Hillside Rod & Gun Club - 2007 Membership Newsletter - Blossburg, PA, PA Wilds, Tioga County, PA

Hillside Rod & Gun Club of Blossburg
2007 Annual Newsletter
PO Box 71
Blossburg, PA 16912
http://www.hillsiderodandgun.org

Dear Members of the Hillside Rod & Gun Club of Blossburg,

Once again we're nearing the end of one year and the start of another. It's quite surprising when you look back at the past year and start noticing how much has been accomplished. The board as a whole has really taken the wheel and has made sure that the club's maintenance needs are being taken care of and our finances are back on track. We've noticed a lot of old faces stopping by on Saturdays and Sundays who haven't come in for awhile and we want to take a moment and thank each and every member for making 2007 a great year. We hope to see more members coming in and enjoying the club, as well as taking part in our outstanding archery and trap leagues in 2008.

Survey - We're looking for feedback on our current operations of the club house and how we can better tailor to the needs and desires of the membership. We're also looking for input on what the club as a whole should focus on in 2008 and beyond. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey, available at the club or on our website at http://www.hillsiderodandgun.org/survey.

Trap Team - The officers of the Hillside Trap Team would like to thank all of the teammates for a successful season. The birds were flying better this year. We finished a close third in the league this year and the team can be proud of themselves. Thank you to all the volunteers that helped out with the trap projects, work bees, scoring, filling trap houses, grilling and all around maintenance. We have a great bunch of people that help make our team and gun club one of the best. The trap team had a few new events this year: The Upper Tioga River Watershed Benefit Shoot was held in May with proceeds benefiting the Upper Tioga River Watershed Project and the Shoot For Shells fundraiser with all proceeds going to the Hillside Trap Team for upkeep and maintenance of the trap facilities. We anticipate 2 more women shooters on the team next year which should make for a 5 women squad. We are also anticipating more junior shooters next year. Spread the word, we have a great team and great club. The birds for next year's season were already purchased so the team is in good shape. See everyone next spring.

Archery Team - The archery team has had a great year with over 55 indoor shooters (including 10 in the Youth league!) and an average of 25 shooters for each of our outdoor 3D shoots. The archery team has been consistently placing in conference and state shoots and won the overall Team Title for the league! Congratulations shooters! The archery team has done an excellent job at becoming self-sufficient over the past two years through fundraising and shooting fees. They're currently working on raising the quality of targets used. Three quarters of the 3D targets are new Rhinehart targets with more coming next year. Also new this year, the archery team will be replacing our indoor targets with new "block" 4'x4' layered foam targets. The 12 week indoor league starts January 3rd. Check the website for dates and times. We hope to see you there!

Trout Nursery - As most of you know all of our stockings this season went quite well, with all of last years fish being put out by the middle of May. Thank you to everyone who participated. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again this season. Our one scheduled work bee lacked as many helpers as we would have liked. I guess we'll have to come up with a more efficient way to inform everyone of upcoming events like that! As some of you may be aware, we received 10,000 fingerlings in June. We had to do a late stocking because of fish size and low water levels at the nursery. A video was made of the nursery, and we toured all Southern Tioga School districts first grade classes. The video was first viewed by the kids at the club, then the kids were loaded back on the bus where they toured the nursery. As they toured the nursery they were given a bucket of fish to load in barrels for stocking of the Liberty VFW pond for our annual fishing derby. Members of the Hillside and Liberty VFW sponsored the event, serving hot dogs, soft drinks and a bag of chips to all the children. This was a great day for all and thanks to all of you that helped with this event especially to Keith Lindie for filming the event. If anyone is interested in being a part of the feeding schedule, contact Pat Levindoski at 570-638-3342.

3rd Annual Stanley Bombaski Memorial Sportsman's Challenge - The Stanley Bombaski Memorial Shoot was held in July and a good time was had by all. It was great to see the camaraderie between the two sports. 1st place went to Eric McRoberts and Dion Church, 2nd place went to Clyde Mitstifer and Dean Alloy, and 3rd place went to Dave Burris and Howard Shapiro. The challenge is set up so trap shooters and archery shooters are paired off into teams. Each team competes in trap, archery, and finally deer rifle marksmanship at the rifle range.

5th Annual Children's Miracle Network Shoot - Over $1400 was raised for Children's Miracle Network at this year's shoot! Thanks to all who participated. We had a great bunch of shooters, which made for a generous donation to the Children's Miracle Network. Special thanks to the Morris Run American Legion and Wal-Mart for their support and donation of prizes. Trophy winners for the shoot were Les Ott, Howard Shapiro, Jerry Owens, and Michael Williams.

