Board of Directors Update - April 2014

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

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

Vice President (Frank Bleszinski):
The recently announced Youth range use rule has caused a huge demand for the Youth Firearm Safety classes. In recognition of the limited opportunity members had to comply with the rule, we have delayed enforcement until August 1, 2014. Thus far, we have issued 22 Youth badges and will issue a number of others to those who have previously taken the class. We have also added enough classes in April to accommodate 32 additional youths. We will monitor demand and schedule additional classes as needed.

Since the intent of the class is to provide instruction for "basic safety practices" to youths with little or no experience with firearms, we recognize there are cases where this level of instruction has been met or exceeded from other sources. We are working to provide a mechanism to recognize these cases. Updates will be posted on the web site.

Outdoor Range (Dave Williams):
I am asking for help for the work party in May. I will need a few people to break down duds from the range for safe disposal and moving the tools and equipment related to the outdoor range from the house basement to the former warming room. The warming room will now be the range work room and some general clean up. Probably six or eight people.

The steel targets have been repaired and we are also looking at adding a prone firing position to the range.

Indoor Range (Al Croteau):
Please note that the range is due to have some work on the air handling system. This will require it to be closed for an unknown period of time. The time will be on the web site and posted as well. Since there has been great activity on the range during the cold season, the work must be done soon.  

The cable that supports the target carriers at the end of the range was destroyed in three places. This cable prevents the targets holders from swaying by holding them firm. It may not be a problem for  a casual shooter but drives the pistol team shooters nuts (delaying their matches, etc). If a member damages any piece of equipment on any range please let me or any director know.  You may send me an email at littlee195hillside@yahoo.com. Items do get hit (that is understandable) but not informing someone is not.

A Wednesday night event is in the planning stage. If you have any interest, please email me.

Trap (Tony Capone):
With winter officially behind us and the snow finally melting, we should be able to start shooting skeet again on Thursday nights. We are now going to get geared up for spring and as we do, please remember that we only have one trap field and we all need to be patient on the days that we have a lot of shooters all show up at one time. The sign up system that we have in place is very simple, you may put your name on a squad when you arrive and after you shoot you can then sign up on another squad.

On March 1st we held our March Madness 100 shoot. Congratulations go out to Kip S. for winning the "A" class and Erik A for winning the "B" class. Special thanks go out to Steve L, Erik, Steve H and Kip for helping run this event.

We plan on having many fun trap shoots in the upcoming spring season. The first one will be a 75 bird shoot and will be held on Saturday April 12th at 9am and this is open to all members. A downloadable flyer is available on the website for this event.

I would personally like to thank all the volunteers that run the trap house on Wednesday's, Thursday's and Sunday's. These people along with myself are giving up their free time to allow the members of the ASC to shoot trap and skeet. So the next time your on the trap field don't be afraid to thank the person that gave up their free time so you could shoot.

Archery (Bob Felsberg):
The new Archery storage area is almost complete. Steve Colella’s design and assembly for the bow rack and hanger works well for organizing and properly storing club equipment in this space. Nice work Steve, and thank you.

Saturday April 5th ASC's member archery shoot results will be covered at the membership meeting on April 10th. Future shoots will be evaluated based upon Saturday’s results/attendance.

 Lastly, archers available for the May 3rd ASC spring cleanup: please e-mail me in advance if you plan to attend so that I can plan and coordinate manpower activities for the morning. Thanks in advance.

Security (William MacKenzie):
During the month of March, there was only one incident reported and it is still under investigation. The report concerned theft of property from a member. As a strong reminder, no property should be left unattended.

The club’s lock and key upgrade has been completed.

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
• new filters installed on the indoor range to improve air quality

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 will sponsor our 65th annual Fishing Derby on Saturday, April 26th for kids up to age 15. It will be held at Sudden Pond in DCR's Harold Parker State Forest, from 6am until noon and is free. For more information, contact Bob Dalton at mddrmd@hotmail.com.

If you can help, contact me at pamiller10@hotmail.com.

Training (Sam Washburn):
Training classes continue to be popular. We will be adding additional class dates to some of the more popular classes over the next couple of weeks. Check back to this web site often if you are looking to get into a class.

Membership (Mark Klove):
There are 30 new member applicants for presentation at the April meeting. Come to the meeting this month to meet them!

The current membership stands at:

• Active members: 1,394
• Life members: 183
• Pending new members: 30
• Current members (exc. pending): 1,577
• Total members: 1,607