7 p.m. Wahpeton Community Center
Call to order at 7:35 pm by President Greg Gerou
Attendance: Greg Gerou, Greg Braun, Kelly Carlson, Abby Carlson, Kevin Manock, Cindi VanTassel, Jerry Oren, Leroy Smith, Pat Brejcha, Justin Krantz, Rich Truesdell, Becci Truesdell, Brad Edwardson, Brad Glarum, Melissa Schumacher
MSC (Brad Glarum, Kevin Manock) to approve the August 17, 2023 meeting minutes
Board of Directors Reports
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary – Mary Rausch is moving away from Wahpeton and has to resign from the Secretary role. Becci Truesdell volunteered to serve in the role until May elections.
- Treasurer – After receipts that were submitted during the meeting, current checking balance is $64,297. Expenses were paid out to club members for youth hunts, smoker items and Jr. Wildlife. Trigger Sports was paid for ammo and donation made to Band of Brothers. Grant money has been received for the Ladies Rooster Roundup.
- Directors – Rich Truesdell reported that the zoo has decided to move ZooBoo to the Saturday before Halloween from now on. Tom contacted Rich about potential conflict with the smoker. Will plan for the smoker to be held on the 3rd Saturday of October moving forward to avoid conflict. If 5 Saturdays, it would be held the 4th Saturday.
General Committee Reports
Parks & Recreation
- Brad Edwardson reported on youth hunt registrations.
Jr. Wildlife Club
- Rich reported on the evening’s event on dog handling held at Truax Kennels. Next month is Outdoor Survival Skills being coordinated by Brad Edwardson. Becci Truesdell brought up ideas for promoting and growing attendance.
Wayne Beyer Scholarship
- No applications have been received.
Public Relations
- Website – Online registration is being used for Jr. Wildlife events. Working well but trying to work out some of the formatting.
- Community Events – NDSCS Homecoming Parade is October 7th and ZooBoo is October 28th. Becci ordered pens to pass out during the Smoker.
- Online Store – Becci has been working on some updated logo design. Recommended to keep current logo for standard print materials and select different designs for clothing. Discussed printing some shirts to have at the smoker. Brad Edwardson noted that the Parks Dept has extra shirts in inventory and a heat press that could possibly be used by the club.
Mooreton Pond Projects
- Greg noted the docks are planned to be removed sometime in October.
Seasonal Committee Reports
Fall Youth Goose Hunt
- Held September 9th & 10th. Limited to 8 participants. Registration filled on the first day. Cindie VanTassel noted that the MN law changed the age limit will change to 17 years old instead of 16.
Marv Manock Youth Waterfowl Hunt
- Held September 16th. There were 12 participants. Kevin Manock reported that the hunt was good and Greg Gerou handled the breakfast.
Fall Youth Pheasant Hunt
- Scheduled for September 29th & 30th. 12 have registered through Parks & Rec and a few online registrations have been received. Have some mentors lined up but more may be needed.
Hunters Smoker
- Donations – Need to be in by October 13th in order to get the raffle permit. The City is requiring the application to contain a detailed list of all items that will be given out that night.
- Games – Some planned changes include cutting down on the number of meat raffles, adding some 50/50 raffles, guns boards will be $10/square with no “3 for” deals, there will be no ice house board this year, and adding a goose hunting board.
- Food – Could use carrots, onions and peppers if anyone has excess in their garden.
- Volunteers – A sign-up sheet was passed around for volunteers to help with set up and food prep on Friday night and to work the smoker on Saturday.
Ladies Rooster Roundup
- The hunt is full and there are 2 people on the waiting list. They cut back to 12 participants this year. Going to the trap range on Friday night, staying at AirBnB in Wahpeton, hunting Saturday morning and then attending smoker that night.
Old/New/Unfinished Business
- Twist of Fate (September 21st) – Chuck Haus is attending
- WB Chamber Mix & Mingles (October 12th) – Not sure if attending yet. Don’t believe we gained any members after attending last year.
- RAP Auction – Greg Gerou and Greg Braun attended the RAP auction
- Thank yous we’ve received from the two recent youth hunts and the MN DNR.
The meeting adjourned at 8:38 pm.