Wisconsin Trapshooting Association

WTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Face to Face August 22, 2015

The 03/27/2015 face to face meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association Board of Directors was called to order at 9:00 A.M. by Bill Simonar President. Directors present were 1st Vice President Glenn Hamerly, 2nd Vice President Jerry Farnsworth, S/E: Jerry Kaszynski, Rick Klawitter, S/W: Dan Horkan, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring, 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Jim Kroeplien and Secretary Theresa Howland. Absent for face to face meeting was N/W: Bruce Stiteley and N/E Pat Schuette. Also present at the meeting was John Coniff, Ralph Sievert, Fred Kasten, Don Mittag, Dick Otto, Arlene Otto, Denny and Ruth Taylor.

Meeting started at 9:00 AM

Reports

Bill: Bill opened with news that he is working with Dennis Taylor on a Fall Shoot to be hosted at the Homegrounds. He talked with Bill Martin who generously donated $2000 dollars of added money for the 900 targets at the fall shoot. Brian Pierce also donated $500 dollars of extra money. Bill said Mr. Martin would like to see the shoot run professionally and go for three days. Bill asked for a motion to hold the shoot for three days, motion was made by Glenn, seconded by Rick. Bill called it to a vote, 6 yea, 0 Nay. The fall shoot will run October 9-11. Bill asked that as many of the Directors come to help run this shoot. There was another $500 of added money donated by Dan Horkan and Jerry Kaszynski raising the total to $3000.

John Coniff: John came to the meeting with a business plan for the Homegrounds. He made many suggestions and offered his help to implement this plan. He was asked to the meeting by Jim after talking at the State Shoot. John would like to see better communication with all the members of the WTA. He said he would like to start setting goals and making sure everyone works toward making this goal. He would like to see more interaction between the gun clubs and the WTA. He and the Directors talked about how his plan could work and what John was willing to do to help.

Theresa: I talked about receiving a letter from Nancy Krebs. She would like to see her recognition changed in the state book as she is not diseased. Don said he would contact John and get that changed for next year. I brought up the unpaid list of shooters I received from Dick Otto and asked if they wanted me to send out the letters. It was agreed that I should be the one to do so. We are still looking for a volunteer as replacement for the ATA coordinator. Also we will need a S/E Zone Director to replace Rick Klawitter, he has been transferred to Arizona and will not be able to fulfill his term.

Jim: Jim handed out a finical report and asked if there are any questions. He asked if anything has changed on the loan payment. He said if we are to pay those payments all winter, we will run out of funds quickly. Bill and Bruce will be meeting with Summit to see what can be done to lessen the payment through the winter months with the shooting season winding down and not as much income coming in. He said that we will be good till October. He wants to know what the plans will be after that.

Don asked what the profit was for the State Shoot. Jim replied he has not gotten all of that information done yet. He is waiting for checks to come back from pay-outs. He will work on the break down for the State Shoot and get it out to the board.

Bill asked if the ATA was paid from the State Shoot. He went to the Grand American and the ATA did not have scores from the state shoot posted. He said that the ATA waits to get paid before posting the scores. Jim said that there was a mix-up but it was all paid and the scores should be posted. This was what had happened also for the July shoot, but it has been taken care of also.

State Shoot Surveys: One of the major complaints at the shoot was the communication. The Homegrounds is in need of a better PA system for the shoot. Bill and Denny have been getting prices for a PA system as well as prices for WIFI at the Homegrounds. Prices are ranging from $23,000 to $39,000 so far. There are more places they are looking and asked the other Directors to look also to see if an affordable system can be found. Don had talked with Paul Becker, in using the fish fry/ auction to raise money for this next year. It is easier to have a goal to work towards the PA system might be that idea for next year.

Another complaint was targets. Shooters felt that targets were not set all the same. There were not consistent throughout the trap houses. The Directors talked about different ways to fix this problem which will be implemented for next year. Another complaint was there should be more porti-potties on the line, which the Directors will address for next year.

There were many good comments as well. Shooters saying the shoot is getting better every year. It would be nice to see an ATM on the grounds. There were questions on target requirements, which the Directors feel are not out of line. The topic of bank rotations was brought up which the Directors thought would not be needed. They feel if there is not so many pre-squads open it will take care of the back-up they experienced this year.

It was brought up that the beginning stand of each bank should have their own radios. This was brought up by Jim and Dwight. The Directors talked about it and will work on it for next year.

