Minutes: December 3, 2021
WTA Meeting
December 3, 2021|
Homegrounds
The 12/3/21 Board of Director’s meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 9:03 am by Fritz Thistle, President. Directors present were N/E Ken Michels (zoom) and YZ Weisensel, N/W Keith Lehmann (zoom), S/W LaVerne Lehmann (zoom), S/E Tyler Buchanan (zoom), 1st Alt. Delegate Tyler Buchanan (zoom), 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Taylor Katzenberg (zoom), Executive Assistant/Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins. Absent: ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring, N/W Aaron Katzenberg, S/E Bob Ebbers.
Also present were: Glen Grabski, Don Chrapla, John King, John Coniff (zoom), John Atkielski (zoom), Tom and Nora Bristol
Meeting started at 9:03 am.
Treasurer’s Report:
Checking Account Balance is $50,000; Camping account is $42,000; Savings account $13,500; Expansion account $62,500. Cost projections between now until spring is estimated to leave a balance of $23,000 in the checking account. Last year at the end of December, we had $132,000 which was a lot more than we have now. Last year we paid for the electrical project as well. Insurance has increased to about $19,000; Fritz has sent emails to Secura to follow up on the increase. Property taxes are $21,000 which includes the two 40 acre parcels removed from forest cropland.
Rhino made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Ken seconded. So carried.
HOF Banquet:
Taylor is asking for someone to take over the banquet as she has too much on her plate during the state shoot. She has a couple of people interested in taking over. Steve and Mary Downs are willing to take over this task. Fritz typically created the pamphlet and is asking if Steve and Mary would be able to create them as well. Fritz would be willing to work with them on what he typically does. Carol Keeley does the printing of them.
Secretary Report:
Amy has been working on registering shoots for the 2022 target year. Clubs are sending in their paperwork to be processed. She also has been working on state shoot camping. There are still some forms/payments outstanding that she is waiting on. She will then begin working on the huge waiting list to fill the few spots that are open. Once the remainder of the forms are in, she will contact individuals on the south side of the parking lot to see if they want to move to the new sites on east vendor row. Amy asked if sites opened up on the west end if she should leave them open for more parking in the already congested area. Amy will determine what is needed if people move to east vendor row and leave sites open. She will determine if there are still people on the waiting list that can utilize these camping spots. YZ suggested that we look at a future area for parking as we have enough land.
Friends of WTA:
Checking account balance is $44,696. John sent out a list of schools that applied for the youth shooting grants. Amy reviewed the list and read it to the group. The following schools will receive grant money for the 2022 shooting season: Platteville, Milwaukee Lutheran, Weston, Tomah, Westshore, Shawano, Bonduel, Elcho, Lincoln/Nekoosa, Merrill, Berlin, Oconomowoc, Fond du Lac.
Rhino make a motion to accept the list that John sent out with the revisions that the board made. LaVerne seconded. So carried.
Old Business:
TV Responder/Antennae:
Kevin was not available for the meeting. No update received
Grants:
Connie did get the application filed for the NRA grant.
Expansion:
Fritz would still like to get two more trap fields in. He talked to the landscaper and the guy was not interested. He suggested that we talk to Hoffman Trucking. Tyler said that we will need to move all of the dirt before we can do this. Tyler can talk with Joe Needham and see what his thoughts are. Don Chrapla suggested putting this on hold due to the lack of shell availability and the cost of everything going up. He wonders how many people will be able to afford to shoot and have shells to shoot in the 2022 target year.
Lead Reclamation:
Fritz has been working on this with John King. Right now we have almost 9 million rounds shot since we opened. After the 2022 season, we will have over 10 million rounds fired. He has seven companies to contact to get a proposal from them. Fritz has a list of questions to ask each of the companies to ensure the proposals are comparing the same things. Fritz would like to have a committee review the proposals and make a recommendation to the Board. John King, Chops, YZ and Tyler will make up this committee. The committee will contact the vendors on their own and review everything and then bring it back to the board for approval.
Umbrellas:
Fritz talked to a person that could make the brackets for the traps which would be about $2200. They would be steel and powder coated. These would be similar to what is used at the Grand. The Friends will pay for this. Amy received a message from a shooter that may be able to fabricate these. Fritz will speak with him to see if they will work.
Camp Host:
No update.
PA System:
Ken needs to come down and pick up the speakers and get working on them.
