By TED WADDELL
LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — On Saturday, August 17, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM) honored one of its own fly fishing legends and celebrated what would have been Agnes Van Put’s 108th birthday.
The event took place in the center’s pavilion and was attended by numerous family members and well-wishers from the fly fishing community – including fly fishing legend Joan Wulff, who turns 98 in October.
In a poignant reminder of the passage of time, Van Put and Wulff sat side by side during the festive gathering honoring Van Put, who has long been known for her work in the center’s gift shop and for cooking soup during the center’s annual celebration on April Fools’ Day, the traditional opening day of trout fishing in New York State.
Born on August 15, 1916, in Prospect Park, New Jersey, Van Put began working at age 15, sewing women’s underwear for Garfinkle & Ritter, Inc., earning eight cents an hour, equivalent to about $1.47 in 2024.
According to an article by her great-granddaughter Taylor Lamerand, “after a full week of work, she brought home about eight dollars.”
In the 1970s, Agnes and her husband Emil moved to the Catskills, where they converted an old barn into a house in the hamlet of Livingston Manor. She still lives there today.
In 1984, Agnes Van Put started working at CFFCM, where she became an institution in the gift shop and by preparing their classic opening day soups.
She is a member of the Livingston Manor Senior Citizens Club, an honorary member of the Women’s Fly Fishing Club, and the recipient of the Sullivan County Visitors Association’s first-ever TOAST Award. The award was given, in Lamerand’s words, “for her contribution to the community and her ability to make visitors feel at home.”
Judy Van Put (wife of Ed Van Put, the older of Agnes’ two sons), one of the birthday party organizers, said of the gathering, “What I really like about this party is that it was a real group effort. The whole family contributed, and everyone put in a great effort… it’s family, and that’s what it’s all about.”
“This wonderful woman is my mother-in-law and took over as my mother when she passed away in 1994,” added Judy Van Put. “She is quite remarkable and will go down in the record books as one of the oldest residents of Sullivan County at 108 years old.”
Agnes is “a social butterfly, still lives alone and baked us a cake last week,” Judy added. She noted that in addition to Agnes’ two sons, she has seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Another child is expected any minute by Alex Van Put, who is married to Agnes’ great-grandson Jimmy Van Put.
As for the meaning of the number 108, Agnes’ daughter-in-law said that in Tibetan Buddhism it represents Kangyur, a collection of 108 sacred texts. In Hinduism, it is seen as a symbol of the wholeness of existence, and in Major League Baseball, a pitch by Nolan Ryan was reportedly measured at 100.8 miles per hour.
Ed Van Put, 88, retired after a decades-long career as a senior fish and wildlife technician with the New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) and recalled a cherished moment with his mother.
“When I was drafted into the army, you had to do your own laundry and ‘here is the canteen,'” he remembers. For the 18-year-old, this was a wake-up call to military life.
“I sat down that night and wrote her a letter thanking her for everything she had done – and she still has the letter,” he said.
Joan Wulff, “the First Lady of Fly Fishing,” sat next to the birthday bride and the two grand dames of fly fishing held court during the anniversary celebration.
“I wish I had her genes,” Wulff said. “I’ll be 98 in October and can’t eat everything I want, but she can. She was a great supporter of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and has become the museum’s flagship in the gift shop.”
Although she is currently somewhat hard of hearing, Agnes Van Put shared her reactions to celebrating her 108th birthday with her closest family and fly fishing community.
“I feel younger when there are so many people around me, all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” she said. “I worked here at the fly fishing center and met a lot of people. Lee (Wulff) taught me how to tie flies and I made a lot of flies.”
When asked about her vision of a long and productive life, Agnes Van Put replied: “Always stay busy and be happy, then you will live a long life.”
