance companies will pay a boat owner for part of the haul out expenses when a named storm occurs. We thank Bud for his continuing good service to our membership and his pitching in to assist us in many of our events.

          Jerry Manfredi reported that he and Ron Zielinski are in the process of finalizing the plans for our Red Drum fishing tournament scheduled for Saturday, August 25^th. We will be in competition with Eastern Carolina Fishing Club and those interested in participating should get a hold of Jerry or sign up at our April meeting. Plans are also progressing sufficiently in regards to the Big Brother Big Sister fishing tournament scheduled for Saturday June 9^th. The event is in conjunction with National Take a Kid Fishing weekend. We [Why not mention Harvie and ?] have many sponsors lined up who have agreed to help us with this undertaking which should please many kids, who may be fishing for their first time. Wayne Massetti and Bob Armstrong have again volunteered to host our annual “Pig Pickin” which is scheduled for Wednesday evening, October 3^rd. Those interested in helping Wayne & Bob can sign up to do so at our next meeting. We would also like to participate again this year in the annual Christmas parade which traditionally is held on the first Saturday in December. I know Bob Costa has kept most of the decorations from last year which we can reuse, but we need someone to step forward to chair and volunteers to work on this event. Interested parties can call Bob Bruggeworth.

           Our speaker for April’s meeting is Richard Ehrenkaufer aka Dr. Bogus who will give us an update on what’s going on with Spring surf fishing as well as in the inlets. Don’t forget to tune to 107.3 FM on Monday mornings at 7:30 to hear his very informative radio show.