Board of Directors Update - March 2014

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

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


Vice President (Frank Bleszinski):
Our first Youth Firearm Safety Session was held on February 22nd, and was a grand success in large part by four volunteer instructors. With 31 applicants on the waiting list, we have scheduled the next session for March 8th and plan to accommodate 8 youths. Notices have been sent to applicants in order of their placement on the wait list.

Our Club Historian, Randy Miller, met with several long time club members and formed a strategy to document the club's history. This will in part involve asking the membership in general to contribute stories, photographs, etc. to the project. The website will be used as the vehicle for communication and will be in place soon.


Outdoor Range (Tom Lumb):
Hello Outdoor Range Users! Here it is, March already, and the snow is still coming down (enough). I am reminded how many die hard shooters we have every time I see how much spent brass is on the range. It's been a very cold & snowy winter so far and a lot of us are still out there shooting on a regular basis and enjoying our sport & hobby of choice.

Thank you very much for taking care of our range, and our club. Always shoot safely, and enjoy the range.


Trap (Tony Capone):
February was another quiet month for trap due to the extremely cold weather and heavy snow fall. I would like to thank Steve Harsfald for taking care of the snow removal on the trap range.

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.

Our KO tournament was held on Sunday, February 9th. I would like to thank everyone that helped out making it a great tournament. The tournament was won by Tony Capone, and 2nd place went to Steve Laham.

The March Madness 100 bird shoot will be held on Saturday March 1st.


Archery (Bob Felsberg):
"Thank you's" go out to Brad and Jim for their work on the new archery storage area.

Tuesday night archery continues to go well in spite of this winter's single digit temperatures, along with a building interest in Saturday morning archery, more to follow on that. Finally I'm working with the Lampes family on putting together a ASC Archery 3D Spring shoot for club members for late March or April. We are looking into the shoot parameters, along with lunch plans, and possible raffle drawings and prizes, open to all club members and ages. More on this to follow.


Security (William MacKenzie):
During the month I met with Rich Rogers of Lou’s Lock & Key to finalize the transition to a new lock system for the club’s lock and key system. A site assessment was conducted and a quote received for re-keying all the locks on the property. A motion will be made before the B.O.D. to accept the quote and make the transition.

During the month, I also dealt with two security issues that were reported to me by club members. The first report was about a member using silhouette targets on the indoor range. I made a call to the member and informed him about the restriction and he understood that they would not be used again, no further action taken. The second was that of a member that may have been using the club facilities to conduct firearm training classes and utilizing the indoor rage for his classes. A call was made to the member and it was found that he was not using the facilities for his classes but was there with his brother as a guest and target shooting.

Next month we will have a guest speaker form the Northeast Veterans Outreach Center who will give a presentation about what they do and how they assist veterans in the Merrimack Valley.


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 in 2014:

  • stainless steel backsplash for behind kitchen stove

Funding approved and work in progress:

  • annex development
  • electrical for annex room
  • trap shelter modifications

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).

We are nearing the deadline for submitting the names for Conservation Camp. If you know of any kids between the ages 13 and 17, let me know.

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):
Classes for our members continue to be popular

Our first Youth Firearms Safety class in February was fully subscribed and wait-listed with 28 people. Two additional classes in March have been added and more are planned. A big thank you to Frank Blezinski and Karen Farris for making this class a success.

Additional Pistol Accuracy, and Beginners Trap classes have been added to the schedule to accommodate the continued demand.

We would like to get a long gun/rifle class, and a skeet class on the schedule later this year. If anyone would like to volunteer to develop and teach a class on either of those topics, please contact Sam Washburn at Samvnw51@yahoo.com to discuss the possibilities.


Membership (Mark Klove):
We are in the process of updating the membership application process. In order to accomplish that task I am looking for member volunteers that would be willing to help by taking one of the tasks associated with managing the club membership. Please contact me if you can help.

This month there are 28 new member applicants for presentation at the March meeting. Come to the meeting this month to meet them!

The current membership stands at:

  • Active members: 1,366
  • Life members: 183
  • Pending new members: 28
  • Current members (exc. pending): 1,549
  • Total members: 1,577