A Thomas & Thomas switch rod is being raffled through Sept. 30 at midnight with proceeds to benefit the mission of Project Healing Waters Erie.

Skip Hughes, of Mile Creek Custom Rods, built the 10-foot, 7-weight four-piece. The rod features a blank and reel seats from Thomas & Thomas, guides from Snake Guides and grips and Alps guides from Batson. The rod also will be lined by Cortland. The fighting butt will be inset with a Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing marker.

Line included, the rod has a value of more than $1,000.

Buy as many as 10 tickets at once here for $10 each. Each ticket is assigned a number. On the day of the drawing, organizers will use random.org to select the winner, who will be notified by e-mail or phone. Include name, address, e-mail and phone number during your ticket purchase.

Project Healing Waters Erie will get 100 percent of the proceeds to fund trips and fly fishing gear for disabled military personnel.

Skip Hughes of Mile Creek Custom Rods has built an 8-weight fly road that’s being auctioned to benefit the Erie Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc. chapter.

The high bid as of today is $325. Help drive it a bit higher and you’ll give Hughes, the chapter founder, and the other project volunteers resources to help them assist disabled veterans and active service personnel. Hughes guarantees that 100 percent of the proceeds will go into the program to help fund outings and pay for fly-tying materials.

Fly tying with the volunteers from the Erie chapter of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc. at the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

You could say the One Fly is about steelhead fishing and not be wrong.

You could say it’s about a group of fishing friends getting together once a year for a steelhead-themed celebration, and you’d be right on.

You could and should know that it’s a labor of love for its organizers, led by Jack Gripp of Kentucky, Skip and Debi Hughes of Harborcreek Township, and Vickie Bost and Hans Lunser of Lake City, among others.

But knowing all that, you might also miss the point. The free, limited-entry event is imbued with something that’s clear not in its individual elements, and maybe not even in their sum. Given life about a decade ago as an impromptu catch-and-release contest between friends on the Lake Erie tribs, it’s grown since to have its own spirit, one possessed of equal parts charity and gratitude. It champions conservation, invites anyone who wishes to take part and sends them off after a full day with a full belly, prizes and pleasant memories.

It really showed in this year’s One Fly Oct. 8, when six Vietnam veterans from the Batavia (N.Y.) VA Medical Center were welcomed through the fabulous Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing program.

Lodging and transportation was arranged. Each guest was outfitted with a free rod, line reel and other gifts. Guides gladly gave up their fishing day to assist the veterans, some of whom never had fly fished or fished for steelhead.

The endeavor appears likely to lead to the establishment of an Erie chapter of Project Healing Waters, thanks to Hughes.

Have a look at how some of the veterans spent their day.