June 2008 | Volume 28 Number 2
INSIDE: Two-Club Winter Rendezvous | Dear Grady-White Owner | Tournaments & Events | Letters and Photos | Club Spotlight
Club News | Upcoming Tournaments & Events | Grady Buddies | Customer Tips | At the Grady Gear Store! | Just Right for You!

Florida Grady-White Club Hosts Chesapeake “Buddy” Club for Winter Rendezvous

When the Fish Tale Grady Club out of Fort Myers Beach, FL, formed last year, members of the Chesapeake Bay Grady-White Club served as mentors by sharing organizational tips and encouragement. In appreciation, the Fish Tale Marine & Service-sponsored group invited the Tri-State Marine-sponsored crew to sunny Florida for a February fishing tournament and rendezvous. Twelve Chesapeake members flew down from 20-degree Maryland temperatures for four days of 80-degree boating fun and friendship.

Two great clubs, one great rendezvous!



KARAOKE! Fish Tale club's Mary Jane Salis and Loretta Corle sound off with Chesapeake Bay club's Robin Drury and Donna Kaler.
Chesapeake Bay Grady-White Club members left the snow and ice of the mid-Atlantic this past winter to spend a long weekend of sunshine and camaraderie with the Fort Myers Beach, FL, Fish Tale Grady Club-a thank-you rendezvous that kicked off with a cocktail party at the home of George and Dottie Pacharis. From the onset, the two clubs meshed nicely. Except for different colored nametags, it was difficult to tell who was from which club!



FISH TALE CLUB'S GEORGE PACHARIS presents the tournament's Best Dressed Angler award to Sailfish 282 owner Ken Diepholz for his blue Crocs and fish-tinged apparel.
Saturday, fishing visitors boarded hosts' Grady-White boats to participate in Fish Tale's Second Annual Fishing Tournament. Mackerel, grouper, sheepshead, flounder, blue runner, sea trout and yellowtail snapper were among the catch from the Gulf of Mexico. The cruising crowd enjoyed a lunch trip to Parrot Key. The weigh-in party at Fish Tale Sales & Service was one for the books: a barbecue, a karaoke band and tournament awards, plus everyone received a commemorative Grady-White hat embroidered with both clubs' names. Dennis Kaler, Chesapeake Bay's president, presented Tina Parsons, Fish Tale's commodore, with a beautiful banner in honor of this "First Club Rendezvous."

Sunday's free day was spent in the sand and surf, and the visitors did not dwell on the fact they'd be returning to cold weather. Everyone is looking forward to the Chesapeake Bay club's returning the favor in August: they've invited the Fish Tale group up for the first-ever "GradyPalooza" at Calvert Marina in Solomons, MD.










Chesapeake Bay Grady-White Club members Gary Reedy, Jeff Drury and Dennis Kaler preferred making sand angels in Fort Myers in February to snow angels back home.