On March 17th I had the privilege of presenting Bill Gorman (L.L.Bean’s great-grandson) with a very special custom-designed streamer to commemorate L.L.Bean’s 100th Anniversary. It was a challenge to express 100 years of L.L.Bean heritage on ONE fly! I carefully selected materials from Maine animals including moose, bear, deer, pheasant and duck…….. and incorporated several custom-dyed materials as well. It is a beautiful trout imitation with 5 pairs of wings! L.L.Bean provided several photos from their archives for me to include in the finished frame. I made a brief statement thanking staff for all of their encouragement and support and of course, congratulated L.L.Bean for 100 years of success!
Maine is my home state and I live about 20 minutes from the flagship store. I started tying on a Thompson AA vise that I bought at a yard sale. I learned my basic skills at the L.L.Bean Friday night clinics at the Hunt/Fish Lodge from the great staff that work there.
I would really like to thank all of the people that showed up to support me that weekend including my family, my Facebook friends, customers, and folks I’ve met at shows this season. It was really crazy but none of you went unnoticed….thanks!