Minutes: July 15, 2022 – Annual Meeting
WTA Annual Meeting
July 15, 2022
There were 64 WTA members who attended the annual meeting on July 15, 2022 in addition to the Board of Directors.
The 07/15/2022 Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 8:02 am by Fritz Thistle, President.
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call – Directors present were N/E Ken Michels and Rich Weisensel (YZ), S/E Bob Ebbers and Tyler Buchanan, N/W Aaron Katzenberg and Keith Lehmann, S/W – President Fritz Thistle and Laverne Lehmann, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring, 1st Alt Delegate Tyler Buchanan, 2nd Alt ATA Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Taylor Ebbers and Executive Assistant Amy Jenkins.
Programs were handed out to the attendees that included minutes from the 2021 annual meeting and the treasurer’s report.
2021 Annual Minutes:
Keith Lehman made a motion to bypass reading the minutes from 2021 and accepted as written, Ken Cerney seconded. So carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Profit and Loss for 2021 is in the handout. Balance sheet is current as of June 29, 2022. Before the state shoot, balances were: $69,000 in checking $32,000 camping, $13,500 in savings and $62,500 in the expansion fund. The mortgage loan has a balance of $646,000. Ken Cerney made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. Don Chrapla seconded. So carried.
ATA Delegate Report:
Kevin stated there is not a lot going on in the ATA right now. Most state shoots are down in attendance. The Grand was steady last year. There are no rules changes at this time. There has been no discussion on the look back for target requirements for the Grand.
Nominations and Elections of Zone Directors:
Elections were done at the Zone Shoot.
N/E – Andy Wondrash was elected. YZ made a motion to accept Andy Wondrash as Director. Don Chrapla seconded. So carried.
S/W – Tyler Buchanan was elected. Ken Cerney made a motion to accept Tyler Buchanan as Director. Gary DeSmidt seconded. So carried.
N/W – Tate Barwald was elected. Don Chrapla made a motion to accept Tate Barwald as Director. Aaron Katzenberg seconded. So carried.
S/E – No one ran in this zone. Bob Ebbers nominated YZ to fill this vacancy. Aaron Katzenberg made a motion to accept YZ as Director. Tyler Buchanan seconded. So carried.
ATA Delegate:
YZ nominated Kevin Doerring to remain as delegate. Greg Pursell seconded. So carried.
Rhino nominated Tyler Buchanan to remain as the 1st Alternate delegate. Kevin Doering seconded. So carried. Kevin Doering nominated Fritz Thistle to remain as the 2nd Alternate Delegate. YZ seconded. So carried.
All State Team:
The names for the All-State Team were listed in the program. They were recognized during the Hot Dog Feed on Thursday night. A huge thank you to Kolar for sponsoring. Don Mittag suggested a change so that women don’t have to shoot the same number of targets (similar to the way the target requirements go down with senior vet and vet classes).
Hall of Fame Inductees:
Jack Duwe and George Hass were inducted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. Chad Blanke will be inducted in 2023.
OLD BUSINESS:
Expansion:
No further work can be done until the dirt work is done. We have one proposal but it is for $300,000 which includes a payback of 10 years. Four fields is probably doable but we need to complete the dirt work first.
Projects:
Fritz stated that we would like to build a storage facility to include a workshop. We will apply for the DNR grant; however, you have to wait for a year to receive the funds. Don Mittag said that parking will need to be looked at for future years. Greg Pursell asked if we are looking at building the new campground. Fritz said that it will be at least a million dollars to complete the campground. Jon Denman asked if we could just expand that area for primitive only and get the campers off the south side of the parking lot. Jeff Recob said that we will need to get gravel in front of the trap houses to be able to have the ability to drive a semi in front of the houses.
Central Zone:
Discussion was held about the central zone locations for the next few years. Last year, the WTA was added to the rotation. The central zone will be at Janesville this year; Sauk will host in 2023 and the WTA will host in 2024.
Grant Writer:
Fritz talked with Scott Gunderson and he will assist in writing grants for us.
NEW BUSINESS:
Future Zone Shoot Location/Dates
Amy read the dates of the future zone shoots for the next five years which is based around the youth events being held at Homegrounds. Zone shoots will be held on the opposite weekends of the zone shoots.
2022 – June 4/5 and June 18/19
2023 – June 3/4 and June 17/18
2024 – June 1/2 and June 15/16
2025 – June 14/15 and June 28/29
2026 – June 13/14 and June 27/28
Zone Shoots:
- 2023 – Janesville & Berlin = June 3 & 4
- 2023 – Eau Claire & Beaver Dam = June 17 & 18
- 2024 – Weston & Beaver Dam = June 1 & 2
- 2024 – Sauk & Langlade = June 15 & 16
State Shoot Dates
Amy read off the dates for the state shoot for the next few years. Dates will be published on the website as well.
- July 12-17, 2022
- July 11-16, 2023
- July 9-14, 2024
- July 8-13, 2025
- July 7-12, 2026
Friends of the WTA:
There was a balance of $37,000 before state shoot. John Coniff is estimating about $6500 from the live and silent auctions; $9000 from Kolar sales; $2000 Fab Arms; $1000 clothing, $1000 t-shirts. That would leave approximately $56,600 after the state shoot. The Friends purchased another youth gun, the coverings for the scoring stands, the sign out front and the concrete approach. We are also working on building an overhang by the back door. John said that they are looking at dedicated tools for the trap machines. John Coniff thanked Fritz for everything that he has done. He also thanked Jeff Mainland for everything that he does for this organization. He thanked Amy Jenkins for her sales of Kolar tickets; he said that she can sell tickets in her sleep. Fritz reported that all Kolar tickets are sold and ticket #1 will be auctioned at the live auction.
Youth Shoots (Gary DeSmidt):
Gary thanked Fritz for everything that he has done. There are rumors floating around about the shoot being held here next year. SCTP and WTA will be working together to make it happen to have their state shoot at the WTA Homegrounds in 2023. Handicap and Doubles were shot at Heart of WI for 2022. Gary state that there are just not enough traps to hold all three disciplines at the WTA. There were 1941 shooters in three days. He said there is a 99.9% chance that they will be here next year. Kettle Moraine had 600 shooters in May. Don Mittag asked if the national shoot dates could be changed as it falls on the same dates as the Wisconsin State Shoot. Gary said there was no way to change the national date; that is set in stone and will not be changed. John Coniff stated that all of the sales from the Fab Arms gun goes back to youth shooting.
State Shoot Prep:
Fritz thanked everyone for helping get ready for the state shoot. Big thanks to John Reeb for mowing the field and weed whipping around the stakes. Thanks to Bill Simonar and Dennis Kozlowski for all of the work they have done on the traps as well. Fritz asked if everyone is interested in continuing the doubles slider handicap on Tuesday next year. Consensus is yes. Lead reclamation will start on Monday and will continue for about a month. Originally, the plan was to keep some of the reclaimed lead for resale; however, due to the health requirements in handling the lead, we will not be able to sell any. Jim Kroeplien asked where the money will go from the reclamation. Fritz suggested putting the money in an account to fix infrastructure. Jon Denman said we are facing a huge recession and said that shooting could go down by 30%; do we have enough money to survive. He said we need to make sure we have the money to pay the bank…they will take this place if we cannot make our payments. One suggestion was to put half of the money towards the mortgage and half in an account. The loan will be up for renewal next year; currently a five-year note.
Ken made a motion to adjourn. Don Chrapla seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 am.