Chillicothe Sportsmen’s Club News December, 2012
WEB PAGE: www.chillisportsmen.org
Club Contacts:
If you have any questions or concerns
about your Club you may contact any Club Officer listed below or any board
member.
President
V-President Secretary Treasurer
Kevin Hutchison Cally Morgan Donald
Clemens Lowell Bennett
(309)657-1518
(309)691-3427 (309)274-6870 (309) 274-5586
Election Of 2013 Officers –Annual Meeting
Our new club officers for 2013 are as
follows:
President – Kevin Hutchinson
Vice President – Derek Howald
Secretary – Don Clemens
Treasurer – Lowell Bennett
2013 -2014 Directors – Chris Bach,
Ken Cook, Eric Hansen, Jim Martin, Steve Risinger
Membership Renewal
INDIVIDUAL DUES
INVOICES ARE NOT SENT OUT. YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER NOTICE IS ALL THAT YOU
RECEIVE.
Your membership expires on December 31, 2012, and the gate lock will be
changed on January 1, 2013.
Please be sure to return your 2012 membership card,
with all information filled out, with
your dues and /or fees, even if you don't have any or only partial work hour
credits. This includes both non-renewing and renewing Annual Members,
Associate Life Members, and Life Members (both under and over 65) all with or
without work hours. Expired membership cards are needed for the Club's
records. Thank You.
Annual dues are $100.00 plus $10.00 Land Fund plus $10.00
for each work hour NOT worked. DO NOT MAIL YOUR OLD KEY - After January 1, leave your old key
in the green mailbox at the end of the sidewalk to the Clubhouse - Remember you
will need this key for access until January 1.
Mail your filled out 2012 Membership Card and check to
RENEW BY FEBRUARY 1 TO AVOID BEING
ASSESSED THE $10.00 PER MONTH LATE PAYMENT FEE.
Comments By
Our President:
The two most significant
factors that forced the Board of Directors to consider a dues increase
beginning with the 2013 membership year involved (1) the need for additional
services such as expanded range area and support facilities in order to
accommodate our growing membership and (2) increased maintenance expenses
invoked significantly by a declining force of volunteer workers.
With a
growing membership and its participation at a record high, the need to expand
our facilities has been apparent for some time. The issue, of course,
then became a question of what geographic area(s) do we expand, to what extent
can we expand, and what will be the related costs? These are all complex
areas that we of the Board have been painstakingly investigating and researching
for several months. I'm pleased to say that we have, in fact, been making
improvements based upon an impartial and educated evaluation of our specific
needs. We realize additionally that more needs to be done and we are
continuing our research. Although improvements are costly, our needs and
potential have clearly shown that our membership will benefit from these
changes, which will in reality spring forth from only a very small increase of
annual dues, which I will address shortly.
Our other
critical need for additional funds through an increase in annual membership
dues involves numerous and normal day-to-day repairs. In times past, our
membership united together into a variety of work parties designed to repair,
maintain and sustain our ranges and support facilities. This spirit of
mutual volunteerism was once vibrant and healthy, allowing us to maintain our
facilities with a bare minimum of expense. Today's reality, however, is a
stark contrast from even a few years ago. Quite simply, members are
not volunteering as they once did. The end result is
unquestionable: we are now having to pay for a number
of services that we once received at little or no cost.
When the
Board identified the need for additional funding, great caution was exercised
so that the increase would fulfill our needs without being unnecessarily
burdensome to our membership. A logical first step was to examine other
ranges throughout the state, see what they had to offer and evaluate those
features against their dues structure. Essentially, what we learned was
that a substantial number of clubs in
As for the
increase in fees, the reality is, in our view, that this is quite small,
because this figure translates into only fifty cents per week. You can't
even get a cup of coffee in a restaurant for this figure. Fiscal review
has shown us that this pocket change, based upon our membership levels, will go
a long way toward making a number of valuable improvements to our Club, which
can be enjoyed by everyone.
