SENNETT - An outdoor setting and a crisp fall day provided a fitting backdrop Sunday for a memorial service for Tim Noga, one of the best-known and hardest-working sportsmen in the Finger Lakes area.
More than 200 family and friends turned out for the service held at the club Noga spent so much time at, the Falcon Sportsmen Club. Noga passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday at 47.
David Sikora, town of Sennett supervisor, has known the Noga family since he was a child. Noga was survived by five brothers, a sister, several aunts and uncles, and many nieces and nephews.
“We all grew up at the Polish Falcons - bowling, parties. We're going to miss him. He was a good guy,” Sikora said.
One of Noga's closest friends is Michael Kelly, a retired outdoors writer. Kelly gave a heartfelt talk about his hunting partner and pal.
“A great conservationist and an effective leader of men,” Kelly said. “By sheer hard work and dedication, he accomplished an incredible amount of good.”
Noga worked as a pipeline inspector for the state Public Service Commission, but the list of the volunteer organizations and committees he became involved with was extremely impressive, Kelly said.
“He believed in that old adage that there is no limit to what a person can accomplish if he doesn't care who takes the credit,” Kelly said. “Tim would do much of the grunt work in the early stages, get people pointed in the right direction, then fade into the background when the goals are met and it was time to pass out the awards.”
Noga had a crucial role in the establishment of New York chapters of Pheasants Forever, annual waterfowl hunts for young people at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and the development of the state's Habitat and Access stamp program.
Under the latter program, sportsmen could chose to buy a $5 Habitat Stamp when getting a hunting, fishing, or trapping license. Just recently, a $15,000 grant from that program was used to build a handicapped-accessible fishing platform on the Salmon River in Pulaski.
“Over the years, hundreds - if not thousands - of sportsmen came to appreciate Tim's public roles,” said Kelly, which also included his long-standing role as the Region 7 director of the state Conservation Council.
But, Sunday, Kelly suspected “most of us are remembering him for smaller things. Things that speak softly, but insistently, about the sort of man this really was.”
Father Eugene Dobosz, the pastor at St. Hyacinth and St. Francis churches in Auburn, led the prayers. A native of Poland, Dobosz last saw Noga several weeks ago when he brought his dogs to the SPCA to be blessed.
Assemblyman Gary D. Finch presented the Noga family with a New York state resolution his office prepared in conjunction with three other lawmakers - state Senator Michael Nozzolio and Assemblymen Brian Kolb and Robert Oaks.
“All of those people, Tim considered a friend. Most of the time,” said Finch, getting a hearty laugh, many of those in the audience knowing full well that Noga could be stubborn when trying to convince others of his point of view. “He was a great advocate.”
Noga would frequently travel to Albany to talk with state representatives. He always tried to get laws changed he believed were wrong, such as the minimum age for a teenager to use firearms while hunting. In New York, that age is 16, the nation's highest.
Last year, he presented Finch with a bright orange tie as a birthday present. Noga wanted the Assemblyman to know that a bill that would require hunters to wear that color - blaze orange - was inadequate because you could put on as little as a tie's worth and still meet the law's conditions.
“I can see your point a little bit about the blaze orange,” Finch told him then. “And today it reminds me of Tim's sense of humor, and about his ability to teach.”
Sunday was certainly the kind of day that Noga would have been at his happiest. The leaves were changing, it was a little chilly and following the service, the rain started coming down steadily as everyone went inside for a meal. An hour later, the skies cleared and a brilliant late-October sun began to shine.
Calling Noga “an all-around outdoorsmen, and a committed environmentalist,” Noga was comfortable with a rod, gun or a camera anywhere in the outdoors, Kelly said.
The oldest of the Noga children, Mark Noga, spoke last and thanked “everyone for coming and paying tribute to Tim.”
His brother got a call around 6 a.m. Monday that his younger brother was in the emergency room and they were moving him to University Hospital. They spent the day together, talking about a variety of things.
“But his first concern was that there was a report due to the Conservation Council. He's giving me phone numbers of people to call. He wasn't worried about himself,” Noga said. “He was worried about what you'd call his work, and making sure that goes forward.”
After Fr. Dobosz said a final prayer, this one in Polish, a traditional Polish meal was served.
Just a few minutes earlier, Mark Noga told of how much his brother liked taking his nephews fishing, their faces lighting up when he helped them catch something.
