2016 Annual Meeting Wrap Up & Awards
PISTIS AWARD
The Pistis Award is given in honor of Chuck Pistis, former Michigan Sea Grant Program Director. It honors an individual or organization outside MCBA who is a defender of our Great Lakes and natural resources.
This year the Michigan Charter Boat Association proudly presented the Annual Pistis Award at our fall awards banquet to State Representative Jon Bumstead from the 100th district, Newago, MI. State Rep. Jon Bumstead is a leader in state conservation, hunting and fishing efforts for outdoor enthusiasts, hunters and fishermen. He has sponsored several state bills that are of special interest to us in the sportfishing industry: House Bill HB 5255 regarding the ban of open water aquaculture in Michigan waters and House Bill HB 5863 regarding changes in hunting and fishing licenses with fee increases to fund MDNR. These increases in fishing license fees will allow construction to begin at various state hatcheries for additional steelhead and Coho salmon stocking. Another direct benefit is the hiring of 40 new DNR officers and increased patrolling on Great Lakes waters regarding illegal gill netting.
As an avid hunter and fisherman, a person who continues to fight for and represent sportsmen and sportswomen in Michigan, Rep. Jon Bumstead is certainty an individual worthy of our annual Pistis Award.
MCBA ANNUAL AWARD
The MCBA Award is an award that is intended to recognize members of our association who have contributed of themselves above and beyond the call of duty for our association.
This year we are honored to present this award to our own Past President Captain Terry Walsh. Captain Walsh, as president for six years, brought us through the troubled times with our random drug testing program and worked many hours to bring it up to date. He, along with the US Coast Guard, the late Capt. Dean Hobbs and our current drug administrator have brought this program into the best maritime drug testing program in the Great Lakes region.
Captain Walsh has over 40 years’ experience on Lake Huron waters as owner/captain of TERMAR Charters at Au Gres, MI. As a person who cares greatly on fishing and conservation issues, Captain Walsh is a member of the Lake Huron Citizens Fisheries Advisory Committee, member of the Bay County Conservation and Gun Club and a noted skeet shooter here in the Great Lakes region. Captain Walsh had a lifelong career as a English teacher, and an outdoor writer for various hunting/fishing publications throughout the Midwest. He currently helps edit the Cannonball.
We want MCBA to wish our Past President our heartfelt thanks for all he has done for MCBA.
