The media often uses pictures of volunteers laboring on habitat restoration projects and interesting feature articles about them frequently appear.

This is fine. It is the way it should be. These people can't be given too much credit. Most of it is hard, back-breaking work and means giving up precious leisure time.

There is part of this, however, that is seldom publicized, an unglamorous part that involves hard work and dedication with no fanfare attached.

Any such undertaking necessitates monetary outlay and someone has to work at this.

Here is the story of such a fund-raising project, some of the people whose efforts made it successful and a nine and a half-inch rainbow trout that came to symbolize the undertaking.

Since its removal from Mt. Vernon creek some 13 years ago it has helped make thousands of dollars available for trout habitat restoration and preservation.

Its image adorns offices, homes, boardrooms, and libraries all over the United States. I suspect many humans have been immortalized in bronze for less important accomplishments.

The story starts nearly a decade and a half ago, shortly after the formation of the Southern Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Headquartered in Madison, the club was aptly named. It encompassed most of the lower third of the state. Since, it has evolved into three chapters, all flourishing.

Jim Stewart was the first chapter president. He did a capable job of getting the fledgling club off the ground. By-laws were written, a board of directors was formed and committee heads were named. Meetings were interesting and well-attended.

Ed Lloyd was the second president. He inherited a well functioning organization with one exception. Chapter funds were scant. As I recall, about the only income the chapter had was the $1.50 rebate from membership dues.

One evening I mentioned to Ed that I knew of a club out west that was selling a fly pattern book and wondered if he thought we might put together something like that to raise funds.

Ed said, "That's an idea. Look into it Bob, will you?"

I didn't know how to get out of it so I said I would. Ed promptly announced to the membership that Bob Brunsell had agreed to be chapter fund-raising chairman. So much for ideas.

A couple of inquiries at printing shops soon ascertained such a project was beyond our resources.

By that time Roy Sarow and Frosty Parish from Evansville were also attending meetings and we rode together. Roy had recently retired from the automobile business and Frosty was in charge of custom sales for Baker Manufacturing's Foundry Division at Evansville.

I was explaining to them about the roadblock I had encountered when Frosty said, "Maybe I can come up with something that will help. Let me check around a little."

Sure enough, a week or so later he stopped in with a pair of freshly cast grey iron eagle bookends. "Do you think these would sell if the price was right?" he asked.

Come to find out, he had borrowed the pattern from a customer somewhere in Illinois, had molded several pair after hours and the fellows had filled them when they poured off for other castings.

The cost? So far nothing. Frosty had turned in some scrap iron to offset what he used and he was donating his time.

We painted them flat black, cemented some felt to the bottoms and, I tell you, they were beautiful.

There was a Trout Unlimited meeting that evening so I took a pair along to show the members. I asked for a few minutes of their time and tried to talk to them about the new project.

They couldn't have cared less, visited among themselves instead of listening and quite thoroughly ignored the whole idea.

I left the book ends up in front and took my seat. As I was sitting down I heard someone back of me say, "What are those things anyway?" and the reply, "I don't know, something somebody wants to sell, I guess."

The next day I set out a pair with a little placard giving the price and explaining they were Trout Unlimited book ends and that funds derived from their sale went to the Southern Wisconsin Chapter to protect and improve trout habitat.

Before the afternoon was over we were sold out. Frosty made more and they went. As fast as we got more, we sold them. Of course, the supply was limited. Frosty had to mold them in his spare time. Roy and I tried to help with the chipping and grinding but Frosty carried the brunt of it.

Then some of the foundry workers offered to help. They came in after hours also to assist with molding and cleaning up the castings after they were made. Don Nieman took over a lot of the grinding in his body shop.

All the work was donated. The response was unbelievable. People who worked free bought book ends and paid full price too. Everybody wanted to help clean up the creeks. My wife and Roy painted and felted.

At the next Trout Unlimited meeting, I asked Larry Knaack, who was chairing the meeting, (Ed was sick) to let me say a few words again. He agreed, then sailed right through the business part without calling on me. As he was taking a motion for adjournment, I interrupted.

Larry said, "Bob, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about you. just a minute, fellows, here's a man that wants to say something."

I called out over the hub-bub, "I just want to tell you the book end sales are going well. I have over $200 to turn in."

You could have heard a pin drop. Then all heck broke loose. Everybody wanted a pair. The people least interested the meeting before were the ones that wanted book ends right now.

The up-shot was that I delivered the three or four pair I had along and took orders for next time. Roy MacDonald asked for five pair to take to his office and try to selI.

I remember that as we were leaving, Jim Stewart stopped me and said, "Bob, you handled that announcement well. You couldn't have timed it better."

Timing nothing, it was the first chance I had to get a word in.

I took Roy MacDonald's five up to him three or four days later.I had hardly got home when he was on the phone asking for more. He sold more than a hundred pair in the next few weeks just displaying them in his office.

Sales kept going well and I got to thinking: We are doing all this with a borrowed pattern, probably we should try to buy it or at least be assured of its continued use.

I said as much to Frosty and he agreed. Reporting back in a couple of days, he said, "The fellow who loaned it to us can't sell it because he borrowed it from a friend in Iowa and he can't remember who he borrowed it from."

We had heard comments that a trout club might better have trout book ends so we decided now might be the time to design some of our own.

Frosty carried the ball on this too. He enlisted the aid of John Townsend who was foundry superintendent at Baker's and Sig Bakka and Vic Page, pattern shop owners at Shopier, Wisconsin and the four of them designed the new trout bookends.

A couple of weeks after they started work, Frosty stopped by to tell me that Sig said they needed an actual trout to copy. They had been trying to work from a drawing and just weren't satisfied with the results. One between nine and ten inches would be about right. It was evening, so after picking up a rod and a couple of silver nymphs, I drove over to Mt. Vernon creek. The second cast produced a nine and a half inch rainbow, just what they wanted. I put it in the creel and sped back to Evansville (I wanted to impress Frosty with how short a time it took to fill the order). The original design was of a trout leaping from a pedestal base but was abandoned as being difficult to cast without excessive breakage. The final version was a scaled down likeness of the little rainbow above a single action fly reel. We introduced the new bookends at the November 1972 Trout Unlimited national convention in Madison. It was an immediate success. Sales were good and it seemed like half of Evansville was either helping make them or gathering iron to make them from. We had an account at Baker's where material was charged out to us and we were given credit for scrap iron we brought in. lt wasn't just Evansville, either. Trout Unlimited members brought in scrap from all over. One Saturday afternoon Lee Parker and Clint Byrnes brought a truckload of old iron furnaces clear from Beaver Dam.

It was amazing how many people were interested in clean water. Don Nieman bought black rustoleum paint, five gallons at a time, just to paint book ends. Frosty and his helpers worked weekends molding them. My wife,Charlotte, and Roy Sarow felted, packaged and shipped them.

One Saturday, Mr. Baker came walking through the almost deserted foundry and stopped to watch Frosty molding book ends. Here's how Frosty tells it: "What are those things?" Frosty told him. After thinking a minute. Mr. Baker said, "After this, run them through the shop and don't charge those fellows anything." Later, when Frank Sandner became president, the policy was continued. However, as the marketing area and sales volume continued to grow, an agreement was worked out where they are now reimbursed for their cost.

Sales are nationwide now and T.U. chapters all over the country are using them for fund raising. The book ends now are plated instead of painted and are beautiful. The money from them still goes for trout habitat work. If you want a pair and don't know a Trout Unlimited member, or merely want to meet a truly selfless gentleman, contact Frosty Parish, Baker Mfg. Co., Enterprise St. Evansville, Wi 53536