In addition to ongoing education efforts with our membership, the SWMTU chapter supports education in schools. Since 1987, the chapter has funded the Cornelius M. Schrems Scholarship at Michigan State University. It is awarded annually to a current MSU student of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife who works toward the mission of SWMTU. This scholarship, and its intention, was founded by Sis Schrems in memory of her husband. In 2012, SWMTU established a permanent fund at MSU for this scholarship. Since 2005, SWMTU has supported the Salmon in the Classroom (SIC) initiative by providing financial grants of up to...

CORNELIUS M. SCHREMS AWARD – PAST WINNERS “Recognition of outstanding service to fellow fishermen through extraordinary contributions to the arts, skills, and lore of trout fishing.” 1975-Dick Nelson1976-Carl Richards1977-Art Neuman1978-Zimmie Nolph1979-Bob Philip1980-Blake Forslund1981-Honorable John D. Voelker1982-Dick Pobst1983-Cal Gates1984-not awarded1985-Dennis Potter1986-Paul Younggren1987-not awarded1988-Dick Norton1989-Jerry Holwerda1990-Dick Wilson1991-Fred Oswalt1992-Glen Blackwood1993-Robert McKeon1994-Wade Seley1995-Matt Supinski1996-Dr. Bud Kanouse1997-Clark Benton1998-Bruce Richards1999-Howard Meyerson2000-Philip Cusey2001-David Koschara2002-Dorothy Schramm2003-Debra Johnston-Visch2004-Scott Steiner2005-Paul Eberhart2006-John Green2007-Kevin Feenstra2008-Will Sweetman2009-Wes Cooper2010-Dick Norton2011-Brad Boomstra2012-Jim Scott2013-George Buursma2014-Rich Steketee2015-Chris Soule2016-Dave DeJonge2017-Dick and Ellen Smith2018-not awarded2019-not awarded2020-not awarded2021-not awarded2022-Dr. Ken Rongey2023-2024-Ellie and John Frey

PAST WINNERS “Recognition of contributions towards preserving the environment.” 1971-Peter Steketee 1972-Henry Westerville 1973-Glen Sheppard 1974-Will Wolfe 1975-Hillary Snell 1976-Roger Conner 1977-Joan Wolfe 1978-Wes Cooper 1979-not awarded 1980-John Tanton 1981-Ken Sikkema 1982-Jack Schaley 1983-Dave Smethurst 1984-not awarded 1985-Ben Maylar 1986-Dick Buss 1987-Henry Zeman 1988-M.S.U. 1989-Jon Bachelder 1990-Rusty Gates 1991-Pere Marquette Watershed Council 1992-West Michigan Environmental Action Council 1993-James Schram 1994-Bill Walker 1995-Bob Nicholson 1996-Roger Laninga 1997-Michael Ells 1998-Tom Rozich 1999-Ed Frye 2000-Dr. Bill Taylor 2001-Peter Wege 2002-John Koches 2003-Jim Oosting and the Coldwater River Watershed Council 2004-Keith Groty 2005-Mark Luttenton 2006-Rich Bowman 2007-Jeff Alexander 2008-Josh Zuiderveen 2009-Mike Hoekwater 2010- Oak...

Courtesy of Bob McKeon I wanted to share with SWMTU members this letter. This is a copy of the original letter of the first recognized meeting by the founding members of Trout Unlimited. July 15th is considered by national as TU Day which was founded in 1959 in Grayling, Michigan. I have a collection of some original documents in my possession that I received a few years ago while serving as a member of West Michigan Trout Unlimited. I became friends with Cornelius Schrems wife, “Sis,” and stayed in touch with her until she passed away. Sis created a yearly...

WMTU TO BE CALLED SCHREMS WEST MICHIGAN TROUT UNLIMITED First published December 2000 For the past 38 years, West Michigan Trout Unlimited has furthered the noble cause of cold water fishery conservation. All of the financial contributions, in-stream work projects, and efforts to educate and develop future generations of conservation-oriented fly fishers are a testimonial to our Chapter’s dedication to this great resource. The next person who joins our Chapter will be our 800th member. The cold water conservation effort in West Michigan has a firm foothold. All of our successes and strength as a chapter would not be possible...

West Michigan TU … Those Early Years by Dick Nelson Courtesy of MICHIGAN TROUT, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 1992 Edition Dick Nelson has been involved in Trout Unlimited from almost its inception. As a founding member of one of the nation’s earliest TU chapters, the West Michigan Chapter, based in Grand Rapids, Nelson is its official historian. The article, most of which is reprinted here, is of interest to all Michigan TUers, for it speaks of a time and people who influenced TU’s direction far beyond the meeting tables of WMTU. WMTU was a pretty informal but effective group...

The Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited chapter was founded in 1962 because of the concerns for the health of our local streams and the wild trout that live in them. Our chapter, since its beginning, has been involved with many activities from river clean-up, stream monitoring, bank erosion and its reconstruction, fish shocking, invertebrate studies and fly fishing clinics, along with the many concerns that effect our environment in today’s society. Our work on the river needs continuous attention, dedication and volunteer labor from trout enthusiasts, because what affects us today will be left behind for the next generations. Our...