From the Madison River Foundation late this morning…
We received the sad news this morning that former director and one of the Foundation’s founders Dan McClain passed away yesterday in California. Dan and his wife Mary own the Blue Heron gift shop in Ennis. In recent years Dan had suffered from a number of severe health problems.
Dan was one of the founders of the Ennis on the Madison Fly Fishing Festival, out of which the Foundation grew. He was one of the original directors of the organization and served on the Board until his health forced him to step down. Many will know Dan from his beautiful book The Art of the Creel, dozens of copies of which Dan donated to the Foundation as gifts distributed at the festival.
“Dan is largely responsible for very existence of the Madison River Foundation,” said MRF President David Bricker. “In 2003, he first came up with the idea of creating an organization to help keep the Madison a great resource. He was a founding director and served as its first president. We truly appreciate his contributions to MRF in particular and the Madison Valley in general.”
