Wisconsin Trapshooting Association

WTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Face to Face November 14, 2015

The 11/14/2015 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, N/W: Bruce Stiteley, S/E: Jerry Kaszynski, S/W: Dan Horkan, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Jim Kroeplien and Secretary Theresa Howland. Absent for face to face meeting was N/E Pat Schuette, 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin and Rick Klawitter. Also present at the meeting was Fred Kasten, Jeff Recob, Andy Hall, John Coniff, Bill Ohrmund, Judy Droster, Jim Droster, Don Mittag, Don Chrapla, Arlene and Dick Otto, Mike Pigusch, Dennis and Ruth Taylor and Elizabeth Foellmi.

Meeting started at 9:00 am

Reports

Bill started with a report on his meeting in Tucson with Bill Martin. He said the meeting went well and Bill and his wife would like to come out and see the Homegrounds. He would then make a decision whether or not to help out at this time. He may be interested in a low interest loan for the building.

Bill also said he would like to see a financial advisory committee started up and he would like to see John Coniff, Jeff Recob, Jeff Mainland and John Atkielski, if John is willing. All others said they would be on the committee. The board agreed this would be a step in the right direction.

Bill brought up a moderator for the forum on the website. He said since none of the Directors offered to do it he was recommending John Atkielski for the job. He said that John had come to him at the end of the last meeting and said he would do this if no one else wanted to do the job. Kevin made a motion to have John Atkielski to be the moderator for the new website forum. Glenn seconded the motion. Bill asked for questions, Don Mittag asked why we wanted to bring back a forum? Andy Hall said we need it to get more communication going between the members and the Directors. Fritz agreed to get the forum started and see how it goes for communication. Bill called the motion to a vote it was 6 Yay and 0 Nay.

Elizabeth Foellmi: Elizabeth talked about her ideas for a new website design. She is working on this because there has been many complaints on how our website is not user friendly right now. She came up with two different designs for the new website. She said it will be easier to move around the new website. The Directors will be able to add things on the website without going through her.

She talked about the forum and how they wanted this to work. The talk was to limit the forum to Wisconsin members only. Elizabeth said she would look into this to see what kinds forums would work for what the shooters and Directors would like to see. She said she was not sure what kinds of limitations she would be able to be put on the forum.

There was a motion made to use the first of the two websites shown to the Directors by Jerry K. This motion was seconded by Glenn. Bill asked for questions and called a vote. It was 6 yea 0 nay. Elizabeth asked if she could go with the premium package for $50 dollars and it was agreed to use the premium package.

Elizabeth also said that she had hockey tickets that were given by General Engineering. If anyone would be interested in going, they could have the tickets or they could be used for a raffle. Glenn said he would take 4 of the tickets to use as a raffle at the Christmas shoot. It was very nice to have General Engineering to offer the tickets.

Last, Elizabeth asked who she should talk to on how the website looks before she starts it up. It was decided she should talk to Bill and John since he would be the moderator. Elizabeth is hoping to get the new website up and running by the first of the year.

Fall Handicap: Bill said the Fall Handicap went very well. He asked Denny to report on this. Denny said there were 177 shooters registered for the 3 days. 87 shot 16 yard and 56 shooters shot the whole program. We had 15 campers for the weekend. There were 4 states represented at the shoot. Lots of the shooters said it was a good shoot and they would come back. There were a few problems with computers and the help on Friday because of kids being in school. These are things we will work on before next year. Bill said he thought it went well considering they only had 5 weeks to promote the shoot.

It was asked if the added money could have been used for just some of the shoot and not the whole thing, only because a lot of shooters cold not make the whole shoot. Bill said whoever donates the money could put it in whatever events they wanted. There was also a question about the added money that was used on the state shoot being moved to the fall shoot. It was decided not to do this because shooters like to the added money at the state shoot. There was talk about dates and what could be changed for next year. This subject was tabled for now and will be revisited at another meeting.

