President’s Message
The annual
meeting of the IWLA Maryland State Division was held at our Chapter on Saturday,
June 14. Five of our own members attended, and it turned out to be a very
interesting and productive meeting. Special thanks go to John Bauhs and Warren
Rumble, ably assisted by Bill and Kelly Grutzkuhn, who prepared a most
excellent lunch for the twenty-five delegates.
Annual State
Division awards were presented at the meeting. Our Chapter, through an
oversight, failed to apply for any of the awards. Nevertheless, we were the
recipient of the State Division's President's Award for our outstanding youth
activities.
This is
particularly meaningful, since it confirms that others are aware of what we do
with youth, even though we don't brag about it (well, at least, not
excessively). We are extremely fortunate that so many of our members devote their
time and effort to our Juniors programs; BB-gun, air
rifle, junior trap, archery, canoe and kayak. We offer high school service
hours, 4-H awards, scout sponsorship, and youth involvement in our conservation
projects. And our members don't do it for recognition. They do it because they
know that these kids are our future. What we teach them today contributes to
the leaders of tomorrow, grounded in the knowledge, the understanding, and the
appreciation of the outdoors.
There is no
more important activity in which we're involved than that. We can be very
proud, and there's no way that we can thank those volunteer members enough.
Miles
Greenbaum, President
NRA Grants
At the June meeting, Director
Etta Saunders presented President Miles Greenbaum with a $2700 grant check she
had applied for and received from the NRA for our Jr. Trap program. Nice job
Etta! Trap Chairman David Read has already put the money to good use. He
purchased four nice semiauto shotguns – two youth
model 12 gauge Berettas and two youth model Charles Daly 20 gauges – for his 22
applicants to the Jr. Trap League.
From left to right;
President Miles Greenbaum, Trevor Michaels, Melanie Wong, Stevia Morawski,
Varvara (Barbara) Zemskova, and Scholarship Committee Chairman Lee Hays.
At the June
meeting, scholarships were awarded to Trevor Michaels (VT - will be a senior
majoring in Wildlife Sciences), Melanie Wong (UMD - will be a sophomore -
majoring in Civil & Environmental Engineering), Stevia Morawski (freshman @
We also
celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the founding of our chapter. In
honor of our chapter’s milestone, we were presented a nice plaque by Izaak
Walton National Director David Hoskins. David gave a talk and fielded questions
from the membership about the goings on at the national level. Some questions
were politely stated but quite pointed. David didn’t shy from answering, and in
fact, he acknowledged the need for change in some areas. It was a revealing
talk session that gives us reason to feel more confident about the national
leadership. They have a plan. The national organization is tapping into the
collective experience of successful chapters like ours, to create a guide or
road map for other chapters. The hope is that with this information available,
Ike chapters around the nation will be able to increase their membership and
achieve better results in the areas of conservation, education, and outdoor
recreation.
Firearms Training Coordinator Joe Seppy will hold a 2-day Pistol Course in July. The course is open to the public, is taught by NRA-certified instructors and all firearms and equipment will be provided. Topics to be covered include firearms safety, operation, gun handling, ammunition, marksmanship, care and cleaning, buying the right gun, and safe storage. The cost for the course is $75 per adult and $30 per accompanied child under 18. Current NRA or IWLA members receive a 20% discount. The course will be held Friday, July 25, from 7pm to 10pm, and on Saturday, July 26, from 9am to 5 pm. For additional information or to register, call 301-977-5538. This is a great class for the new or potential handgun owner.
Range Officer Training Class Rescheduled
The range officer training class originally
scheduled for June 21 has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 18. We really flubbed this one
offered in June by choosing a date at the last minute, thereby not providing
adequate time for everyone interested in the training enough time to prepare.
That said, there were two people that signed up that
we regretfully did not provide a training class. Our apologies to those two
members – we let you down and we are not happy about it. We promise to do our
best to prevent a reoccurrence of a training class cancellation.
Chris Holler Strikes Again
Many thanks to Chris for fixing the cable and phone
lines that were knocked down during the last storm. And also
for mowing the Chestnut Orchard area, so that it looked so nice for our
visitors from State Division. We hope everyone appreciates just how much
Chris does to maintain our grounds.
Last month’s
newsletter stated that we would limit the number of participants in Jr. Archery
to 40 – Ha! We just couldn’t bear turning away so many eager candidates. The
plan that the Jr. Archery program is now following is to split into two
sessions – one from 12 noon to 2pm, and the second from 2pm to 3:30pm. We had
hoped (in vain) that attendance would be sporadic, resulting in an average
number of weekly participants of less than forty people – it didn’t happen that
way and we have adapted to the new reality by juggling two groups of archers.
