My Last Mandate

In 2013 we were preparing the assembly of members in Tolmin Fishing Club. That was not just an ordinary assembly, but elections of all bodies in the fishing club at the same time. I have been a president for 13 years then and I was seriously thinking whether to run for one again or not. All those years I was working on building a bigger fish farm. Our dream was to breed adult marble trout and graylings there in order to put them into our rivers during the fishing season. We constantly feared that the Ministry of the Environment would forbid us to put rainbow trout  in the rivers which would mean a bad fishing season. I can remember well what was going on since I was elected in 2000. Previous president Stane, the secretary Andrej and Anka used to tell me that they sold over 6.000 tourist fishing permits in 1997. When I became the president, the selling of permits decreased drastically. In 2004 we sold only 2.700 permits! There was a constant challenge to buy quality rainbow trout in time to put them into the rivers for the fishing season. I figured out that we would not be able to sell fishing permits if there were not enough fish of any sort.

After 2005 the selling started to increase due to two reasons. When Slovenia became a member of EU we could import live fish from Italy. I soon found a good fish farm in Friuli where we bought quality rainbow trout of different size and started putting them into our rivers. Until then we could put only 5 tons of rainbow trout during the fishing season. After that I succeeded to get permission for putting 14 tons of rainbow trout per year into our rivers which was included in the new Fishing Managment Plan 2006 – 2010.

Our efforts resulted in 7.150 fishing permits sold to tourist fishermen in 2008, so we surpassed the record from year 1997. Since then we had been saving some money to invest in building a new fish farm.

I also counted on bigger sums of money from the EU Fish Fond for building the new fish farm. Unfortunately I found out that it was not possible for the club. So in 2011 I suggested our management board and later at assembly of members to establish investment company for the new fish farm. The proposal was confirmed, so in April we established a company Faronika d.o.o. which became active on 1^st July.

In the beginning of year 2013 I was faced with a big dilemma; electoral board of members was to meet and I had to decide whether to run for president again. It is not normal to persist as a president of an association for so long. A new person with new ideas and enthusiasm should be found, I thought.  On the other hand I was well aware that, although we had many obstacles, we could manage to build the new fish farm in a year or two if I stayed. If a new president had been elected, that could not be the case. Few people have the guts to tackle such problem.

Finally I decided to run for president once more. Previously I had always attended district assemblies in Bovec, Kobarid, Most na Soči, Grahovo ob Bači, and Tolmin, but on that occasion I didn’t. I didn’t want to influence on the members of district assemblies to run for me. If they thought I was appropriate candidate, they would propose me, I wouldn’t suggest myself. I also wanted to see whether the majority of members would support me if I started working on such a big and risky project.  I was glad to find out that they ran me for the president in all district assemblies. At the same time I was aware that I was responsible to do the task well in order not to lose the great confidence of our members. I was also sure that it was my last mandate.

On July 1^st in 2014 we began building the new fish farm. In fact we started two weeks earlier, but we were not allowed to tell that, since we could face problems regarding the regulations of EU funds. We feared that we wouldn’t be able to finish building till 30^th June, 2015, since those were the regulations like all regulations in EU.

That was a happy period for me. We met weekly with building contractors, project leaders, and our supervisors. We had solved many small and big problems, but the fish farm was getting built. After lunch on Saturday 4^th October I went fishing in Koritnica. I have gone fishing on my own for years. I like staying by the water watching many things happening in nature. Last time when I was fishing in Koritnica I saw a wild cat. It was a sunny and chilly day. I caught and let go a big trout. Then I sat under a tree and watched the brook the trees and sun rays dancing and glittering on the water. I lit the cigar and thought about making our new fish farm. I was satisfied with myself and the nature surrounding me.

Next evening I watched the news on TV. I was interested in results of municipal elections. Suddenly I felt a pain in my skull, but it passed quickly. I realised that I couldn’t read the results on the screen soon enough; it seemed as if the picture was moving too fast. So I switched on my computer and I couldn’t remember my password. I was angry realizing how I forget things. So I went to bed and started reading “A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Harari in German language. I read for some time and was confused because I didn’t know what I was reading! I put the book away and fell asleep.

When I woke up I had a terrible headache and was bewildered since I hadn’t had headaches for long time. I decided to walk my dog Tiba to feel better. When I wanted to call her I couldn’t remember her name. I returned home rather soon and asked my wife what the dog’s name was. She gave me a strange look and asked me if I was joking. When I started reading the newspaper and told her that I didn’t find any sense in what I was reading she disappeared.

Weeks after that event she told me why she disappeared. She went to the garage and called the health centre. She didn’t want me to hear what she was saying.

While she was away I lit my cigar and thought that I should go to the doctor in the afternoon (on Mondays and Tuesdays she works from 14.00 onward) since I realized that something was wrong with me. Sooner than I thought my elder son came and together with my wife they had trouble getting me into the car. The emergency doctor examined me and sent me directly to hospital. Late in the afternoon, after having various examinations, I was accepted to a room in hospital. I think it was only the next day that I realized I suffered a stroke.