John Coniff: John has been working on a financial plan going into 2016 for the WTA. He passed out what he came up with using the mortgage we have now and the money inherited from Ray Moser. He went over the plans with the board and explained how the plans work. He did a run down on how long the money would last using it in different ways. It was a lot of information in which the board will have to look into. It will also be at the meeting with Summit to get input from them. He will then fine tune his financial plans. He would like to see a good financial plan set up and implemented soon. Bill asked him if he would be interested in being involved in the meeting with Summit.

Treasurer’s Report: Jim handed out a financial report. It was gone through and Jim said that if we did not put the money from Ray’s checkbook into our checkbook we would have been out of money. We will run out very soon if we do not watch what we are doing. Things are so up in the air until we get everything worked out between Ray’s estate and Summit.

Bill talked about camping, he is finding more campers extending to a 3 year lease and is worried that it will stop the money coming in every year. It will also stop him from moving campers around like he has in the past. He said that Jeff Mainland said he feels we are not charging enough for vendor row. But then he has heard from other vendors that we are charging too much. He is wondering what the Directors thought about what we are charging. He was wondering if someone was interested in looking into the prices they are charging at other shooting events. Since vendor row is far from full, maybe we should hold off raising the prices till we get a little more interest in coming to the shoots. If someone wants to pay more they could make a donation.

Kevin was asked to look into what is going on between the SCTP and the ATA. The board also talked about having a liaison between the SCTP and the WTA. Jerry F. said he would be willing to go to the SCTP meeting and be a representative for the WTA. Jerry K. said he would also like to be involved in that meeting. They would then be able to give input between both organizations. This will give us a better idea as to how to charge the SCTP shooters for next year.

Denny talked about having the Kettle Moraine shoot on May 14, 2016. Youth state shoot will be May 15, 2016. On June 11, 2016 the Wisconsin High School League Shoot. He was asked by Lt. Governor at a fundraiser if they have scholarships for high school grads. Denny told him that there are scholarships given and he was interested in getting a youth kick off shoot in spring.

It was talked about how we could get other things such as 5 stand and other kind of shooting to get more business and interest at the Homegrounds. The deal from MEC was, they wanted us to pay for all machines. They would not go for pay as they shoot.

Bill said there was an offer made on Ray Moser’s car for 14,990. He said the value of the car is 15,000. He was asking the Directors if we should take the offer. It was agreed to let the car go, it would be better than paying money to advertise the sale of the car. Bill asked if we sold the car, should we look into getting a truck for the Homegrounds. It was talked about and will be looked into when we find something to buy then make the decision.

State Program: Bill brought up needing to look into prices for golf carts, tents and port-a-potties. Bruce brought up finding sponsors for a few events for the state shoot. Jerry F. will look into prices. We need sponsors for Events 3, 5, 6, 8 someone will need to look into these also. We will get to committees and other state program changes at next meeting.

Around the Table:

Kevin: Kevin said as of right now the ATA is planning on having the Grand in Illinois. Bill said that the ATA joined him at the meeting with Bill Martin, they said they will be making a statement this weekend as to what is happening. Kevin said they are also trying to move the SCTP state shoot off our state shoot week-end. This might help our state shoot attendance. Kevin asked to let shooters know if they can only come to a few days at the state shoot, have them come to the championship events to keep up our category 5.

Kevin asked about the first 100 buckle, and the pins and buckles for the all-state team. Would he be ordering them again this year? The Directors let him know that he would be ordering the all state buckles but not sure about the first 100 buckle.

Kevin asked if the application deadline for the all-state team could be moved up to the 1st of November. This way we can get it in to Trap and Field earlier. He also asked if the forms should be changed for the high average. Elizabeth said to give her the changes that needed to be done. A motion was made by Bruce to move the all-state applications to be in by November 1st. The motion was seconded by Dan. Bill called it to a vote and it was 6 yea and 0 nay.

