Criteria for this prestigious award is as follows:

  • Must meet 20 year anniversary as a Registered Maine Guide. Active guide for 10 years

 

  • Passes a criminal background check. Law abiding citizen with no arrests for committing a crime related to: Human injury, gun laws or major hunting or fishing violations for 20 years.

 

  • Volunteer community service. Providing education about safety and survival in the Maine woods. Introducing and educating youth about the importance of the ecosystem found in the State of Maine.

 

  • Active on boards or committees that enhances and promotes the importance of Maine’s outdoor resources, ie: youth programs, scout leader, conservation education, safety instructor, search and rescue volunteer, active in Fish and Game club(s), guide license examiner, etc.
    This award will be presented to the recipient at the annual Maine Professional Guides Association banquet.

If you know a deserving Registered Maine Guide, please complete the nomination form and submit it by January 10, 2020.

Bonnie Holding of Coplin Plantation was the recipient of the 2019 award, and the eleventh Registered Maine Guide to receive the honor. Bonnie has been a full-time guide for over thirty years. In 2008, she was honored by Outdoor Life Magazine as one of the top four women guides in the nation.

Along with guiding, Bonnie is a pioneer with Casting for Recovery, a national program that uses fly fishing and its related skills to help women recovering from breast cancer.  Maine has the longest running Casting for Recovery program in the country thanks to her hard work and dedication. She uses her knowledge of the outdoors, her fishing skills and her engaging personality to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for this program, and help hundreds of women. Maine is also the only state that hosts a Casting for Recovery reunion, comprised of alumnae from the program, that attracts survivors from all over the northeast. Her tireless work has made Maines chapter of casting for recovery the envy of other states and she has spent countless hours teaching many women an appreciation of fly fishing and give them a moment to forget about their illness.

Comments are not available on this story.