Healing Saturday Honors Veterans on Nov. 4

Healing Saturday, a day full of fun benefitting Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, will be Saturday, Nov. 4, at K&K Fly Fisher of Overland Park, KS. Fly fishing and fly tying clinics, raffles, a silent auction and other activities will run from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Do you want to learn more about fly tying? Do you want some fly casting tips? Do you want to meet some American heroes and see how fly fishing can help disabled Veterans? Then mark your calendar for Saturday, Nov. 4.

The Greater Kansas City Program of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing invites everyone to attend “Healing Saturday,” a day of fly fishing, fly tying and fun at K&K Fly Fisher in Overland Park. The activities will run from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at K&K, and will include barbecue, kettle corn, fly casting and fly tying clinics. We will also have games, raffles and a silent auction, all benefitting Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

“We look forward to this event every year,” said Bob Barnett, Program Lead for the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing – Greater Kansas City program. “It’s great for fly fishers, but there’s something here for everyone, and it all benefits our Veterans.”

Area fly tiers will give demonstrations throughout the day. Among them will be Mike George, a world-renowned sculptor of deer hair flies and an Air Force Veteran. Mike is a nine-time Gold Medalist in the Mustad Scandinavian Open, one of the world’s premier fly tying competitions, as well as a first-place and second-place medalist in the Federation of Fly Fishers competition.

Here are a few of the deer hair creations that have earned Mike George his international reputation. From realistic shrimp and minnow replicas to patriotic designs, his work is stunning in its detail.

In addition, factory representatives from many great fly fishing manufacturers will be giving product demonstrations and providing fly fishing tips and techniques. There will be a silent auction of donated items, including a Mike George fly, and a host of prizes to be raffled.

Project Healing Waters volunteers and participants will be at the grill preparing food and talking about our program. We are in the process of lining up additional guests. Past participants have included World War II Navy Veteran Laurel E. Phipps, and “K C,” who brings out the “W” after every Royals win at Kauffman Stadium.

This is the fifth year K&K Fly Fisher has sponsored our Healing Saturday event, and it has become one of our biggest fundraisers. We greatly appreciate their support of our Greater Kansas City Program. From its start in 2013, Healing Saturday has grown into a national event, with other locations observing their third annual Healing Saturday the last weekend of September. The Kansas City and St. Louis areas have tied their Healing Saturday events to early November in conjunction with Veterans Day.

K&K Fly Fishers is located at 87^th and Grant (8643 Grant St., just west of Antioch) in Overland Park. For more information, contact them at  913-341-8118, website www.kkflyfisher.com, email sales@kkflyfisher.com.

World champion fly tier Mike George will demonstrate techniques for tying deer hair flies. Mike, an Air Force Veteran, has been tireless in his support of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

Fly fishing tips and techniques will be demonstrated by factory representatives from many noted manufacturers at Healing Saturday Nov. 4 at K&K Fly Fisher.