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Jezioro, Rich

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My name is Rich Jezioro. I live in far northeastern Illinois a few miles south of the Wisconsin border and 1/2 way between Chicago and Milwaukee. Been on the list since 1995 and started going to gatherings since Grayrock 2. What an experience this has been. Going to Grayling, meeting the people who had contributed so much to rod making and this lest, having them take time to talk to me a know nothing rookie, freely sharing their hard earned knowledge, seeing the copy machine Wayne’s first book was printed on, and being able to cast all those magnificent rods. I was so scared of casting those rods. What happens if I break one, I can’t afford to buy it. I asked someone, sorry I forgot who, and he said, ”So what if you break it, I can make another one.”€ What a great group of people. Little did I appreciate some of the people that were there, especially those who have passed on. The tone set by those who started this list has continued to this day. Yes, there have been some bits and bouts of nastiness but we have survived. The giving so far outweighs those times and that is what makes this worth it. I remember asking for a source of black and white jasper and a few days finding a spool in the mail. I too have been guilty of random acts of kindness following pay it forward rule. Since I joined this list, I have gotten a masters degree in social work and am finishing  a doctorate in educational psychology. I retired from school social work and am in semiretirement seeing private clients. When I retired I thought, wow, now I will have so much more time to play in the basement! In addition to rodmaking, I was learning how to make duck and other calls. Little did I know how much time I would be spent in my private practice. If it was just the time I spent with clients there would be plenty of basement time. Unfortunately, in addition to the time spent seeing clients about 1/2 as much is spent trying to get paid from the insurance companies. So currently there is dust on the lathe and that’s not saw dust.  Sometimes the list gets slow and there are complaints. Hey, we might be out fishing. Sometime someone new expresses frustration about not getting answers to their questions. How many times does one want  to contribute  to a varnish/glue thread? That’s what the archives and tips site are for. Speaking of the Tips Site, thanks Todd. Jerry Foster deserves lots of credit too for his rod makers site which has been an invaluable resource too. Mike, thanks for getting this list started. Your time and patience has been appreciated by all of us even though some may have not even known it. Aside from the three names mentioned above, it is intentional that I am not mentioning any names. I start listing the names of those important to this list, past and present, this tome will go for pages  and pages and some will still be left out.