While working a booth with one of my sponsors during one of the Wild Indiana Expos a few years ago, I noticed the Wildcat Guardians had a booth close to where I was working.

During my lunch break, I usually grabbed a cup of coffee and visited some of the vendors, so I strolled into their booth and started talking with a few of the members and viewed some photos of some of their projects to help beautify the Wildcat Creek. Then, I wrote an article of their endeavors for the Kokomo Perspective.

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of their monthly membership meetings, and I met several of their current members. I had requested permission to attend because I was interested in having a representative of the Wildcat Guardians as a guest on my "Outdoors with Bud" podcast that I host for the Kokomo Lantern.

I was fairly familiar with several of their projects from the past, and when they started discussing some of their upcoming projects, that impressed me greatly! I was born in Kokomo and walked the banks of the Wildcat Creek and managed to catch several fish during my youth while exploring the great outdoors with several of my young friends. I retained many, many great memories I take pleasure of recalling today.

Just before they closed their meeting, I was introduced to the members who were present. I shared my outdoor writing experience, and if they were interested, I requested a representative as a guest on my podcast. They discussed the possibility, and it was granted. Garry Hill was appointed to represent them on my podcast.

I had known Garry for several years through my involvement with the Jim “Moose” Carden Kids’ Fishing Clinic, and after the meeting, he and I discussed his schedule. The podcast we recorded together is available on the Kokomo Lantern Podcast Network on YouTube now.

You might ask, "Who are the Wildcat Guardians?" Quite simply, they are a group of citizen volunteers, dedicated to improving the health and beauty of the Wildcat Creek.

You might ask, “What is the mission of the Wildcat Guardians?” The mission is to protect and conserve the environment and educate the public about the importance of environmental protection of the Wildcat Creek in North Central Indiana.

The Wildcat Guardians are seeking new members If you are interested in sharing their objectives, you need to obtain a membership form that can be downloaded from their website provided on the home page at www.wildcatguardians.org, or bring the form to the next monthly meeting.

The meetings are held on the third Monday of each month in winter and spring at Martino’s Italian Villa, 1929 N. Washington St. The next meeting is March 17 at 5:30-6:30 p.m. for Social hour before the 6:30 p.m. meeting. In dry, warm weather, they try to meet at the Yeoman Public Access Ramp, 440 W, Old Sycamore Road (00 NS), Kokomo, at 6:30 p.m. Bring a lawn chair.