Casting for Recovery

CFR Texas

Retreat Calendar

See a sample schedule

April 12-14, 2013, apply by 2/ 1
Joshua Creek Ranch, Boerne, TX

November 8-10, 2013, apply by 8/30
Still Water Lodge at Glen Lake Camp and Retreat Center, Glen Rose, TX

Texas Panhandle Women
If you are a breast cancer survivor living in the Texas Panhandle (the 26 northern counties), you are eligible to apply for this New Mexico retreat as well:

August 23-25, 2013, apply by June 16  
Express UU Bar Ranch, Cimarron, NM

Upcoming Events

CLAWstin
Arm Wrestling Event to benefit Texas Program
Thursday, April 18, 2013

CLAWstin is the Austin league of CLAW, the Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers, a national non-profit whose mission is to empower women and strengthen local communities through theater, arm wrestling and philanthropy! (www.clawusa.org)

Casting for Recovery-Texas has been chosen as the official beneficiary of CLAWstin4, the next arm wrestling brawl which will
take place on Thursday, April 18 at Bar96 near downtown Austin. Doors open at 8pm.

Please "like" CLAWstin on Facebook and mark your calendars -- this is an event you won't want to miss!

     2013 Lydia Ann Fly Masters Tournament
     The annual Lydia Ann Fly Masters Tournament will be held
     July 20 in Aransas Pass on the Texas coast. Organized in 
     2009, this catch-and-release saltwater fly-fishing tournament
     has raised more than $12,000 for CFR-Texas.
 

    Thanks to organizers Palmer Simpson and the Alamo Fly
    Fishers! It's a fun tournament, so come join us!
                                          To find out more, go to www.lydiaannflymasters.com/

Recent Events

Sisters on the Fly Support CFR-Texas
On March 2, the Texas Sisters held their 3rd annual Vintage Trailer Tour at the Coffee Creek RV Park in Santo, Texas. They raised more than $3,000 for the CFR Texas Program!  Thank you Ladies! We appreciate your support!
www.sistersonthefly.com

TWELFTH RETREAT
The Twelfth Determined Ta-Ta Teasers

On November 9 - 11, the 12th Texas Casting for Recovery retreat was held at Still Water Lodge in Glen Rose, TX. Fourteen breast cancer survivors, ranging in age from 37 to 82, joined nine volunteer staff members for a weekend of fly fishing, and camaraderie. The participants came from as far away as Houston and San Antonio to as close as Ft. Worth and Dallas.  We welcomed a new staff member, Kelli Trostel as our hospitality and facility coordinator (a.k.a, chief head counter), a wonderfully talented psycho-social facilitator from Santa Fe, NM, Nancy ‘Fred’ Mims, and an old friend from the South Texas retreat, Gretchen Neubauer.

This retreat was dubbed the "Make it Work" retreat, because the staff had to deal with a very bad weather forecast which threatened Sunday fishing. The decision was made to revise the schedule and allow the participants to fish on Saturday afternoon. The team accomplished this by teaching beginning casting in the morning and slotting some indoor activities in before lunch. After lunch we loaded up and went to the river to teach advanced casting on the water. The staff of nine served as river helpers and teachers, and worked together to make it a memorable day for the fourteen participants. That night at the camp fire, a participant entertained the group with Native American flute music.

On Sunday eleven river helpers from North and Central Texas (Dallas Flyfishers, Ft. Worth Fly Fishers, Texas Women Fly Fishers, and even a CFR Board member) arrived ready to go, but they knew that we had a small window of acceptable weather.  We opted to fish close to the lodge and the participants were able to fish with their river helpers for almost two hours before the storm hit.  Then, everyone came inside to tie flies and learn about equipment. Everything worked out fine! The river helpers were glad to pitch in and have group and one-on-one talks with the participants about fly fishing and equipment. It was a delight to watch the whole thing unfold.  A great big “thank you” to the river helpers, which included first-timers Malcolm Duke, Sharon Leissner, David Isaacs and Rick Brown.  Our seasoned river helpers included, Abby Golman, Mick McCorcle, Jonathan Gonzales, Johnny Walker, Karen Gebhardt and Cody and Julia Bell.

This group named themselves the "The Twelfth Determined Ta-Ta Teasers," after a fly that Johnny Walker tied for each participant. Thanks to everyone for making this retreat work. Let’s keep the ripple expanding!

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Sept. 7-9, 2012
Second Annual Alumnae Reunion Held!

The second annual CFR Texas Alumnae Reunion (AKA "Friendship, Fishing and FUNdraising" was held Sept. 7-9 at Camp Honey Creek (www.camphoneycreek.com). Camp Honey Creek is a beautiful 300-acre girls' camp located near Hunt in the Texas Hill Country.

Volunteers and participants from eleven Texas CFR retreats were invited to attend the reunion. There was plenty of time for laughter, good food and for friendships, new and old, to grow. The first fall cool front came in on Saturday and women fished in the creek morning and evening. Other activities included arts and crafts, fly tying, jewelry making and again, the "world's hardest jigsaw puzzle" which we were unable to complete despite our best efforts! (We thought last year's puzzle was hard!) A highlight of the weekend was the fundraising efforts.  Many women donated items to include in the silent auction, the raffle, and as "Blingo" prizes. More than $1,000 was raised for the Texas Alumnae Scholarship which will cover the cost for one woman to attend the November retreat in Glen Rose.  It was a relaxing and fun weekend and we invite more of our alumnae to join us in 2013. Click here to view photos from the reunion.

Thanks to First Fourteener Denise Barlow for all her hard work in organizing this year's event and to Helen Sabin, also a First Fourteener, who volunteered to be the reunion chair for 2013!

News

ROSEMARY HERRON
2012 Joseph T. Painter Award Recipient

The Joseph T. Painter Award was established as a tribute to Dr. Joseph T. Painter, the visionary behind the Anderson Network.  While on faculty at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, he worked with a group of cancer survivors to found the nation's first peer to peer support network. Each year, the Joseph T. Painter Award is given to a person who best exemplifies Dr. Painter's model and whose volunteer contributions to the Anderson Network are exceptional. The 2012 recipient is CFR-Texas alumna, Rosemary Herron!

After completing her breast cancer treatment in March 2002, Rosemary began volunteering at MD Anderson as a patient advocate and has done so ever since. She reaches out to breast cancer survivors at the Nellie B. Connally Breast Center and through the Anderson Network, and to patients of all cancer types at the MD Anderson Regional Care Center near her house.  Congratulations Rosemary and thank you for the support and care you've provided to so many cancer survivors over the years!

Photograph: Rosemary (holding award) is pictured with members of her breast cancer survivor dragon boat team, the Pink Phurree, at the Anderson Network Banquet on September 14th.

CASTS OF COURAGE
Dallas Morning News, October 21, 2012

DMN Columnist Ray Sasser interviewed several of our North Texas retreat alumnae and wrote a wonderful article about the Texas Program of CFR. It appeared in the Outdoors Report on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 (Sports section). Click here to see a PDF of the complete article.

2012 APC BASS FISHING TOURNAMENT
Lake Sam Rayburn

For the fourth year in a row, the Anadarko Petroleum Company (APC) Fishing Tournament Committee selected the Texas CFR program as its Community Partner and tournament beneficiary. The 2012 tournament raised more than $16,000 for the Texas Casting for Recovery Program! Thank you to everyone who helped make this event such a success! For more information, visit www.apcfishing.org