Our President's Message, Christmas of 2025
As 2025 draws to a close I am taking this opportunity to bring you up to date on some key issues and activities our organization has accomplished this year and are looking forward to in 2026.
The roof of the hatchery and HHOA headquarters has been in need of repair for many years and has now been repaired by a combined effort of G.J. Burtch Construction and Petrini Construction. These local professional construction companies have basically rebuilt the roofing on our organization’s largest asset and I am confident that we have a sound building that will outlast most of us who are currently involved in the HHOA, which is a good thing!
While we were on a roll, hatchery volunteer Todd Van Parys took on the project of painting the wooden structure HHOA building and single handedly freshened up the building’s wood siding with new paint. This improved the look of the building and preserved the siding for many years to come. Thanks Todd!
Another major improvement worked on and completed this year was the improved/rebuild of the HHOA website. Make sure you visit our website online by going to hhoa.on.ca and become familiar with this really attractive, informative presentation of the many facets of what we do and what is available with knowledge gained through your involvement in the HHOA.
Volunteer Roger Prescott is the driving force behind the website upgrade project and contributed countless hours and energy into ensuring the success of this endeavour.
Roger’s daughter Carly has also volunteered to oversee the social media activities of our organization over the past year. Carly’s involvement has really brought our activities to the attention of the general public which has resulted in HUGE increase to our visibility in the public eye, which in turn attracts more support of our organization’s goals and objectives.
The spring of 2025 saw the first sales of Commercial Rainbow Trout for our hatchery. This has been a learning process but a success at the same time. Through our commercial operation and learning some best practices, we were able to earn over $20,000.00 to be used towards our daily community hatchery operations, which stocks between 20K and 30K fish in Haliburton County lakes every spring!
We had our Annual General Meeting on November 23/2025 which was well attended by HHOA members, and the general public as well. Our guest speaker this year was Mitch Klatt who is a representative from Rapala Canada who gave us a very informative presentation on fishing techniques on inland lakes , like our Haliburton County lakes, with some emphasis on ice fishing. The provincial sales rep for Rapala Canada, who attended with Mitch, provided a number of giveaways during the meeting. We have also secured a promise from Rapala to provide something impressive towards our silent auction table at the upcoming Wild Game Dinner scheduled for March 21/2026. Stay tuned for upcoming information on that great popular event.
Your new HHOA Board of Directors for 2026 has been elected and consists of the following:
- President - Dan Smith
- Vice President - Terry Rombough
- Secretary & Webmaster - Roger Prescott
- Treasurer - David Armstrong
- Director, Fundraising & Membership - Ken Fielding
- Director, Master Chef - Dan Johnson
- Director - Kent MacDonald
- Director - Peter Warren
- Director - Tom Neville
Your Board of Directors is by no means restricted to the above group. If you have an interest in finding out what you can do, or want to know how to get involved, contact anyone on the above list.
At our AGM, the Jim Cardinal award recipient for 2025 went to Roger Prescott whose tireless work on anything he does from upgrades to the early rearing raceways, to the new website, to filling in on daily fish rearing duties, etc. etc. etc., prove him to be 2025’s extremely worthy recipient.
We also awarded Tyler Neville, who volunteered numerous hours this summer, the new award for “Junior Volunteer of the Year” in recognition of his abundance of enthusiasm and what seemed like endless energy to assist any way he could during his summer school break months.
I could go on but I know everyone is busy this time of year so I am sending my wish to all of you for a great Christmas Festive season with your loved ones and a New Year filled with Good Health and Good Times.
Take care of yourselves and each other and we’ll talk soon!
Sincerely,
Dan
Upcoming Events
As always there’s lots to do.
- March 21st 2026 is the Wild Game Dinner
- As soon as the ice goes out, stocking will begin for all public lakes as directed by the MNR.
- Following that, commercial trout will be sold for private lake and pond stocking.
- We’ll have a booth at the Haliburton Home Show from Friday May 29th – May 31st.
- On Canada Day, look for us in Minden along the river.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Volunteers play a vital role in the execution of our Fish Hatchery programs, and our continuing success. We urgently need help with marketing, fundraising, and general hatchery duties.
If you love the outdoors and want to join a community of like-minded people, consider becoming a volunteer for the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association Fish Hatchery. We would like to hear from you. There are many ways to get involved. See our Support Us page for details.
PLANNED GIVING
A bequest or gift by will is a simple and thoughtful way to leave a personal legacy, representing your life and values. Whether it is a set dollar amount or a percentage of your estate, a bequest in your will to the HHOA can allow you to make a difference for generations to come.
WE HATCH ‘EM, YOU CATCH ‘EM
Our mailing address is:
6712 Gelert Road, Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0
Our Telephone Number:
705-457-9664 Wednesday 9am-3pm
Please support our Fish Hatchery, Clubs, Education & Restoration Programs