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The last Fly Fair? ...we hope not!
The Mystery Tour
One of the Fly Fair highlights for the participants is the chance of participating in the Mystery Tour. This tour takes place the first day after the show and is a secret, which is not revealed until the bus arrives. This year the bus unloaded its passengers at a quay on the river IJssel next to a beautiful riverboat called the Success. While we were waiting to board the boat's steam organ played an impressive tune.
After this the captain welcomed us, and we boarded. The day was beautiful and after a welcome drink - Dutch bitters accompanied by more organ music and different hors d'oeuvres - we flooded out on the upper deck to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sight of the surrounding fields, wetlands and small villages as we sailed the IJssel.
The meal we were served onboard was beyond description as was the interior of the beautifully restored boat. Its history was as amazing as the pictures of its state when the restoring started. The ship had been a wreck, which to most bystanders would seem beyond salvage. Nothing on the boat revealed its prior condition, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The last Fly Fair ever
One thing was without joy. As the meal was over and we were getting close to the quay, Ad Swier - a member of the organization behind Fly Fair - addressed the crowd with a speech. He thanked for the participation and accounted shortly for the history of Fly Fair. He then told us that we had been the privileged participants of the last Fly Fair ever. What a sad announcement! Some of us had heard the rumors, but this confirmed the fact.
Ad was as sad as the rest of us, but left a bit of hope, as he indicated that he was not going to give up on the thought of some kind of fly tying and fly fishing arrangement in The Netherlands in the future. In spite of this faint hope, the mood was significantly lowered and faces were not happy. It is hard to express the feelings that we international visitors have for the Fly Fair. It is a different, very social and personal arrangement and the people behind the show have done a marvelous job over the years. I am sure that many will join me in saying thank you to Ad Swier, Egbert Land, Wim Maurer, Willem Hofman and the many people who have helped them for their hard work in this. We still hope to see you all in two years somewhere in Holland.
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