May 23, 2026 5 min read

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association conference in Camp Hill. The conference is a yearly event that I look forward to. It is great to get together with old friends, and by old friends I mean that most of us are old. I am 60 and they call me the young guy. God bless those who have gone before me.

Since I have only been a member for four years, I guess the relationships aren’t really all that old but the intent is to create better, more informed writers, craft improvement being the central focus. We were provided opportunities to fish and hunt and bird watch together and there was even a tour of the state capital especially for our writers. We get to interact with the PA Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission as well.

A part of the conference that I most enjoy is the workshops for writers. This year’s sessions included a mirrorless camera lecture, a trip to the Ned Smith Wildlife Center and a historical review of a PA author, George Washington Sears, pen named Nessmuck, including his posthumous induction into our writers organization. The weekend concluded with our writers competition award presentation and a Chinese auction to raise money for our scholarship fund.

On Saturday morning I was treated to one of the most unique presentations that I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. If you are not familiar with the organization The Mayfly Project then please follow along.

My weekend began with a Friday morning fishing trip to the Susquehanna River with the Capitol City Bass Masters. It was my first time fishing the Harrisburg waterway. My host, Mr. Bill Burrows, was most gracious and took me out on his boat, gave me a quick smallmouth bass fishing lesson and then carted me around the river for the remainder of the morning, allowing me to bumble my way through catching a few fish and seeing Harrisburg from the riverview perspective. Several of my fish were nice representations of the Harrisburg smallmouth population. Bill was one of those easy sort of souls with whom I struck up an immediate friendship. Throughout the morning we talked about our families, our jobs, our hobbies, our political views and quite a bit about our upbringing

I learned that Bill was raised in a foster home and that his foster parents became his closest family. Bill’s love for his folks was evident from the start. Keep in mind that I had never heard of the Mayfly project and Bill never mentioned it during our trip. I’m pretty sure that Bill was not familiar with Mayfly, either. Bill and I agreed to stay in touch. I felt like I had known Bill my entire life after just a few hours.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Our final presentation of the day was by Mr. David Bernhardt of The Mayfly Project, a national 501(c)(3) on a mission to mentor children in foster care via the sport of fly fishing. Sounds simple enough but when we dive into the realm of children in foster care, there were a whole lot of facets that I had never considered before.

I am somewhat familiar with the conditions and terms that kids in foster care are subjected to. My 35-year career in education and a decade in law enforcement have provided more exposure to the foster care system than I wish upon anyone. To say the least, foster kids don’t have it easy. Many come from rough family situations involving drugs, violence, instability, neglect and much worse. I never considered how many foster kids experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from their removal from home situations.

The following is a quote from Mayfly’s pamphlet: “Life in foster care is stressful, as children struggle with being moved around and never knowing the plan for their placement. Along with uncertainty, many children in foster care are trying to manage symptoms from trauma.”

Some of the goals from exposing kids to the activity of fly fishing are:

1. Finding brain rest

2. Improving self-esteem

3. Building a connection with the outdoors

4. Creating positive memories

6. Finding a positive, life long hobby

Caseworkers report that the mentee’s favorite part of joining in a Mayfly Project is having their own mentor. Mentors are provided on a 1:1 ratio and also a three-in-a-group safety policy so that our mentees have the optimal opportunity to learn how to fly fish and receive positive attention, while also being in a safe environment. All mentors go through a vetting process, background checks, and a training process.

Some facts worth considering: 500+ kids will be mentored this year by The Mayfly Project. There are 65 Project Mayfly programs in 34 states. 95 percent of mentees planned to continue fishing. TMP participants receive fly fishing and conservation education. They get to experience five fly fishing outings during the program and are given their own fly fishing gear to keep.

At the start of Friday morning’s fishing excursion I could never have dreamed of the impact that fishing might have had on my life. By the end of Saturday’s TMP program, I couldn’t imagine not being a part of The Mayfly Project.

If you might be interested in mentoring, donating or sponsoring a child in The Mayfly Project, contact Jess Westbrook – Founder – jess@themayflyproject.com or Kaitlin Barnhart – Co-Founder – kaitlin@themayflyprojecct.com

Dave Bates writes a weekly outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at alphaomegashootingsolutions@gmail.com