Rome Rifle/Pistol Range:
Glen met with Town of Rome officials regarding the range a few weeks ago. They would like to have five shooting lanes from 25 yards to 80 or 100 yards. They don’t want to do anything until April. They had an aerial view and are interested in building it down on the west end. They would like to build a berm about 12 feet high. Fritz stated that from trap 30, there should be nothing in the view of the shooters. This would not be for the general public; it would be for local law enforcement only and usage would need to be scheduled with Glen.
New Business:
Donations for Fall Classic:
As of right now, Gateway has donated $1000 for the WI Fall Classic. Don Chrapla will donate $500 for singles targets. YZ will donate $500 as well. WTA is looking for sponsors for the fall classic. We are looking to make this shoot a big event as was the original plan. YZ is looking for people to step up to help make this an event that everyone wants to attend.
2022 Season Pricing:
The delivery charge and fuel surcharge have increased along with target prices. The targets will be coming directly from the factory. We will need to make a decision on how to cover the cost increases. Directors should think about this and bring ideas back to the next meeting so decisions can be made.
Coverage of Directors at all Events:
YZ suggested that we need to do something to make sure we have coverage at all events. Fritz stated that the majority of the directors in the south are loyal to Cassville and do not attend the Fall Classic. He is asking if Cassville would not schedule a shoot the same weekend as the fall classic. We need the help of the directors to run this shoot. Tyler said he is willing to come up and work that weekend. John Coniff offered that Tyler could stay at his cabin which is about 35 minutes away if needed. YZ suggested that directors be required to work 5 of the 7 events for the year. During the state shoot, everyone should be working every day of the shoot. Golf carts are nice to have and if you aren’t working every day, YZ stated you shouldn’t have a golf cart. Some people are not doing their job. Directors were asked to review their schedules and bring their availability to the next meeting to ensure adequate coverage for all events for 2022.
2022 HOF Inductees Approval:
John asked if all of the directors received the information that he sent out for the inductees for 2022. Three were sent out and included: John Duwe, George Hass and Chad Blanke.
YZ made a motion to approve the three nominees presented to the Board by the Hall of Fame Committee. Per Hall of Fame guidelines, John Duwe and George Hass will be inducted into the HOF in 2022 because they received the highest percentage of returned Hall of Fame member yes votes. Chad Blanke will be inducted into the HOF in 2023 per same guidelines. Tyler seconded.
HOF Rule Change:
Over the years, members of the HOF have asked for the majority vote to be increased. They would like to change from 67% to 75% for the majority vote.
YZ made a motion to change the majority vote from 67% to 75% for the HOF inductees. Tyler seconded. So carried.
Zone Shoots:
Amy prepared the five year list of zone shoots and rotations as planned at the last meeting. Copies were handed out to discuss. Amy will send out to Al McCord for review. She will forward a copy to Kevin Doerring as well since he was not able to attend the meeting. Taylor will try to get the dates for the Illinois state shoot from now through 2027. Will review at the next meeting to finalize.
Shoot Date Projections:
State Shoot:
- July 12-17, 2022
- July 11-16, 2023
- July 9-14, 2024
- July 8-13, 2025
- July 7-12, 2026
HSCTL:
- June 11 & 12, 2022
- June 10 & 11, 2023
- June 8 & 9, 2024
- June 7 & 8, 2025
- June 6 & 7, 2026
SCTP:
- June 25 & 26, 2022
- June 24 & 25, 2023
- June 22 & 23, 2024
- June 21 & 22, 2025
- June 20 & 21, 2026
May Shoot – May 21 & 22, 2022 – this date conflicts with Kettle Moraine; further discussion will be held to determine what date this shoot will be moved to.
Fall Classic – Sept. 24 & 25, 2022
Kettle Moraine – May 21, 2022
State Shoot:
- Sponsors: Amy has been working on sponsors for the 2022 WI State Shoot. All events have sponsors. Amy will now work with John Atkielski to get started on the state shoot program. Discussion was held about selling ads for the program. Amy stated that she does not have the time to reach out to businesses to sell the ads. She has done it for many years in the past and it is very time consuming. Amy suggested not selling ads this year and the program would just be the state shoot information. We would plan to have 500 booklets printed as we did last year. Last year the program cost was around $750.
Rhino made a motion to not include ads in the 2022 state shoot program due to no one stepping up to sell them. Programs will be printed and available at the state shoot and available online and sent out via e-mail. LaVerne seconded. So carried.
- Program: Amy and John will begin working on the program. John will split the program into separate pages to make it easier for the printer.