“That's what Tim was all about, he was that big fuzzy bear,” he said.
David Sikora, town of Sennett supervisor, has known the Noga family since he was a child. Noga was survived by five brothers, a sister, several aunts and uncles, and many nieces and nephews.
“We all grew up at the Polish Falcons - bowling, parties. We're going to miss him. He was a good guy,” Sikora said.
One of Noga's closest friends is Michael Kelly, a retired outdoors writer. Kelly gave a heartfelt talk about his hunting partner and pal.
“A great conservationist and an effective leader of men,” Kelly said. “By sheer hard work and dedication, he accomplished an incredible amount of good.”
Noga worked as a pipeline inspector for the state Public Service Commission, but the list of the volunteer organizations and committees he became involved with was extremely impressive, Kelly said.
“He believed in that old adage that there is no limit to what a person can accomplish if he doesn't care who takes the credit,” Kelly said. “Tim would do much of the grunt work in the early stages, get people pointed in the right direction, then fade into the background when the goals are met and it was time to pass out the awards.”
Noga had a crucial role in the establishment of New York chapters of Pheasants Forever, annual waterfowl hunts for young people at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and the development of the state's Habitat and Access stamp program.
Under the latter program, sportsmen could chose to buy a $5 Habitat Stamp when getting a hunting, fishing, or trapping license. Just recently, a $15,000 grant from that program was used to build a handicapped-accessible fishing platform on the Salmon River in Pulaski.
“Over the years, hundreds - if not thousands - of sportsmen came to appreciate Tim's public roles,” said Kelly, which also included his long-standing role as the Region 7 director of the state Conservation Council.
But, Sunday, Kelly suspected “most of us are remembering him for smaller things. Things that speak softly, but insistently, about the sort of man this really was.”
Father Eugene Dobosz, the pastor at St. Hyacinth and St. Francis churches in Auburn, led the prayers. A native of Poland, Dobosz last saw Noga several weeks ago when he brought his dogs to the SPCA to be blessed.
Assemblyman Gary D. Finch presented the Noga family with a New York state resolution his office prepared in conjunction with three other lawmakers - state Senator Michael Nozzolio and Assemblymen Brian Kolb and Robert Oaks.
“All of those people, Tim considered a friend. Most of the time,” said Finch, getting a hearty laugh, many of those in the audience knowing full well that Noga could be stubborn when trying to convince others of his point of view. “He was a great advocate.”
Noga would frequently travel to Albany to talk with state representatives. He always tried to get laws changed he believed were wrong, such as the minimum age for a teenager to use firearms while hunting. In New York, that age is 16, the nation's highest.
Last year, he presented Finch with a bright orange tie as a birthday present. Noga wanted the Assemblyman to know that a bill that would require hunters to wear that color - blaze orange - was inadequate because you could put on as little as a tie's worth and still meet the law's conditions.
“I can see your point a little bit about the blaze orange,” Finch told him then. “And today it reminds me of Tim's sense of humor, and about his ability to teach.”
Sunday was certainly the kind of day that Noga would have been at his happiest. The leaves were changing, it was a little chilly and following the service, the rain started coming down steadily as everyone went inside for a meal. An hour later, the skies cleared and a brilliant late-October sun began to shine.
Calling Noga “an all-around outdoorsmen, and a committed environmentalist,” Noga was comfortable with a rod, gun or a camera anywhere in the outdoors, Kelly said.
The oldest of the Noga children, Mark Noga, spoke last and thanked “everyone for coming and paying tribute to Tim.”
His brother got a call around 6 a.m. Monday that his younger brother was in the emergency room and they were moving him to University Hospital. They spent the day together, talking about a variety of things.
“But his first concern was that there was a report due to the Conservation Council. He's giving me phone numbers of people to call. He wasn't worried about himself,” Noga said. “He was worried about what you'd call his work, and making sure that goes forward.”
After Fr. Dobosz said a final prayer, this one in Polish, a traditional Polish meal was served.
Just a few minutes earlier, Mark Noga told of how much his brother liked taking his nephews fishing, their faces lighting up when he helped them catch something.
“That's what Tim was all about, he was that big fuzzy bear,” he said.
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whybother wrote on Oct 29, 2007 11:22 PM: