Reel Recovery Dempsey Center participants and volunteers at Grants Camps Mike Pratico
Rangeley Lakes area is certainly a special place with a lot of wonderful people. In 2022 the Reel Recovery Maine Chapter was looking for a new location to host our 2023 retreats. It was suggested that we consider Grant’s Camps and from the initial phone call we could not have been happier with that suggestion.
But first let me share some background information about Reel Recovery. Reel Recovery is a non-profit organization that provides free three day fly fishing retreats to men coping with any form of cancer. The organization has hosted over 200 retreats and assisted over 3,000 men over its 20 year history and now includes retreats in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Circle of Strength at closing ceremonies of the retreat Mike Pratico
The Maine Chapter of Reel Recovery was launched in 2018. The first three Maine retreats were held in Grand Lake Stream and were a huge success. We received incredible feedback from all attendees, were able to build a network of loyal volunteers and created a lot of memories and lifelong bonds amongst the volunteers and participants. I would be remiss to not point out that none of that would have happened without the initial financial support of Orvis who wanted to help us get the Maine Chapter of Reel Recovery started.
Rangeley locals: volunteer David Fenderson and participant Mike Marquis Mike Pratico
When I reached out to Grant’s Camps, they could not have been more excited about hosting the 2023 retreats. John offered a generous non-profit discount, use of boats, guide help and accommodations for all our volunteer “fishing buddies”. In short, John just made us feel welcome and his staff accommodated our every need. When I told him that we wanted to offer a second retreat for the Dempsey Center following our first retreat he did not hesitate to say he would figure out how to make that work as well.
Each participant was given a signed copy of the book The Rangeley’s donated by author, photographer, long time Rangeley local and volunteer Ben Pearson Mike Pratico
There were so many positive experiences and stories that occurred that week in Maine I feel like I could write a book. I will try to summarize things in a paragraph. The staff at Grant’s were simply incredible. The food at the camps is absolutely world class. The lakefront accommodations for the participants was stunning and the volunteer guide accommodations were perfect. Simply put, 10 out of 10 across the board.
Back to Rangeley being a special place. Unsolicited, when the Rangeley Area Chamber of Commerce heard about our retreats in the area, they offered to donate the proceeds from their Fly Fishing Festival to the retreats. And when professional guides found out about the events they immediately reached out to help. There are too many individuals to single out so I will summarize by saying that we could not possibly have felt more welcomed and can’t wait to return in 2024.
Mike Pratico
Maine State Coordinator
Reel Recovery
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