- T-shirts 10th Anniversary: Chops worked with a local vendor and showed examples of logos. Amy spoke with Fine Design and they are willing to create a logo for $100 and are willing to sell us shirts for us to sell on our own at the state shoot. Chops will get a price on t-shirts from his contact. Amy will have Fine Design create a design. A vote will be done at the next meeting to pick the design.
- Scorers/Loaders: Discussion held on who will be covering the 2022 events. John Madsen will be talking to the origination that runs the workers in Florida. Amy suggested that letters be sent out to the schools that received the grant money and see if some of the teams would be willing to bring their team up to work a day at the state shoot to receive additional money for their shooting club. In addition, a conversation was held about meals for the workers. Right now, we need to find someone to cover the scoring and loading before we discuss meals and drinks. Amy and John King will create a letter to be sent to the teams that received grants to see if they are willing to work at the state shoot.
- Trophy Budget: Taylor requested a budget for the 2022 state shoot. $22,000 was the budget for the 2021 state shoot and she was under budget by $1500. She estimates $22,000 should cover this year’s trophies even with increased prices.
YZ made a motion to approve a $22,000 trophy budget for 2022 state shoot. LaVerne seconded. So carried.
- All State Team Trophies – Kolar is willing to sponsor these trophies again. Estimated cost is likely about $3500 for all of the trophies. There will be 10 leather bags and 25 trophies for the additional awards. Amy suggested looking for another sponsor to cover the cost of the all-state team trophies for what Kolar does not cover. Suggestion was to have the Kolar logo on the leather bags and if the sponsor could have their logo on the other trophy. YZ agreed to sponsor the other portion of the all-state team trophies. Kolar and YZ will sponsor the 2022 all-state team awards.
Golf Carts for 2022 Season:
We will not need to rent golf carts for the shooting events; we will only need to rent for the state shoot. Chops will call Master Karts and get a quote for 25 carts and 30 carts. John will add in the program that permits for personal golf carts and UTVs are available at the cashier’s counter.
Email Responses / Minutes Review:
Fritz suggested that when emails are sent out that the all directors need to review and approve the minutes and other things. There should be a response either way. Amy does not get a response from a majority of the group. YZ stated it is part of the job of the director to respond that the minutes were reviewed, etc.
Round Table:
Tyler:
Tyler gave an update of the 2021 All State Team.
All State Team:
Mens:
George Hass 96.33 Captain
Dwight Fitzsimmons 95.76
Jon Denman 95.23
Dan Haag 94.94
Tyler Buchanan 94.30
Matt Riffe 93.57
John Wilke 92.98
Andy Wondrash 92.82
Don Wagner 92.50
Brent Heikkenen 92.33
Lady:
Sandra Jo Jack 91.47 Captain
Karlie Klas 91.27
Taylor Ebbers 89.61
Janet Reding 89.34
Carol Keeley 88.40
Veteran:
Gerald Demulling 94.87 Captain
Don LaBarge 92.40
Tim Curtain 91.06
Rich “YZ” Weisensel 89.85
Sr. Veteran:
Mike Nawikas 92.99 Captain
Steve Keeley 91.21
Don Mittag 90.79
Dwight Paulin 89.92
Don Chrapla 89.39
Sub Junior:
RJ Gropp 93.74 Captain
Lillian Longworth 88.77
Caleb Studnicka 86.19
Jordan Bomkamp 86.06
Lexi Flees 80.13
Junior:
Cody Barwick 94.25 Captain
Logan Denman 93.57
Sage McKeough 92.78
Hunter Knotwell 91.59
Brady Nyhuis 90.82
High Averages:
Singles – George Hass 99.00 on 1700 targets
Handicap – George Hass 91.75 on 1600 targets
Doubles – Dwight Fitzsimmons 96.36 on 2200 targets
Congratulations to Dwight Fitzsimmons on attaining AAA-27-AAA and Tyler Buchanan on AA-27-AA status!
ATA Mega Target Award:
Wisconsin ended the year with 858,925 targets to finish 8th in the nation.
Rhino:
He purchased a portable PA system for use in the club house for the state shoot.
Amy:
What is plan for camp host? We will discuss next month. We will need to figure out something very soon because the campground cannot operate without a camp host. Amy received a request for the WTA to donate a camping pass for the 2023 SCTP state shoot. This was approved.
Next meeting will be Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 9am at Homegrounds.
The following meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 5th, 2022 at 9am at Homegrounds.
LaVerne made a motion to adjourn. Rhino seconded. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 11:59 am.