Gentry Oswalt chosen for Montana leadership conference

Gentry Oswalt; image by Frances Oates

Gentry Oswalt, 14, son of Holly and Scott Oswalt of Corryton, is among only 25 youngsters nationwide who’ve been selected to participate in Trout Unlimited’s Teen Summit, June 29 to July 3 in Georgetown Lake, Montana.

Teen Summit is an annual leadership conference for TU teens who want to make a difference. Participants are recruited from rising freshmen to rising seniors in high school who have demonstrated leadership and proven commitment to TU’s mission. After attending Summit, the group becomes TU’s Youth Leadership Council, working on projects and outreach in their local communities and with national TU staff to raise TU’s profile among their peers.

Gentry, who is homeschooled, is in ninth grade under the umbrella of HomeLife Academy, Jackson, TN. He is an active member of the Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), where he studied fly tying this winter.

He donated a selection of hand-tied trout flies to this year’s Casting for Recovery retreat for breast cancer survivors. He has also competed in Great Smoky Mountain Chapter’s Iron Man Fly Contest, which benefits Tennessee TU’s Great Smoky Mountains Trout Adventure Camp; Gentry attended the camp in 2018.

In the competitive process of applying for Teen Summit, Gentry said he wants to learn more about different types of fishing and about nature. Teen Summit “will help me to understand more about how I can play a role in conservation,” he said.

TU is a national nonprofit organization that works to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.

Clinch River Chapter TU works to preserve and protect the Clinch River tailwater and its watershed through conservation projects and through education of children and adults in aquatic natural resources. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month in the parish hall at St. Francis Episcopal Church, Norris, except when outdoor activities are scheduled. For more information, visit crctu.org.

Published April 21, 2019