It was brought up that the banquet did not do as well this year. It was talked about as well as changing the Annual Meeting day to make it easier for the Directors and shooters to attend. There was a motion made to have the Annual meeting on Sunday morning allowing time to recognize the HOF inductees. The All-State Team will be recognized on Friday between the two events. Motion made by Rick it was seconded by Kevin. Went to vote was 6 Yea and 0 Nay motion was carried.

Sandy Jack: Sandy came to the meeting to talk about trophies. She will be helping with the trophies next year and had a few questions. She asked if the Directors would get a cooler pod to work out of. This year’s pod was too hot. The Board will look into this. She said she will have help from Amy Jenkins next year. She asked about sponsors and budgets for the trophies which she will be working with Denny this year because Denny knows budgets and where to get trophies. Next year Sandy said she is hoping to have the trophy area straightened out and running smoothly. Thanks Sandy for volunteering your time.

Directors Duties: Don was asked if he would take care of the golf carts next year, he said he would but the number of carts need to be in on time. Shooters cannot call at the last minute to get a cart. He also suggested that the price should be raised for next year. It was also suggested to look into getting electric carts for the line supervisors because they are so much quieter.

Bill said Bruce said he would still work with the kids shoot, do the announcements, and help on the Hall of Fame committee. He is also pursuing signs for the Homegrounds.

Bill asked if one of the new Directors were interested in taking over the camping. No one said they would do this so as of now Bill will be still doing this. He will be changing the forms for the camping. He will put a spot for golf carts, email addresses and phone numbers. This will make it easier for them to be contacted.

Mile Reimbursement: Bill has brought this up because as of right now mileage paid is at 30 cents. The National Average is set at 57 cents a mile. Bill feels it should be raised even though the Directors really have not claimed all of their mileage this year. After discussing this a motion was made by Rick to raise the mileage to the National Average of 57 cents. This motion was seconded by Kevin. Motion went to vote and passed with 6 Yea, 0 Nay.

ATA Delegate Report: There has been some talk of moving the SCTP Grand off the weekend of our state shoot. Central Zone Directors said they would look into this idea.

He also addressed the rule about being a life time member in order to be an alternate Delegate because of what happened with voting in Sandy Jack at our annual meeting. Kevin told them that he feels we are leaving a lot of shooters out if they kept it this way. They replied that it is in the rule book and did not seem to want to change it.

Online rule book will be kept up to date. Kevin was asked to let shooters know that the ATA would like every shooter use their paper average cards instead of relying on the internet for their averages.

There was 43 Sponsors for the Grand American this year. Attendance was up from last year. At the Grand, the ATA office was behind in the July postings by a few weeks. There was a question about having a blanket handicap reduction. Which was not recommended at this time.

The future of the Grand American being held at Sparta was in question. The DNR toured the grounds and the results of this discussion was they will hold the Grand American in Sparta next year.

Around the Table

Bill started with what needs to be done for the new annual membership fee for the 2016 year. Kevin explained what Iowa applications looked like. Bill will be looking into getting these forms made as well as getting the stickers for the annual membership. It was talked about getting stickers for the Lifetime members. It was decided to give Lifetime Members a card instead of a sticker. Bill asked who would write a cover letter to send with the membership supplies. I volunteered to do the cover letter. We are hoping to get this out to the gun clubs soon.

It was brought up that we need to look into getting all the recognition plaques put up before next year’s state shoot. There were a few Directors going to look into this. Also getting the stones we have engraved with sponsors of each field. It was brought up by Dwight that it would be nice to get the Walk of Fame done as well as the plaques for everything else.

Jerry Kaszynski: Jerry asked about why there isn’t a Sub Vet All State Team. The Directors said that they are pooled with the men’s team that is why they chose 10 shooters for the men’s team.

Don: Don suggested that Denny needs to break down his deposits. Jim said he does call and let him know how the deposits are broken down. Jim said it is broken down acceptable for him. He asked if the paper trail for transactions was sufficient so there isn’t any question about what is coming in and going out.

He stated that regular register shoots held at Homegrounds should be posted in the shoot calendar. He feels that would increase the turn-out.

He had questions about renting guns out at the Homegrounds. Are we charging? Do we need to add this to our insurance? He was told Denny has been lending guns for people to try bunker and trap shooting. Glenn said he would look into the insurance.

