In 2020, the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW) asked me to judge the newspaper component of its annual Awards-in-Craft competition.
The experience gave me a three-pronged shock.
The number of entries was almost overwhelming. There were scores of entries from newspaper writers as far west as Wyoming to as far east as Rhode Island and as far south as Missouri.
The second shock was that outdoors newspaper journalism is very strong in the Great Lakes region, as well as in portions of the West. It's almost extinct in the Southeast.
The third shock was the quality of the writing. Every entry was superb. A writer from Rhode Island didn't follow the rules, which require contestants to submit published submissions, preferably digital links. This guy entered his original, typed manuscripts with publication dates. After getting approval from the contest chairman, I contacted the guy and told him that it would be a real shame for work as fine as his to be disqualified on a technicality. We were still before deadline, so please do it right.
The compliment delighted him, but he said he worked on a freelance basis, and that the editor of the newspaper butchered his copy so badly that he was too ashamed to enter the published articles.
This process reunited me with my old friend Paul Smith, outdoor editor of the Milwaukee Journal. We met in 2001 at the Wildbranch Outdoor Writing Workshop at Sterling College in Wildbranch, Vt. I had worked for three newspapers to that point. We were the only people at the workshop with newspaper backgrounds, and our friendship was immediate.
Smith had rented a car, so during our day off at the workshop, we explored the northern Vermont countryside.
"Y'all do any cattle yelling in Wisconsin?" I asked.
"Cattle yelling? What's that?" Smith asked.
"There's some cows over there. Pull over, and I'll show you."
Smith did as instructed. I rolled down the window.
"HEY!" I shouted. The entire herd threw up its collective head. "Buffaloes are WAY cooler than YOU!"
The cows stared quizzically as Smith laughed riotously.
"No," he said. "I don't know a single person that does that in Wisconsin."
After judging the 2020 contest, I very much wanted to be a part of AGLOW. I joined in the spring and attended its annual conference last week at the Treetops Resort near Gaylord, Mich. Most of the members attending live in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A fair number live in other states bordering the Great Lakes. A few come from landlocked states like Arkansas and Missouri, whose "great lakes" would be considered bays and coves in the north country.
Groups like these are often cliquish, and it can take awhile for members to warm up to a newcomer. From the minute I walked in the door, I felt as if I were among family. AGLOW is a rowdy bunch, and they are passionate about hunting and fishing. Of course, they specialize in fishing for walleyes, salmon, splake, lake trout and other Great Lakes standards, but it was refreshing to immerse in unfamiliar topics. Some of it is applicable to home.
For example, Mark Martin of Twin Lake, Mich., is one of the pre-eminent fishing guides on the Great Lakes and an elite walleye tournament angler. I asked him if any of his walleye tactics apply to southern lakes.
"Oh, yah," he said. "Kevin VanDam is a good friend of mine. I tell him how I catch bass when I'm fishing for walleye, and he tells me about how he catches walleyes when he fishes for bass. We've helped each other make a lot of money!"
While the topics were foreign, the culture is not. Hunters and anglers share universal attitudes and values. I came away with lots of invitations to hunt and fish with my new friends. I certainly did not expect to meet a neighbor in Michigan. Lacy Jumper of Haskell lives 15 minutes from me. A senior at Arkansas State University, she works for King Eider Communications, a Little Rock-based company which represents an array of well-known outdoor brands like Shimano and Tungsten Super Slam.
I was thrilled that AGLOW deemed some of my work worthy of recognition. A photo showing Paul Crutchfield of Prattsville squirrel hunting in a cascade of morning light in the Ozark National Forest won first place in the Newspaper Photo Hunting category, and was also judged Best of Show for the entire Photography competition.
In the Best Newspapers -- Fishing -- competition, our story about Luke Konson and Daniel Balserak trying to catch all 50 state fish before entering college won second place.
Next year's conference will be in Branson, Mo. I look forward to sharing some of my favorite haunts with these talented folks.