Fitchburg Sportsmen's Club

Fitchburg Sportsmens Club, Inc.
PO Box 594
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Incorporated October 5, 1921

N E W S L E T T E R
May 11, 2010

Dear Fellow Sportsmen:

Our monthly meeting was held at 7:30PM on May 3^rd, 2010. President Philip A. Madonia III welcomed all and opened the meeting with a moment of silence for deceased members our fallen heroes of the Armed Forces. The Pledge of Allegiance followed.

Special guest James Wallace the Executive Director of Goal was introduced. Jim gave an update on current MA legislation (see Legislation below) and announced that a GOAL affiliated club summer banquet would be held Saturday June 19^th in Southborough MA.

Legislation: During the last week of April 2010 the Massachusetts House of Representatives debated the fiscal year 2011 state budget. Prior to the debates taking place, the House members were required to submit any proposed amendments to the budget. When these amendments were posted for the general public Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL) alerted our members to several threats to professional wildlife management here in the Commonwealth. We are pleased to say that the calls from our members and the hard work of friendly legislators were successful!

Two amendments were filed to the FY2011 House budget that would have diverted millions of dollars from the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund. The proposed amendments, #149 and #152 filed by Representative James Murphy of the 4th Norfolk District were ultimately defeated!

H2259 - GOAL’s Civil Rights and Public Safety Bill Gets Extension Order 3/17/10 Update

According to Joint Rule 10 of the Massachusetts legislature, all joint committees must act on bills by mid March. GOAL’s bill is within the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. The committees have a choice of several options when acting on legislation. They can place it in a “study order”, release it as “ought to pass” or “ought not to pass” or as in the case of GOAL’s bill H.2259 “An Act Relative to Civil Rights and Public Safety” the committee can file for an extension order.

Although the Committee did not release H.2259 as ought to pass, they did ask for an extension order. This is actually good news as this would tend to mean they wish to continue working on it this session. Please call, email, and write to the committee members and your representatives to urge them to release this bill ASAP with a favorable report.

Please see additional information regarding current legislation at: http://goal.org/legislation.html .
Jim Wallace donated and raffled off a knife which was won by Leo Bergeron. The $100.00 raised will assist GOAL in funding the invaluable work they do on behalf of the gun owners of the state.

MEETING MINUTES
The minutes from our last meeting in April were read aloud and accepted.

Treasurers Report: James J. Belliveau reported all bills received and paid. He noted that annual dues receipts have increased because of the latest reminder. Please be aware that members who have not renewed their membership by May 3^rd will be dropped.

New Members: New member applications were received from Matt Morin, Tommy S. Hook, William Baker and Ron Imig.

Reports of Committees:

House and Grounds: Jerry Nichols reported a successful workday on April 18^th with 24 members participating. The picnic tables were set out; the clubhouse and grounds were cleaned up; mulch was spread around; the trap machine was installed and brush was burned. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Fish and Game: Leo Ross reported that the Adult Members Derby was held on April 25^th. Thirty-three people registered and 23 fish were caught. Jim Belliveau won the derby with a 13 ľ-inch rainbow. Second and Third place went to Conrad Baranowski with two 12 Ľ inch rainbows.

Stocking for the Kids Derby will be on May 14^th at 7pm. The derby will be held the following Sunday May 16^th from 8 am to Noon. The annual Chicken BBQ will follow immediately. The kids derby is free and open to the public – each child will be eligible for a free hot dog or hamburger lunch. Please reserve your tickets for the Chicken BBQ early so we can get an accurate head count by calling Jim at 978-342-5959.

Trap: Trap shooting is now open on Tuesday nights beginning at 6:00pm. It is open to the public and the cost is $3.00 per round. Shooters must bring their own ammunition and firearm.

The trap committee requested permission to purchase a voice release system for the new Pat Trap machine at a cost of approximately $1,495.00 which was approved. The system should be here by May 11, 2010.

Beginner Trap shooting dates have been set for the season. June 19^th, July 17^th and August 21^st from 9 am to Noon. See our website for more information. The Championship shoot will be held on September 11^th.

Kitchen: Ken Reihler requested help on Saturday May 15^th preparing food for the BBQ on the 16^th. Contact Ken for more details 978-345-2483.

Other Business:

Old Business: The Youth Turkey Hunt was held on April 24^th. Five participants completed the pre-hunt workshop and three attended the guided hunt Jonathan Sweeney, Jared O’Hare and Ben Hoffman. All the participants saw turkeys, but Jonathan Sweeney was the only one who was able to get one. We all met at the clubhouse after to have lunch and swap hunting stories. Thank you to all that volunteered to make this program a success:

Tom Boucher
Ken Brown
Mike Rhodes
Lauri Moilanen
Jim Joseph
Lee Sargent
Harold “Woody” Wilson
Kevin Brooke

New Business: Any Youth hunters interested in participating in the Pheasant Hunt this fall need to have a hunter education course. If you have not taken it yet, please enroll in a course as soon as possible – the number of available courses is limited, and it will be difficult to get a spot. See the Division’s website for a listing of available courses at:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/education/hed/hed_course_schedule.htm You may also attend a course in one of our neighboring states such as NH or VT.

President Madonia reported that initial plans from the Architects are available for review. Upgrades to the clubhouse are planned to commence in June. We will be rebuilding the truss system for the roof, creating a separate furnace room, improvements to the bathrooms and kitchen and installation of a sprinkler system among other things.

Attendance Drawing: Member #L92 Jesse Johnson was not present to win. The attendance prize will be $965.00 at the next meeting. You can’t win if you aren’t there! The 50/50 raffle was won by Bill Pillsbury.

Good and Welfare: A letter was received from the Lone Pine Hunters club of Rideout Rd. Hollis NH 03061 . They are in the middle of a very difficult financial crisis involving lawsuits from an affluent housing development that is trying to shut them down. For more information or to make a donation to their legal fund, please contact them at the address above.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35pm. Our next meeting will be Monday June 7th at 7:30 pm. Hope to see you there!

Yours in Sportsmanship,
George F. LeBlanc
Secretary

Please see calendar of upcoming events.