Bill Hodges

Age: 71.

Family: Wife, Vangie; children, Troy and Taylynn; three grandchildren.

City of residence: Yuba City.

Occupation: Retired, Operating Engineers.

How long have you lived in the Yuba-Sutter area? Off and on since 1955.

Hobbies, interests: Hunting and fishing.

For what groups do you volunteer? Sutter Buttes Sportsman for about five years. It's a youth-orientated group promoting outdoor events such as the junior pheasant hunt and hunting education classes. We do clean-up and habitat enhancement on fish and game property; we just had a clean-up day at the Spenceville rifle range.

I joined the group because they were interested in the same things I'm interested in, promoting outdoor activities for youth. I like to be around young people.

When I was working I didn't know where I was going to be, so I didn't volunteer. After I retired, we traveled for a little while, then slowed down on that and I was looking for something to do.

I got involved with the junior pheasant hunt while I was volunteering at a Spenceville clean-up.

I recently resigned from the Sutter County Fish and Game Commission after serving since 2004. The commission directs money that comes into the area, paying for things such as bus trips to Gray Lodge and the fish hatchery, along with co-sponsoring the junior pheasant hunt.

How do you fit volunteering into your schedule? I don't do other things. I hunt and fish a lot — those are my priorities.

Words of advice: Whatever you're interested in, there's plenty of opportunities to volunteer. Pick something you enjoy and find someone who is involved. Volunteering opportunities are only limited to your imagination.

From volunteering you get a lot of satisfaction knowing that you did something and helped somebody or something. Preserving the animals and outdoors is my goal and introducing other people to it.

Quote: "Everything that I've done has come back in fold. You put in a lot of time and effort, but you get a lot of rewards."

Volunteer of the Week runs Tuesdays. To submit the name of a volunteer to be featured, contact Community Editor Leticia Gutierrez at 749-6552.