The subject of this painting is a very special fly rod. The edited narration below tells the story. The full story is a part of my family book I’ve written for my kids and grand-children. If you own a limited edition canvas of this image, you own a piece of my family’s history.
Ed Hill, Artist
In the fall of 2009 I attended in a very special event. That past summer Joy and I had participated in the annual PULLING TOGETHER canoe journey. That summer’s event had taken us the full length of Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake. I’d helped organize the journey for the Sunshine Coast crew. We were the largest contingent at the event, and the largest contingent to have ever come from the Sunshine Coast. At our peak we were up to 48 people traveling on that journey in one capacity or another.
I’ve been organizing canoe journeys since 1997’s VisionQuest Canoe Journey. This year though a new participant came along. Kerry Mahlman is the Principal of the Aboriginal program for School District #46. While she’d sent students on our journeys before, this was the first year she’d come on the journey. Apparently she was impressed with what she saw and experienced. At the fall “Welcome Home” event that we held at Chatelech High School in Sechelt, we thanked community members who had helped us by sponsorship and the like. Among those being thanked were the likes of the Superintendant of Schools, Deborah Palmer, who had helped us financially, and Josh Romer from The Source Sporting Goods. He’d helped us with reduced rates on all necessary camping gear for our crew.
Then, there was a surprise for me. Kerry called me to the center of the circle and presented me with a very special gift as a thank you for my efforts. She is an artist and a craftswoman. She makes split cane fly rods and as such she’d made me one. She knew of my love of fly-fishing. She even named it the “Ed Hill Tribute Fly Rod”. She also gifted me with a silk fly line and a reel to complete the package. Upon receiving it, I told her and the people present that it would forever be a family heirloom. I would cherish it and use it, enjoy the casting and the catching, but it would be treated with the respect of the most treasured family possession. I was humbled and honoured by the thought and the extravagant gift. To whoever in my succession holds this rod, please treat it with the respect it deserves. It is truly your honour to hold such a piece of art. Use it. You have a responsibility though. Each future owner of this rod must catch a trout with it before passing it on to the next generation of the Hill family. As you do, know that I am there to witness that event. As this rod passes through the generations, know that each of us who has owned it in succession is there too with you. Welcome to the family tradition created by my friend Kerry Mahlman.