5th Annual TCCCC/Hillside Rod & Gun Club Lobster Bake - The fifth annual Lobster Bake was hosted by Hillside to benefit the Upper Tioga River Watershed. The members of the Hillside and TCCCC had a bit of a learning curve this year due to Tom Bogaczyk passing the torch on to Jim Lamonski as organizer. Jim worked feverishly researching prices, organizing volunteers and just getting everything to fall together. Great job Jim! This year we raised about $1700. The funds raised by the annual Lobster Bake are put into CD's to help fund maintenance of watershed projects once they are installed.

Watershed Update - We are actively pursuing the clean up of the Tioga River watershed for AMD (Acid Mine Drainage) for which we have partnered with the Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee for past six years. Mansfield University has joined our group the past three years. Our group expanded again early this year to include the Tiadaghton Chapter of trout unlimited. We have been working with grant money received for engineering and design of a treatment system for the upper Fallbrook creek. We will complete the engineering and design soon and be applying for more grant money to implement the design. The Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is working on the South Mountain area which will benefit Johnson Creek. The Bureau of abandoned mines is also reviewing bear and coal creek discharges, and have just became active again after being idle on this project for over a year. I would like to thank everyone who volunteers their time on these projects for the betterment of the community.

Hunter Trapper Education - The club is looking for volunteers to become certified Hunter Trapper Education Instructors. If you're interested in becoming a certified HTE instructor, contact a board member and we'll get you in contact with the right people at the game commission. If you're already certified, we're very interested in hosting HTE courses at the Club. We are able to provide ample volunteers and the full use of our facilities to help assist with all aspects of the program.

Important Membership Updates - Life memberships are available for free if you have met the following criteria: you must be 65 years of age by January 1st of the coming year and you must have been a regular member of the club for at least 5 years. We don't currently have systems in place to check automatically if you are eligible for life membership. If you qualify and we missed you, please let us know when you renew your membership. 2008 membership cards are available now. If you're unable to make it to the club, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope with a check for $15 to the address at the top of the newsletter and we'll get it right out to you. The Game Dinner is the last day to renew your membership for 2008. A $5 late fee is applied after December 31st,, 2007. We've started up a new e-mail list to help the membership stay up-to-date on club events, league information, and important membership information. Go to http://www.hillsiderodandgun.org and put your e-mail address into the space provided on the front page and click on Subscribe.

Big Buck Contest - If you get a BIG BUCK be sure to take it to Cooper's in Mansfield to be measured for the Hillside's BIG BUCK Contest. All scoring will be done using the Boone and Crockett scoring method. Prizes are $100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place, and $25 for 3rd place.

2008 Lucky 37 Raffle - We have enclosed a Lucky 37 ticket which begins on April 6th 2008 and lasts for 10 weeks. The cost is $10.00 each. This raffle was successful last year, helping us to complete the parking lot resealing needed and other items. I hope you can help support the club and club improvements we will need to make in the future by purchasing a raffle ticket and returning the money and stub to: Hillside Rod & Gun Club
PO Box 71
Blossburg, PA 16912
If you are unable to purchase the ticket, please return it to the club, or mail it to the above address. We so much need our members' support to continue the programs we have in place, and maintain our beautiful facility.

Hillside Rod & Gun Club Game Dinner 2008 - The 2008 Game Dinner date has been set for February 16th from 12 PM to 8 PM. This year we'll be doing a few things differently than last year to try to get back to our roots. We're looking to the membership to come together on this one. All meat will need to be donated by the membership. No catering this year. Also, all donated wild game will be cooked by volunteers. Stop by the club if you have wild game to donate for this year's game dinner. The club will be open to members only. The cost is $20. The fee includes donated game meat, chance on a gun, snacks, and draft beer. Don't forget, the game dinner is the last day to pay your 2008 dues.

The Club - The board has put a real effort this year into taking care of the looming maintenance items that we've had to put off due to the past financial issues. This year we've had the parking lot resealed, added a new commercial deep fryer to the kitchen, added new security cameras, replaced the failing ice machine, and installed a new stereo receiver and CD player.

Board Updates - Cindy Guy has taken the lead on helping to find innovative ways to grow our Youth trap and archery leagues at the club. Cindy spent quite a bit of time writing a grant that has been applied for from the Friends of the NRA to purchase additional equipment for our youth shooters. We'll know more in 2008. Your 2008 Officers will be: President - Jim Lamonski, Vice President - Tim Fleming, Treasurer - Holly Lamonski, Secretary - Josh Jones. Executive Committee: 3-Year Term - Clyde Mitstifer, 2-Year Term - Jim Guy, 1-Year Terms: Eric McRoberts, Bobby Lee, and Cindy Guy.

Sincerely,

Hillside Rod & Gun Club of Blossburg