Fishin' Chix offers fishing for women

Fishin' Chix is a first fishing club just for women in the Pensacola area. The club was started by Claudia Espenscheid. It seems that she had a fishing epiphany after Hurricanes Ivan, Arlene, Dennis and Katrina ruthlessly battered her Tiger Point neighborhood.

Claudia realized, "All of us girls were craving an escape from this madness, something far from MRE's, FEMA trailers, piles of paperwork, or pantyhose." So she initiated the Pensacola Fishin' Chix Club.

Now the Fishin' Chix meet each month for fishing lessons with guide extraordinaire and Honorary Club Captain Wes Rozier, in-shore fishing regattas, fishing trips, Marine Patrol safety, cooking classes with renowned local chef, Jim Shirley. The members enjoy fun monthly meetings, multiple inshore and deep sea charter trips, and lessons and clinics to improve their knowledge and fishing skills and family fishing functions.

Members can go on line to Shop "chix" style and get Fishin' Chix gear. They have their own line of hats, visors, shirts, koozies and more at their Online Store. In the future, they plan to include women's fishing apparel, protective skin products, and funky marine equipment and gear. Cute fishing is no longer an oxymoron, ladies!

Pfeiffer

All are welcome to join for fishing, fun, and friendship.

The $50 one-year membership includes an exclusive Member T-Shirt, Long-Sleeved Fishin Goddess T-Shirt, bait bucket and decals. As part of the National Fishin' Chix organization, you are eligible for discounts on o-fish-al Chix gear, reduced entry fees for Fishin' Chix tournaments and a chance to take part in fabulous fishing' trips. For more information, call (850) 916-4444.

General Federation of Women's Clubs National/International

Carolyn Pfeiffer of Gulf Breeze and Dana Fulford of Pace have been traveling for pleasure and business this spring. They recently attended the 116th Annual International Convention of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in Philadelphia. Earlier this spring, they took a trip with members of the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs to Washington, DC. Carolyn is a member of the GFWC Santa Rosa Woman's Club, and Dana belongs to the GFWC Escarosa Woman's Club. Both are past District One Directors and hold a chairmanship on the state level.

Fulford

Over 1,000 members attended the convention, and seven foreign countries had representatives present. They attended business meetings and workshops and heard addresses by several well-know authors and speakers: Lisa See, the author of Flower Net and an Edgar Award Nominee and several other books; Victor Rivas Rivers, actor, athlete, activist and author; Lt. Mark Wynn, a 20 year member of the Metropolitan Police Department in Nashville; and Peggy Post, the great-granddaughter-in-law of Emily Post.

Before the convention began, the attendees took several tours of the city to see such historical sights as the Liberty Bell, the Franklin Institute where "The Mysteries of Tut" was on display, Constitution Center, etc. At Independence Hall, the group was the only ones allowed on the second floor. GFWC donated $220,000 many years ago for furniture, and more recently donated money to help with the restoration of the building. Some of the original furniture purchased by GFWC is still on the first floor.

Carolyn and Dana went in Washington at the peak of the cherry blossoms. The International headquarters of GFWC is located in Washington, and was the first stop upon there arrival there. At the GFWC convention, they were surprised and pleased to learn that the picture of their tour group taken at GFWC headquarters was on the front page of the GFWC Clubwoman Magazine that was distributed at the convention as well as mailed to members all over the world. Some great traveling for two prestigious clubbers!

Some great traveling for two prestigious clubbers!

Gulf Breeze Rotary

The June 19 program featured Lois Benson of the Escambia County Utilities Authority (ECUA) who spoke about the movement of the sewage treatment plant from downtown Pensacola. Lois Benson ran for Mayor of Pensacola in 2000 and one of her platforms was that the downtown sewage treatment plant needed to be moved. Although she lost that election, her tireless efforts to move the sewage plant are becoming a reality.

In 2010 the sewage treatment plant will be operating from a site north of its present location on a parcel of Solutia land. Lois is the self proclaimed "Pied Piper of Poop" and has managed to turn a project that "couldn't be done" to a reality in only 10 years.

She states her top five reasons for why the plant should be moved are:

That 15-20 million gallons of treated effluent are emptied into Escambia Bay every day by our present plant;

the Plant was built in 1937 with outdated technology;

it occupies 18.8 acres of prime downtown real estate and depresses the entire neighborhood and west side;

it's in a flood plain;

and the number one reason is that it stinks even though millions have been spent trying to upgrade it.

Lois credits her success in achieving the sewage change to listening to grassroots opinions of the man and woman on the street and the serendipitous arrival of Ivan in 2004.

The plans have been made and the funding acquired and the public opinion and support garnered so the plant is going to be moving following Department of Environmental Protection issuing the required permits hopefully within the next few months.