Trout Unlimited establishes endowment in support of Lenoir-Rhyne's Reese Institute
 |
|
Left to right: Bryant Kirkland, Trout Unlimited; Becky Townsend, academic coordinator for the Reese Institute; John Brzorad, director of the Reese Institute; Steve Mull, Trout Unlimited; Bob Pierce, Trout Unlimited; and Rich Duncan, director of planned giving and major gifts at Lenoir-Rhyne College. |
In 1964, Thomas Reese and Philip Bracewell Sr. helped start the first chapter of Trout Unlimited in North Carolina. Now the N.C. Northwestern Chapter of Trout Unlimited has established an endowment of $100,000 in Bracewell’s memory.
Proceeds from the endowment will benefit the Thomas W. Reese Institute for Conservation of Natural Resources at Lenoir-Rhyne College. Reese was the founding president of the Northwestern Chapter of TU, and Bracewell was the second president.
“We felt this gift would a good way to honor two of the founders of Trout Unlimited in Hickory and our state,” said Steve Mull, chairman of the Northwestern Chapter’s Education Committee. “We especially want to thank all the donors to Trout Unlimited who have supported our fund-raising efforts by attending our annual banquets. The funds for this endowment were raised over a 10-year period, and we appreciate all those who made it possible.”
Bryant Kirkland, former president of the chapter, said, “Few men have given more time and energy to the conservation movement in North Carolina than Phil Bracewell Sr. “His activism and support have not only extended statewide, but on a national level as well.”
Bracewell became active in the Catawba County Wildlife Club in the early 1950s and was a life member of the N.C. Wildlife Federation. He served as Western North Carolina president of the group in 1960-1961, served one term as the N.C. president and was the N.C. delegate to the National Affairs Committee for 16 years.
In 1974 he was named Conservationist of the Year, and later was inducted into the N.C. Wildlife Hall of Fame. Bracewell was also a founding trustee of the Catawba County Wildlife Education Foundation. He served 22 years on the Catawba County Wildlife Education Foundation and the N.C. Wildlife Education Foundation.
He was a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited National and served as a national director of the organization for more than 16 years. In 1984 he received a Special Distinguished Service Award from TU National. Bracewell was one of nine founding fathers of TU in North Carolina, where he helped to establish eight chapters and served as a life director of the Northwestern Chapter.
He also helped organize eight Western North Carolina chapters of Ducks Unlimited and founded the Northwest N.C. Chapter of that group. He served as Western N.C. District chairman of Ducks Unlimited for 14 years. He also was a founding trustee of the N.C. Nature Conservancy and served on the Catawba Science Center Board of Directors for four terms. He served two four-year terms on the N.C. Sedimentation Control Commission and one term on the Public Advisory Council for the Duke Power Energy Commission.