He asked about the score sheet inventory. Bill was going to talk to Denny about that.

He suggested that we change the All-State Team applications on line. It still has Rick as a contact. It should be Kevin. I said I would contact Elizabeth to get this changed. Kevin said applications should be sent or emailed by November 15th.

He said he talked a lot with Jeff Mainland at the Grand. He suggested that we ask him to join the Board of Directors as a consultant or honorary member. He feels Jeff has a lot to offer the WTA.

Last, he reminded the Directors that the by-laws will need to be changed because of the WTA membership fee. Bill said that he and Bruce will be talking to the lawyer soon to change the by-laws.

Fred:Fred is a Director for the Homegrounds and he brought up the brochures for the Homegrounds. He feels it should show more than just shooting and adults. Maybe more camping pictures. This will be talked about at a different meeting, the Directors agreed it should be more diverse to get more campers.

Dick: Dick asked the Directors what kind of options they would like to see on the Fall Handicap program. The Directors referred to Iowa Heartland Grand to decide what would be reasonable. Bill and Denny will be getting flyers out to gun clubs. They were going to let Dick know what will be on there for options when it is decided.

Fritz: Fritz said he has been at the Homegrounds a lot this year. He feels Denny needs a lot more help before the big shoots. He said the Friday before the SCTP Denny was trying to get things ready and kids wanted to shoot practice, he felt that some practice rounds were shot without being paid for. He sure could have used help at those times. Jim said that the coaches were supposed to pay for their teams practice and didn’t think all the coaches may have paid for all the practice that was shot.

He feels the website needs a lot of work. There needs to be a better way to do the website to make it easier to use. There should be a place to post the needs of the Homegrounds such as shovels, lawn mowers, rakes etc.

He mentioned that maybe the Wisconsin Night at the Grand should be announced in the State Shoot Program. Don said they might want to talk to MEC for next year’s Wisconsin Night.

He also said that we need to recognize the All American shooters, we have dropped the ball the last few years. Kevin said he will make sure this doesn’t happen again. He also asked that Directors contact him for any records met by shooters so that he may recognize those also.

Rick: He was wondering who does the blog for the WTA. Don said he does but gets nothing from the Directors to put on the blog. It needs to be more of a positive thing with more input from the Directors.

He asked about the proposal from John Coniff. What did the Directors thing of the business plan and are we going to accept his expertise and help.  He offered to work with John to keep things moving forward for the WTA. Bill was wondering about the business plan they already have from Jeff Ebel. Rick said he would talk toJohn as well as Jeff and they would work both of them into one and start to implement the plan. The Directors said it would be nice to have this done and brought to the next meeting so it can be talked about and implemented to help the Homegrounds to move forward.

Jim: Jim asked about a letter he received for the Town of Rome to see if we would like to put a little advertising on their website. It was given to Denny to get something together to put on there.

He also received a donation letter from the Town of Rome Fire Dept. he asked if the WTA wanted to donate. After some discussion the directors said that after all the things the fire dept. has done for the Homegrounds it would be a good thing to maybe donate $100 dollars. There was a motion made by Kevin to donate $100 dollars to the Town of Rome Fire Dept. The motion was seconded by Glenn. Motion was voted on. 6 Yea 0 Nay, motion was passed.

Jim said he has been working closely with the accountant trying to get things ready so the taxes can get done. WTA side is done he is just working with Denny to get the Homegrounds information. The accountant has also been helping with the Dept. of State Unemployment Workforce. They are still billing us even though we no longer pay employees.

Elizabeth and Jim will be looking into the bills to help her in getting the grant information ready. He mentioned that Recob’s is paid up for the building, targets and shells. He was going to ask Denny how much inventory is left.

He suggested that we watch how many food venders that we get for the shoots. You really don’t want to add too many. Kevin suggested asking them to stay longer on Sunday. After shoot-offs, shooters were looking for drinks. Glenn said he was thinking of opening the bar for that time.

Glenn: Glenn suggested that the WTA and the Homegrounds Board get together for a meeting. There is a lot to go over such as camping prices, camping shows and magazine advertising. Just to decide what direction it is going. We are inviting the Directors of the Homegrounds to the executive meeting on September 9th.

Motion to adjourn the meeting by Kevin seconded by Jerry. Meeting was adjourned at 3:40.

Next meeting: The next meeting will be a teleconference on September 9, 2015 at 6:30. It will be an executive session meeting.