SECTION ONE
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK C SMITH
E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R ’ S M E S S AG E | M A R K C . S M I T H
I have just landed back at AGLOW Headquarters
after another great Writers Camp; this time at
Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. 881 miles in one
day is apparently my limit. Luckily, I was able to
sleep for a good part of the trip. Unfortunately,
I was the one behind the wheel. Dave Mull was
along for the ride. He later emailed me and stated
that he enjoyed my company and the life and
death challenges of keeping me awake. I will take
that as a compliment and testament to my cat-like
reflexes. For the record, Dave was the only one
hallucinating: claiming to have seen, deer, moose,
elephant and vaporous torso apparitions of long
lost Viking loved ones. Maybe he is the one that
was asleep and I was the one keeping him from
achieving REM nirvana. No doubt many of you
have seen the awesome social media posts of giant
sturgeon landed from Hobie Kayaks on the Rainy
River at Lake of the Woods. A huge thank you
to our hosts, Paul and Brandi Johnson at River’s
Bend Resort, Joe Henry from Lake of the Woods
CVB and all those who participated.
I am now firmly up to my armpits in the final
wrappings of the 62nd Annual Conference at
Bismarck-Mandan, North Dakota. Once again
there is a full schedule of hunting and fishing on
tap for the week. Geese, doves, prairie dogs and
night coyote hunting with thermal optics is what
our hunters can look forward to. Walleyes on the
Missouri River, trout, pike, bass and pan fish on
nearby lakes from power boats, Old Town and
Hobie Kayaks for the fishermen.
The seminar sessions will be both fascinating
and informative. The meals will be delicious
and equally stimulating, especially the Monday
Welcome Dinner at Fort Abraham Lincoln
and the Tuesday RAM Trucks Evening at the
Heritage Center and State Museum.
If you haven’t registered yet…..DO IT! https://
aglow.memberclicks.net/2018-aglow-conference
Then sign up for some of the Hunting and
Fishing https://aglow.memberclicks.net/2018-
fishing-hunting-sign-up
I will look forward to seeing you all in North
Dakota. Except for Dave Mull; his therapist
called me and said that he would be unable to
make the long drive from Michigan….some Post
Traumatic something or other. He should be
good to go by LaCrosse 2019.
HORIZONS | 09