I suspect
that many of our members have no idea that it costs over six figures just to
open our gate each January. In light of this, for our Board to have
upheld the best interest of our members by agreeing on a bare minimal price
increase that will achieve our goals for maintenance and growth speaks
incredibly highly of their commitment, dedication, intellect and total concern
for the CSC and its membership. This fifty cents increase is going to
give us all a lot of bang for our buck.
President’s Corner:
With our officer elections for the 2013
Board behind us, I'd like to thank everyone who showed up to vote and support
our Club. Myself, I am honored and thankful to have been given another
year to serve as President. Working with our present Board this year has
truly been a great pleasure. We've got a first-rate team in place who
without question have the best interest of the entire
Club at heart. On top of this, our match directors and support staff
are outstanding, dedicated people who take pride in all they do. It
takes a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes effort just to open our doors on
1 January of each year, and I've learned a lot from my prior service on the
Board and have a genuine respect for everyone who has ever taken any kind of
active role on our behalf.
Our membership level is at a record high, and
we are taking steps to identify, prioritize and implement
improvements through the application of sound fiscal practices. Although
changes are not going to magically appear overnight, we've got a bright
future ahead of us.
CSC Presents Award to
Wilson Combat
On 17 October, I was at the headquarters of
Wilson Combat (custom manufacturers of what I personally feel are the world's
finest 1911 style pistols) in Berryville, Arkansas where I was proud to present
Vice President Ryan Wilson with a very nice walnut, state-shaped, plaque
from our club in appreciation for their generous support of our
1911 tactical marksmanship matches. Ryan and his executive assistant,
Tressa Logue, are truly exceptional people who have befriended our Club in
order to celebrate the spirit of the world's greatest handgun design and its
ingenious inventor, John Moses Browning, who held over 100 firearms patents. In spite of some politicians who
seemingly want to add the
Kevin
Raffle Activities:
The winner of the M1 Garand rifle as
drawn on October 20 was Estel Schram. This rifle was manufactured in 1955 by
Harrington and Richardson, and it is a real piece of history. M1 production ceased in
1956. This rifle is one of 306,300 produced in that serial number range.
H&R had the reputation of producing a very well made rifle. Thanks to Chris
Bach for his efforts.
Note: approximately 4.5 million M1
Garand rifles were produced. This is a testament to the manufacturing
capability that
Indoor Range Practice:
Just a reminder to all club members that the indoor range
is open from 1:00 - 4:00 every Tuesday and from 12:30 - 3:30 every Thursday for
pistol practice (.22 cal. rifles also allowed) for a nominal $5.00 range fee.
Non members are also welcome to participate in this activity for an
additional $1.00 more. Come out and take advantage of this opportunity
and invite your friends as well. Any questions can be directed to either
Bill Beluschek (309 648-0085) or Gene Perna (815
437-2286)."
Work Hour
Opportunities/Work Parties:
Indoor Range And
Clubhouse Cleaning
Saturday December 8, 2012
9:00AM
Contact Bob Bjerke @ 309-692-1800
Planning Committee Update:
If you have been on the club grounds recently you might
have noticed the stakes with pink streamers at various locations. Mauer and Stutz Engineers have conducted a complete survey
of our property. The end result will be a map and aerial photos complete with
GPS coordinates. This leads the way for planning of additional ranges and
better utilization of our facilities to better serve our members.
New Shelter On Range 2:
Eagle Scout candidate Ian Borquist and his team from troop 69 in Lacon have done a
bang up job on our new shelter. A big thanks to them,
and the best of luck to Ian in his future endeavors.
And Finally:
Rimfire Buffalo
Shooters Our Lady Pistol
Shooters
RANGE NUMBERS
The following are the range numbers:
RANGE LOCATION
1
-- 100 yard range
2
-- Trap range
3
-- Short lakeside range (just north of
4
--
5
--
6
-- 3-bays
7
-- 300 yard range
8
--
