Board of Directors Update - February 2014

The Board of Directors reports are as follows for the month of February 2014.

Please see the separate "Letter from the President" for this month's President's Report.

Vice President (Frank Bleszinski):
As our new web site rolled out, the Youth Firearm Safety program rolled out a new enrollment process on Eventbrite. The response far exceeded any of our expectations, with the first 5 slots booked within the first hour of posting. Unfortunately during the site change over, the Hunter Safety and Youth Safety were booked for the same time. We rebooked the Youth program for February 22.

The waiting list now stands at 30 interested members, and as we learn from the February 22 session we will try to accommodate all interested members within a reasonable time. I will contact those on the waiting list as we develop a plan.

Outdoor Range (Tom Lumb):
Happy New Year fellow shooters!  It's been cold & snowing a lot this month but, all you die-hard shooters are still out there enjoying our range.  There is plenty of brass out there.

Speaking of brass, the last few times I was at the range I have noticed that people have been leaving brass on the ground after shooting.  Please clean up after yourself.  I just brought a new broom down to the range.  We have replaced a few of the target frames.  Please return the target frames to their storage space after use.  One more thing, the swinging targets at 100 yards, if the round plate has been removed or only hanging by one bolt, please refrain from shooting the hinge brackets.  These cost a lot to replace and are not made from the armor plate steel (a couple of rounds and they are junk).

Let's keep shooting safely in this snow and ice, and enjoy our club.

Trap (Tony Capone):
January was a quiet month for trap due to the extremely cold weather and heavy snow fall.

I would like to thank Steve Harsfald as he has started taking care of the snow removal from the trap range. Steve has also installed a timer and a heater in the trap house to warm up the hydraulic fluid for very cold days.

The trap range staff has been working hard as of late to come up with more events that every skill level can compete in, but we are still looking for other ideas for shoots, leagues or any type of things that everyone here at the trap range might enjoy. These ideas can range from a trip to another club on a day they have an open shoot, or maybe a new idea for a relay at one of our upcoming shoots.

Our next shoot will be Sunday Feb 9th at 12pm. It will be a KO tournament. A sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board at the range. There is also an average sheet there for everyone to post their scores on, so I can keep track of everyone's average.

Archery (Bob Felsberg):
Kudos to Matt Lavoie for the new website layout, nice work.

Tuesday night archery attendance continues along well, even in the prevailing colder temperatures. For new and all members including guests alike, come join us at the outdoor archery range for barbecued cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, sometimes chili or sausage, and cold drinks between 6-8 PM, and to shoot the well illuminated range. The club also has equipment available to those that wish to try archery out. If you need to warm up, the archery cabin’s woodstove will take off the chill.

Saturday morning activities are attracting members to the outdoor and 3D course. Help and improvements to the 3D are coming from our members and are well appreciated. Suggestions and improvements to the archery cabin and area are being made, and along with a recent purchase of a griddle for pancakes and sausages on Saturday. Again thanks to all.

Indoor Range (Al Croteau):
An old program has been revised.  That is, there are paper targets for sale at $0.20 each on the honor system.  Please deposit your payment in the coin box.  Also, if any member knows a printer I would like to get a cost of printing our own targets.  You may email me at n733yz1@yahoo.com.

Security (William MacKenzie):
During the month, I solicited a proposal for revamping of the club’s lock system and key control and will be reviewing it at this month’s BOD meeting. After the review, I will be asking for suggestions from each board member as to the best way to design a system that will meet their needs on access and security of their respective areas of responsibility.

On the 29th, the president and I visited the Northeast Veterans Outreach Center in Haverhill and met with the Executive Director and a member of their board of directors in relation to our interest in supporting a local veterans group and veterans' needs. This meeting and the results of our research will also be discussed at the BOD meeting with the research committee.

Facilities (Mike Pierce):
The following facilities projects are those completed, initiated, or proposed that are in addition to general maintenance projects. There is no assurance that those listed on the "wish list" will be progressed further as that will be largely dependant upon completion of appropriate due diligence/feasibility undertakings.

Projects Completed:

• safety banister on stairs leading to the basement
• heavy equipment garage
• propane tank for generator
• generator and electrical
• drainage ditch for run off
• additional archery range lighting
• parking lot: curbs and white parking lines installed

Funding approved and work in progress:

• annex development
• electrical for annex room
• stainless steel backsplash for behind kitchen stove

Approved but not yet started:

• outdoor range grading
• outdoor range rifle safety modification: decision and initiation of proposed options

Wish list:

• Outdoor range 200-yard expansion
• parking lot expansion
• trap shelter modification
• rear stairs handicap chair lift
• indoor archery facility
• install safety/security fencing in selected areas
• replace quad unit (ATV)

Community Relations (Paul Miller):
We are still accepting names for Junior Conservation Camp, as well as for our club scholarship (click here to download the scholarship application).

The Fishing Derby will be Saturday, April 26th at Sudden Pond.  I am looking for volunteers to help make this fishing derby a success.

Training (Sam Washburn):
The youth firearms training class has proved to be very popular. Our first formal class in February has filled up almost immediately and we have many people on the wait list.  To accommodate the demand, we will be scheduling additional class dates later this spring once we have successfully delivered the February class.

We have also added two more dates this spring for the Introduction to Trap class to accommodate demand for that class.

Other training classes continue to be successful and attract many students.

To find out more about a class, go to the training section of this website. From there you can click the registration link for more details and open class dates.