Don Chrapla: Don brought up whether there is still talk about selling off the 40 acres. Everything is for sale but no one is trying to sell it for us. Directors said they are not considering as of right now.

He asked about the sign out front, he was told Denny is looking into the sign out front. He said there was a new road sign that went up by his house. He could also get a few prices of a sign put up out by him.

Don thought he could look into the 5 stand and see what he can work out.

He talked about two skeet machines, and he was wondering about a skeet house. He asked Denny about building the houses. He was wondering about restrictions or just if you will do registered shoots. He was going to look into it.

He said Dwight has a friend that works with playground equipment he was going to see if he could get a deal on equipment for the campgrounds.

Don said he talked to Jeff about laying the blocks that were donated. He was told that Bruce and Don Wagner are the guys to talk to. They were going to set something up in spring to help teach how to lay them out.

Don Mittag: Don said that Melinda will be done as our ATA Registered Shoot Coordinator as of January 1st. So the Directors need to look into finding a replacement for her.

In an observation, he noticed that no one wants to speak up for making motion and committees. It is up to the new directors to get involved in the committees.

MEC told him there was too short of notice to help with Wisconsin night at the Grand. If they are contacted earlier they would help out. Fritz said if he could get the contacts he would take care of that.

Don asked how classifying this year went. He was wondering how the bags worked. Kevin said he felt that it helped a lot. The line seemed to move much faster. Elizabeth said the bags were not too expensive and she has the contacts to get more, she did say we did not receive as many surveys back.

Mike Pigusch: HOF 2015 needs to be posted on the website. Elizabeth said she would get that posted. He said there should be a policy written on when results will be posted on the website from Homegrounds shoots. Individual scores should be posted within 24 hours. It should be sent from Michelle to Elizabeth every day of the state shoot.

Arlene: The dates of the shoots should be decided soon. They need to be in and accepted by January 20 to get them in the calendar. When will the shoots be, when the 5 man team shoot will be? Bill said he would like to have a committee for the 5 man team. Bruce and Glenn volunteered to work on the 5 man team shoot. They will get together and work out the details and get back to the board.

Fritz: Fritz talked about the Wisconsin tent at the Grand, he said they had 75 people come and collected $910 dollars. Next year he was looking into serving smoked ribs, plus he wants to advertise it earlier.

John Coniff gave a business plan and part of it was the donations. So Fred and Fritz have been working on getting plagues up on donated things on the fields. They are trying to get all donated items labeled so donors can see we are moving ahead to show our thanks. He just had a few questions on the donations. He and Jim need to get together to make sure they get the right names on donated items. Fritz and Fred would like to be a committee and continue working on labeling the donated items. He asked if we were going to accept the work Jay Adams has done as the $3000 he has for a field donation. Jerry F. made a motion to accept Jays work at the Homegrounds as a $3000 donation for a field. The motion was seconded by Bruce. Bill called a vote and it was 6 yea and 0 nay the motion was passed.

Fred: Fred asked about the talk of having an ATM at the state shoot. He knows a guy who has a portable machine and could have it here for the state shoot. The only problem with that there is no land line. For the ATM you need a land line and it would cost us too much to put one in right now.

He also asked if we are not sending Denny to any shows, what kind of advertising we will do to get our name out there. Will we be advertising in magazines or television etc? The board has decided to stop the shows and they are looking into different advertising. He said we need to really work on the promoting of the Homegrounds or we will not move forward. Maybe connecting with golfing or ATV trails advertising.

He asked about the fund raising for the sound system. There was a Kolar Combo donated for the Fundraiser by Mark Zarhart and Jeff Mainland. Paul Becker is having the tickets printed up. They will be $25 dollars. Paul is hoping to get them to us soon so we can start selling.

Fritz asked if thank you letters went out for the donations made for the fish fry action. I let him know that I sent out thank you letters out to everyone on Paul’s list.