The actual number of participants is over sixty, with some being adults that
wish to learn too.
Many thanks
go to those dedicated members that are providing their time and effort to make
Jr. Archery a success. They could certainly use some help. Show up on Sunday
and ask how you can help - you don't need to know anything to be of use. No Jr.
Archery on July 7th.
The Rockville Email Group
The Rockville Chapter operates a members-only email list for announcements and discussions among members. To sign up, send an email identifying yourself to iwlar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Interesting Experiences to be Shared at July Meeting
Member John Bauhs will be our speaker at the July meeting. He will
share with us his experiences of twice being a volunteer chef at the weather observatory
on Mount Washington in the state of
Two Eagle Scouts and One Rehabilitated Lake Trail
A nice makeover of the lake trail was completed in
June by Eagle Scout candidate Tom Gleason. He and his well-organized group
completed part ΙΙ of a restoration project that was initiated last
year by another Eagle Scout candidate (to whom I apologize to for not
remembering his name). The trail is now shored up and properly lined with
locust wood and lumber from one end to the other. Nice job! Anyone that was
familiar with the condition prior to the work done by these scouts knows what a
great job they have done. Thanks go to Conservation Chairperson Cindy Stevens
for serving as facilitator and go-between for the scouts and the Rockville
Chapter, and to Chris Holler for help in providing the locust wood.
Even though the lake rules are clearly posted and
distributed, some folks need a reminder now and then. In this case, it has to
do with the number of guests that you can bring to the lake. There is a maximum
of five guests per member. If you want to bring more than that, it has to be
cleared with the Board or with the
Nine new members were
inducted into our Chapter at the June meeting:
Dan Cox
Jack Cochran
Daniel Cochran
Tony & Rita Graham
Bob & Beth Ann Kandra
Johnny & Jenny Sonnier
The Rifle Range House Roof
Is Finished!
With great satisfaction, Rifle range chairman Bill Leaman reported to the Board of Directors that the installation of the new galvanized steel roof has been completed. He also noted that the extra money added onto his budget request (Paolo’s idea) came in handy when he needed to purchase additional materials to finish the job. Thanks go to all that helped complete this job.
During the weeks that the rifle range roof was being worked on, Bill Leaman became aware of the presence of a resident black snake. The snake became used to the activity and was nonplused by the presence of people at the range. Bill requests that you leave this snake alone because he’s one of the good guys – he keeps the rodent population down and isn’t a poisonous viper – he is harmless. This request dovetails perfectly with our philosophy as a conservation organization.
The 2008 Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
runs August 8 through 16. Our Chapter needs volunteers for staffing our IWLA
booth. There is also a need for set-up help on August 7 and the morning of the
8th, as well as takedown on August 17.
Chairman Bill Leaman has once again managed to
get some other Montgomery County IWLA chapters to supply some staffing to help
us. Inter-chapter cooperation allows us to better serve the interested public.
The public and all the participating Ike chapters benefit.
You don’t have to be an expert to show up for
your shift – you will have at least one other Ike with you and there are also
well-prepared reference materials in the booth that provide enough information
to answer most if not all of the questions asked by visitors. The shifts run
from 10am to 4pm and 4pm to 10pm. This is a great way to get in your required
six hours – you will definitely enjoy your shift and you might learn some
things in the process. It is the only volunteer work assignment that you’ll
spend most of the time sitting on your butt. Sign up at the July meeting or
contact Bill Leaman.
Save Our Streams Scheduled for July 19
SOS, the program that
originated here at the Rockville Chapter and has gone national, is an effort to
monitor, measure and report the health of local
streams. Conservation Co-chairman Tom Vegella runs our SOS program. Anyone
interested in participating (nonmembers are welcome) should be at the chapter
house at 9am on July 19th. Sampling will be done on Seneca Creek –
the creek that runs between the chapter house and the lake.
Candidates
Needed for the September Election
The slate of candidates for the September election
of chapter officers and directors will be presented at the August meeting –
that means we need a list of potential candidates by the end of July. If you
would like to volunteer to run for election for either officer or director, or
would like to nominate a member that would be good in one of the open
positions, please contact Nomination Committee Chairman Lee Hays.
In recent years, MD State government has shrunk the
budget funding for the DNR. You can support the DNR, the environment and
wildlife in
Annual Crab Feast and Barbecue
Chris Holler has selected the date for the Annual Crab Feast – Saturday September 13. This is the event where no one goes away hungry or dissatisfied. Tickets will be available at the August meeting. Mark the date on your calendar.