As a 65 year-old, retired teacher from Edgerton, Wisconsin, Ron lives with his special wife, Mary. Together they raised three grown children who have blessed them with seven grandchildren. Mary is the controller for a large structural steel fabricator while Ron taught high school earth science, biology, physical science, and physical education for 37 years while coaching several sports. At that time when one of his student athletes tried to call him "Wally" Ron retorted,"Mr. Wally to you, fella!" Thus mrrwally eventually became his e-mail name. mrrwally@hughes.net The second r is for Ron.

The final ten years of Ron's teaching was in an "At-risk" program for troubled kids. This assignment was his most rewarding time in education. The slogan for his one room school house away from the regular high school was, "Where Every Student is a Favorite!" As part of that program students who were present all week and had completed all their work at an acceptable level, were able to build custom fishing rods on Friday afternoons as a reward.

Mr. Wally started rod building in the early 1970's when he needed to repair a loose guide by using 4 lb test fishing line. He didn't know how to finish the wrap until a fly fisherman showed him how to pull the line under using a pull through loop. He soon discovered Fiberglass Rod building by Dale Clemens. Shortly thereafter, Ron joined "RodCrafters" as a professional member. Then came Advanced Custom Rod Building, and Custom Rod Thread Art. Rod builders in the Mid-West were unusual at the time and without the aid of computers back then, Ron never met another rod builder until joining the Guild in 2003. At the North Central Conclave in Breezy Point, MN he met his first builder who just happened to be B.D. Ehler!

Soon Ron became a regular at national and regional conclaves and has traveled to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, California, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa to attend various workshops and events. He was the secretary for the Guild for a while and is probably best known for being the editor of the "RodCrafters Journal" for several years.

Ron's business, "Pike Lake Custom Rods" (customrods.org) was started in the summer of 2004. He continues to teach rod building to kids through the Guild program, "Pass It On" in conjunction with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boy Scouts, Optimist Clubs, and others. In fact he has completed over 50 workshops with various youth groups since he retired.

Ron says that he Guild has opened many doors for him and he can truly say he rarely meets a rod builder he doesn't like or respect. Rod building can be a wonderful hobby or even a business and the Custom Rod Builders Guild organization is just one of the ways rod builders can share tips, tricks, and techniques while building wonderful friendships all over the country and the world.

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