HFFA Demonstration at the Iowa State Fair Cultural Building

This report from Mike Schrader describes how the HFFA demonstration of fly tying came to be.  Thanks to the following members that donated their time and skill to this effort: Mike Schrader, Joe Wedum, Dale Sanders, Paul Wright, James Barnhart, Jeff Moore, Lance Zook, Patrick Burns, & Bill Trilk. editor’s note from Don Otto

HFFA Members & Interested Folks,

Last spring at a Pleasant Hill Library Fly-Tying session, the subject of our past participation at the Iowa State Fair came up. Several years ago, we had a table in the DNR Building where members demonstrated fly tying for fairgoers.

Knowing that wood carvers, wood turners, wood burners, and leather crafters had demonstrations and displays in the Iowa State Fair Cultural Building, I went to the State Fair Administration building to see who we should speak with about securing a space for the HFFA in the Cultural Building.

They connected me with the person responsible for Creative Arts. When I explained that we were interested in demonstrating fly tying and displaying flies, she was very enthusiastic about the idea and said she would see what could be arranged. Later, she called back with some great news: HFFA had been given a space in the Cultural Building for the first six days of the fair, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We were also provided with admission and parking passes.

Joe Wedum and I staffed the table for a couple of days, and we were both pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest we received. There was a steady stream of fairgoers stopping to look at our display, ask questions, and watch us tie flies. The first six days of the fair drew approximately 658,000 visitors, or an average of 109,000 people per day. While we obviously reached only a small percentage of those attendees, the exposure was significant.

The time passed quickly as we talked with people about fly fishing and fly tying. It was clear that there is good interest in the sport, and our presence at the fair gave us an excellent opportunity to introduce people to HFFA, fly fishing and fly tying.

Since the fair, I have also noticed several people expressing interest in joining our Central Iowa Fly Fishers Facebook group. That additional interest is a good indication that our participation is already generating new connections.

The Creative Arts person asked whether we would be interested in participating for the entire fair next year. If we can recruit enough volunteers to staff the table, having a presence throughout the fair would be great.

This is the most exposure the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association has ever received at an event. With the number of people we reached, the interest we generated, and the new connections we made, our participation at the Iowa State Fair was a success.

Mike