LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — On Saturday, August 17, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM) paid homage to one of its own legends of fly fishing as they honored the 108th birthday of Agnes Van Put.

The event was held at the center’s pavilion, and was attended by scores of family members and well-wishers from the fly-fishing community—including fly casting legend Joan Wulff, who turns 98 in October.

As a poignant reminder of the passage of time, Van Put and Wulff sat side by side during the festive gathering honoring the life of Van Put. She has long been known for her work at the center’s gift shop and for making soup during the center’s yearly celebration on April 1, the traditional opening day of trout fishing in New York State.

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Van Put was born on August 15, 1916 in Prospect Park, NJ, and started working at the age of 15, earning eight cents an hour sewing women’s intimates for Garfinkle & Ritter, Inc., or about $1.47 in 2024 dollars.

According to an article by her great-granddaughter Taylor Lamerand, “After a full-week’s work, she brought home about eight dollars.”

In the ‘70s, Agnes and her husband Emil moved to the Catskills, where they converted an old barn in the hamlet of Livingston Manor into a home. She still lives there today.

In 1984, Agnes Van Put started working at the CFFCM, where she became an institution in the gift shop and for making her 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 received the first-ever T.O.A.S.T. Award from the Sullivan County Visitors Association. The award was for, in the words of Lamerand, “her contribution to the community and her ability to make visitors feel at home.”

As one of the organizers of the birthday celebration, Judy Van Put (wife of Ed Van Put, the elder of Agnes’s two sons) said of the gathering, “What I really like about this party is that it was a real group effort. All the family contributed, and it was a great effort on everyone’s part… it’s family, and that’s what it’s all about.”

“This wonderful woman is my mother-in-law, and filled in as my mom when she passed away in 1994,” Judy Van Put added. “She’s pretty remarkable, and at 108, heading for the record books as one of the oldest Sullivan County residents.”

Agnes is “such a social butterfly, still lives along, and last week baked us a cake,” Judy added. She noted that in addition to Agnes’s two sons, she has seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Another is due at any moment to Alex Van Put, who is married to Agnes’s great-grandson Jimmy Van Put.

Speaking of the significance of the number 108, Agnes’s daughter-in-law noted that in Tibetan Buddhism it stands for Kangyur, a collection of 108 sacred texts; in Hinduism, it is thought to represent the wholeness of existence; and in Major League baseball, a pitch by Nolan Ryan was reportedly clocked at 100.8 miles per hour.

Ed Van Put, 88, retired from a decades-long career with the New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) as their principal fish and wildlife technician, recalled a cherished moment with his mother.

“When I got drafted into the army, you had to do your own laundry, and ‘here’s the mess hall’,” he remembered. It was a wake-up call into military life for the 18-year-old.

“I sat down that night and wrote a letter to her, thanking her for all that she had done—and she still has that letter,” he said.

Joan Wulff, “The First Lady of Fly Fishing” sat next to the birthday honoree, and the two Grand Dames of Fly-Fishing held court during the milestone celebration.

“I wish I had her genes,” said Wulff. “I’m going to be 98 in October, and I can’t eat anything I want to, but she can. She has been a great supporter of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center, and has become the face of the museum at the gift shop.”

Although a bit hard of hearing these days, Agnes Van Put shared her reaction to her 108th birthday celebration, surrounded by her immediate family and fly-fishing fraternity. 

“I feel younger with so many people around, all the grandkids and great-grandkids,” she said. “I used to work here at the fly-fishing center, and met a lot of people. Lee (Wulff) taught me to tie flies, and I made a lot of flies.”

Asked her take on living a lengthy and productive life, Agnes Van Put replied, “Always keep busy and be happy, and you’ll live long.”