Andy Hall: Andy asked if we should stop the online discount for camping and maybe look into a coupon so we know where people are getting them from. This might help with where your advertising is working. The Directors thought this is worth looking into.

Dan: Dan said all the advertising we have been doing is not working. Our Homegrounds does not show camping, we need to add more pictures of campers and other fun things to do besides shooting. We need to market the camping and ATV trails. We are missing opportunities for advertising such as billboards. He wondered if anyone looked into the prices. We need to not only advertise the shooting but other fun things campers can do here.

Jerry F.: Jerry had a few questions on the financial statement. He was wondering about the differences in the prices of targets and shells sold. Jim let him know that the difference is in inventory and Denny is working on getting the counts for him. Jerry asked, when are we going to stop using the equity for just bills? Bill said he understands what he is talking about but we need to work out our loan situation before any other plans can be worked out.

Andy asked how much longer we can last with loss. We need to start promoting the facility. He wondered if anyone talked to the new golf course coming in. Can we work with them to maybe run specials together?

Jim: Jim said he would like to see the 20% camping discount taken off website and maybe have a coupon put in the new brochures. He feels it would be easier to track.

He would like to see the website for Homegrounds updated.

Rachael will not be selling food this next year at the state shoot, she got a new job and will not be able to. If anyone has another organization to do this, it was profitable.

Denny is working on getting a count of what is left for targets and shells so we can see how much of the inventory was used.

Jim asked if the kids working from the high school would be considered a donation and how does this effect the insurance for the kids. Bill said he would look into that for him.

Jim said there should also be a check out and check in of the carts, we were stuck with damage on carts and we were not sure how some of it happened and by who.

Jim wondered who had voting rights. Don answered the 8 Directors and the 1 ATA delegate can vote. The President votes only in a tie. He said they might want to look and see how it is written in the by-laws.

Lastly, Jim asked how close we are to purchasing lights and what he should do with the $5000 already donated. Kevin said there are lights being given away if you can haul them. They may be too old to get parts for. Dan said he has a guy who will donate poles for the lights. He has metal 20 ft. poles from a parking lot. This will be looked into further.

Theresa: I have been working on memberships, getting them organized and getting all the Life time memberships out. We now have 51 lifetime members and 141 annual members have been paid.

I have received the ATA raffle for this year they have switched the raffle from a golf cart to a Krieghoff. The tickets are $20 each. Asked if anyone would like to take some and sell them. Don Chrapla took a pack to sell.

Glenn: Glenn said he only wanted to ask if Dan was interested in looking into prices of billboards and lights since he asked about them. Dan said he would.

Bruce: When are the zone shoot dates?

SW Zone will be June 4 and 5, 2016.

NE Zone will be June 4 and 5, 2016.

NW Zone will be June 11 and 12, 2016.

SE Zone will be June 11 and 12, 2016.

He asked who will be ordering the State Shoot pins for 2016. Kevin said he would get those ordered but wondered how many he should order? It was decided that they would order the same amount as last year.

He let the Directors know that by next meeting he would have his contact list finished. This way everyone will have the contacts instead of just one person.

Last thing Bruce brought up was the separation of the WTA and Homegrounds. He said after a 13 page email between the accountant and attorney, the decision was made to not split the two but have the Homegrounds lease the land from the WTA. They felt the lease would be the best way to go. Amy will be drawing up the papers and the amount will be $3800 dollars a month. A few of the Directors thought that was too much, but Bruce informed them that was what Amy said would be the going rate.

The Directors went into an executive session at 3:50.

Motion was made to adjourn the executive session by Fritz seconded by Glenn.

Motion to adjourn the meeting by Kevin seconded by Fritz. Meeting was adjourned at 4:00.

Next meeting: The next meeting will be a Face to Face on January 9, 2016 at 9:00 am. It will be held at the Lake Sherwood Lodge. Bill will call a teleconference as needed.