RRR_Summer 2008_8.pdf - Theodore Roosevelt Conservation ...

Outtakes from the Open
By Ken Barrett, Host, TRCP’s Life in the Open
Chasing Chesapeake Stripers
with TRCP Staff
TRCP staff members gathered in May at the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Worker’s Winpisinger
Center in Maryland, on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, for our
annual staff meeting. I knew the striper fishing would be hot
on the Chesapeake, and sensing the chance to kill two birds
with one stone, I got on the phone with TRCP Communication
Director Tim Zink and asked if he thought a striper show
featuring some of our staff members might make a good story for
TRCP’s Life in the Open. “Sure,” he replied. Without further
ado, I began planning a show and devising a story.
Before I go any further let me say, though I always have a storyline
in mind before departing to tape a show,
rarely if ever does the hunting or fishing go as
I have envisioned it beforehand. So, like all
hunters and anglers, I adapt to the circumstances,
play the cards that are dealt and modify
my story accordingly. But, every once in
a great while my preconceived storyline and
the actual hunting and/or fishing adventure
mesh perfectly, and that’s exactly what happened
during the taping of the striper show
with my fellow TRCP staff members.
Mo and Bubba discuss the finer points of brushing the hair on a lure while Randy films.
environment. Kate Cywinski would be on the women’s team to address USA and union interests.
Britta Blodgett, the TRCP’s luckiest angler, and Mo Bates, the Partnership’s major domo
and head wrangler, would round out the ladies’ team. Geoff Mullins and I were the other two
boys’ team members. Geoff is plain good at everything he puts his hand to and proved to be
a quick read in his acting debut. If luck held and my storyline proceeded as I envisioned, I’d
catch the littlest striper, proving to one and all, that hosts are not always the best anglers.
A Hollywood script writer could not have been happier with the results. The girls won the
contest; Britta caught the whopper, followed by Kate and Mo, whose fish were bigger than
any the boys landed. Tom and Kate covered the issues perfectly. I caught the littlest fish;
Tom and I pouted while the women did a victory dance for the camera. Stacey and his son
Allen, a.k.a. Bubba, also an iron worker, were wonderful hosts, and Bubba was terrific on
camera. I left Maryland with a heck of a good show in the “can,” but you are going to have
to take my word for it until the fall of 2009 when it will air on VERSUS. Making a show
is just like hunting and fishing; it is always better to be lucky than good, and we certainly
got lucky on the Chesapeake.
TRCP’s Life in the Open travels the world searching for sporting adventures, while
exploring today’s pressing conservation issues. Both LITO and TRCP’s Escape to the
Wild air on the VERSUS network. Rough Riders can receive complimentary copies of
the show by contacting Britta Blodgett at bblodgett@trcp.org or 202.654.4613.
Kate Cywinski matches muscle with a monster.
My storyline began with the unearthing
of a three-year-old email from Stacey
Witherow, a union ironworker that runs
a charter boat out of Chesapeake Beach,
Md., inviting me to fish for stripers and tape a show on his
boat, the Mary Ellen. I called him and, much to my delight, the
invitation was still good. So now, I had a nice union member
angle to start the story with. Next, I needed an idea that would
allow me to feature a maximum number of TRCP staff members.
I wanted viewers to see that our staffers love to participate
in the kinds of outdoor activities they work on behalf of each
and every day. That’s when I came up with the idea of a fishing
contest, the men versus the women. If all went well, I wanted
the women to win, which, of course, they were sure would be the
case regardless of my plans. Tom Franklin, TRCP senior vice
president and certified wildlife biologist, would be on the men’s
team, so we would have our most knowledgeable Chesapeake
spokesman to address issues related to the bay and the marine
Geoff Mullins hooks into a cow.
The boys team working hard.
The TRCP staffers show off their catch before disembarking the Mary Ellen at the end of the day.
10 11