Yakima Fly Fishers' March Meeting
General meeting of the Yakima Fly Fishers' Association, held the third Thursday of each month at Magic’s Pizza in Selah, WA. Dinner for purchase.
Tonight there will be a presentation about Project Healing Waters with Rick Davidson.
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. Began In 2005 Serving Wounded Military Service Members At Walter Reed Army Medical Center Returning From Combat In Iraq And Afghanistan. Since Then, PHW Has Expanded Nationwide, Establishing Its Highly Successful Program In Department Of Defense Hospitals, Warrior Transition Units, And Veterans Affairs Medical Centers And Clinics.
Project Healing Waters helps active military service personnel and Veterans in need through a dedicated, developed curriculum of fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying, and fly rod building. In 2023 alone, we helped 6,056 participants comprised of all service eras through the generous work of 6,458 active volunteers.
Rick Davidson was born May 22, 1960 and was raised in St. Paul, Oregon. He graduated high school from St. Paul High in 1978. He attended Portland Community College and received a certificate in Diesel Mechanics in 1980. After two years of working as a mechanic he joined the United States Army in 1982 and attended Initial Entry Training at Ft. Leonardwood, MO. Following that, Rick attended Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Sill, OK, to become a 17C Target Acquisition Specialist, the precursor to 13F Fire Support Specialist (FIST). At his first reenlistment, he changed his MOS to become a Signal Corps soldier. Rick retired from the Army in 2002 and immediately went to work as a defense contractor at the state-of-the-art Mission Training Complex on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where he retired as an IT manager.
Rick joined PHWFF in January 2019 as a participant. He volunteered to be the fly-tying instructor for the program and assisted in developing the Northwest Region’s Beginner Fly Tying Program. When the COVID pandemic mitigations shut down all in-person meetings, Rick setup a studio in his home and hosted virtual fly-tying sessions via Zoom. Rick volunteered to assist in the rod building class and built a euro-nymphing rod alongside the beginner builders. He entered the rod into the National Competition and placed second in the Intermediate Category. Rick currently is the Program Lead for Joint Base Lewis-McChord Program, and the Deputy Regional Coordinator for the Northwest Region. His short-term goal is to achieve the FFI Two-Handed Casting Instructor certification (THCI).
Rick is married to Shirley (Trumpower), an Army retiree, also. He has two sons; Ryan is a sergeant in the WA National Guard, and Tyler is a Master Sergeant in the USAF, currently stationed in Haymarket, VA.
"I taught myself to cast a fly rod in 1980 and have been in a love affair with flyfishing ever since. PHWFF allows me to share my passion and what I’ve learned over the years with fellow vets. When I stand in a river and rhythmically cast a fly while water flows around me, metaphorically, I feel the daily struggles of life wash away and find peace as I’m captivated by the wonderous arena of nature I find myself surrounded by. "