We Participate, Do you?

Give a little to get a little

Last Friday night the Spokane RiverKeeper group held their 10th Annual Dirty Martinis for Clean Water evening to raise support for a fishable and swimmable Spokane River. It was a great evening of fundraising, drinks, excellent appetizers, music, conversation and conservation. It really was a nice time.

Jerry White and the crew of the Spokane RiverKeeper raised approximately $10,000 dollars that night which will go to helping their organization work on projects, raise awareness, and fight the good fight in protecting the Spokane River for everyone's use, anglers and non-anglers alike. We certainly saw a lot of non-angling faces at the event, but not so many fisherman. Yes, there were the usual handful but not many beyond that. Hopefully next time we can have a bigger voice at events like this one.

That evening my brother Mike and I were awarded the Mike Chappell River Hero award on behalf of the Silver Bow Fly Shop. We were honored to receive the award for work on the Spokane River. Although I have to admit I told Jerry I didn't feel like we deserved the award, there are many others who have been fighting and volunteering way longer than us that deserve it. Really the true River Hero's are folks like Jerry, Andy Dunau, Bill Abrahamse, Harvey Morrison and others whom all work tirelessly to improve the quality of the river for everyone. What I told Jerry though is that hopefully we can inspire more to get involved whether it's through volunteering on a project, or as simple as donating money to these great organizations so that they can continue fighting on behalf of the angling community to improve our home river.

Thanks everyone that helped put on a great evening and thanks to the Spokane Riverkeeper for doing what you do for the river.

- Sean Visintainer

• Spokane Riverkeeper - Center for Justice
• Spokane River Forum
• Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited