REPORT - Membership Secretary Cathy Hagen Getting down to the end of the year. I sent the renewal and waiver forms to the printer. Everything should be in your hands at this point. If you didn t get your renewal forms please contact me so I can get copies to you. With just a few short weeks left in the year, members should make sure that they are ready to renew. For most, that means you have your NRA membership renewed and have worked your two RA shifts. Looks like quite a few members took advantage of the offer at Cabela s a few weekends ago to renew their NRA membership. The offer was for a $25 Cabela s gift card if you renewed your NRA membership. Cost to renew with the NRA was basically $10 at that point! If you are looking to save some money, be sure to get a work credit in so you can take $50 off your yearly dues. You will need to contact an Activity Chair and see if there are any last minute jobs that need to be done. As far as RA shifts go, November and December is getting tight for those needing RA shifts to sign up. If you still need two RA shifts, you now have to work two full days, since all the AM and PM shifts are gone. This is what happens when you wait too long to sign up for your shifts. Now it gets interesting trying to find shifts that you can work to fit your busy work and holiday schedule. For those that can t make it work, you always have the option to buy shifts from a member that worked shifts to keep the club open during the year. Bottom line is the same each year, if you don t have two RA shifts credited to you, you can t renew. I am getting questions about sponsoring new members. If you are planning on sponsoring a new member, be sure you have a work credit, or are a senior member over age 65. Membership applications are at the clubhouse and also online on the club website. Detailed instructions are found with the forms, but feel free to contact me for any clarification if needed. Most important is that the new applicant must have their NRA card and Permit to Purchase or Permit to Carry card, copies must be sent with the application. Please note the dates for submitting the applications, they are only accepted from November 1st to December 31st. This is a busy time for me the next five months or so, processing renewals. Getting all the new members set up for the Board to review. Due to changes with my work schedule, I can t get to the club meetings early as I did in the past to accept applications. I will not be able to stay late, since my husband needs to get home and to bed. He still works very early each morning. If you are counting on me accepting the renewal at a meeting, it may be best to either mail it to me, or hand it to me with a Self Addressed Return Envelope. I can mail your new card out once it is processed. Cathy Hagen Membership Secretary
Editors Note Brian Beckwith Do you understand the course of fire? Load and make ready. Shooter ready? Standby --BEEP Words I love to hear on a sunny and cool Saturday morning. Words that helped grow my passion for shooting. Words regretfully I have not heard at a club that I have come to love. Let me take this first month as Newsletter Editor to introduce myself. My name is Brian Beckwith. January will be the start of my fifth year as a member of ERSC. In the last four years I have enjoyed most of the facilities our club has to offer. I have put in my RA hours, and found I enjoy working at the club and chatting with members as they check in and head to the range. What I have not done is be actively involved with the club. Why not, you may ask? Everyone knows that answer. Life is hectic. Every year I d tell myself, I ll join a league. Every month I d think, I ll drop by the membership meeting. Last summer I was in contact with Jon Clauson regarding taking over the editor s post. Life got hectic, life got in the way. Then the email went out this past August with club positions that needed to be filled, including this one. I threw my hat back in the ring. Lo and behold someone thought it was a good idea. A quick vote at the September meeting, and ohhh snap here I am! Sitting on my patio, on a near perfect night, good cigar in hand, I am asking myself, what do I want out of this? My goal in all of this is to become more involved with the club. I hope to get to know you. I hope to know more about what is going on and keep you informed about the wonderful activities taking place. I hope that fuels my passion and I too will become more involved with leagues and special event days. In general I hope to use this as a catalyst to be around and enjoy the club more than I have previously. Starting with this month you will notice that the format of the newsletter is changing a bit. Talking with other members of the club it became obvious, the vast majority of the membership receives the newsletter electronically. My goal is to make the format easier to read on your computer, tablet or phone screen. With a format change I am also hoping to expand what content is in the newsletter. If you have an idea for topics to be covered, questions to be asked or you just want to retell a story about your latest hunting trip, send me an email! Have photos of the latest club event? Send them in for others to enjoy. Email the newsletter at erscnews@gmail.com with anything you think would be interesting. As the cigar slowly burns out, I ll wrap up my note for this month with these two thoughts. I truly look forward to helping the club and bring this newsletter to you every month. I also look forward to a nice summer evening where I hear, If you are finished, unload and show clear Contact the Newsletter erscnews@gmail.com Brian Beckwith 612-616-3624
Announcement We just heard that the NRA is raising their dues effective January 1st, 2016. Single year memberships will increase to $40.00. All other dues will increase across the board for NRA Memberships. If your NRA membership will be expiring in 2016, this might be a good opportunity to renew for another year or several years and take advantage of the lower rates. For those that are NRA Life members, the NRA is offering an upgrade to NRA Endowment Level for only $200 until the end of the year. There is an easy pay program for $25 a month. Upgrading to NRA Endowment includes an offer for a Ridgeline Pathfinder backpack($135 value). Check out the NRA website for more info on the dues increase and see if any of the offers work for you before prices increase January 1 st. Members Stories On Oct 5 th 2015 George Adamski (pictured) shot this beautiful Antelope in Rozet, WY. Russ Adamski and their guide accompanied George. Following their guide for a half hour through a dried up creek bed, they came to rest on the side of a small hill. They had to be perfectly still as a smaller buck was leading the group passing them at about 30 yards. Five minutes after the smaller buck had passed this big beauty came walking by at 90 yards. George made a great offhand shot to drop the buck in his tracks. It was a great ending to a great hunt!
Clubhouse Update New radios have been purchased for Club and RA use at the Clubhouse. The new radios installed in late September should provide much better coverage on the club grounds. This should come in handy for the RA s when patrolling the club grounds and for use during special events or matches. The new radios are commercial grade and the Club purchased three handheld radios plus a base station. The antenna for the base station is installed on the roof of the clubhouse. Members can talk to another member on a handheld without having to go outside the building when using the base station. The new radio system will be a huge improvement over the GMRS radios that the club used previously. With the new radios, dead spots for communication should be virtually eliminated. The new handheld radios were used at Youth Day and provided excellent service and coverage for the event between the runners on the ATV s and ranges Club Activities Cowboy Shoot The cowboy shoot was well attended this year with 20 shooters. Shooting were 15 men, 4 women and 1 junior. Winners were Jon Clauson for the men, Meagan White for the women and for the 4 th or 5 th year Emily Westbrook took the junior crown. We had a nice light lunch of hot dogs and cowboy bacon with beans on the new picnic slab at the pistol range. After shooting and some time to rest we had a cookout at the clubhouse. We all thoroughly gorged ourselves on the meat, bread, salads and 15lbs of fried potatoes done in the giant skillet. The meal was finished off with some great deserts and a campfire. Youth Day Youth Day this year had perfect weather and great attendance. We had 167 kids that were 16 and under attend with their parents and family members. Many in attendance have been to previous Youth Day events. This has become an annual family outing for many of these families. Matt Moberg presents tropy to Jon Clauson Most of the ranges had some kind of activity to experience. Pistol had the knock down targets set up which were very popular. The 25/50 range had.22 rifles and also black powder demonstrations and opportunities to fire the black powder rifle. On the 100-yard range there were high power rifles that the kids were giving a shot. The small-bore range had plenty of action with balloons and air rifles. Back by the clubhouse, the KD range was setup with high power rifles and gave instant feedback with balloons popping when hit. Kids were able to try this off a bench or from a prone position. cont. next page
Youth Day cont. Big thanks to the members that were in charge of blowing up all the balloons! The archery bales had continuous action as kids tried their hand at shooting a bow. Another popular shooting venue was the Airsoft booth with hanging pop cans under the canopy. Many of the adults were trying the Airsoft pistols and rifles and finding that they were a lot of fun. Thanks to Op-For Airguns located in Elk River for introducing many to these fun Airsoft pistols and rifles. The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association also had a booth with books and hunting information. At the registration table there was membership applications and information for joining the club. At least 10 participants were interested in joining the club. A big thanks to Scheel s in Waite Park for their generous donation of eight $25.00 gift cards for door prizes for the event. Bob White did a fantastic job of organizing Youth Day. Thanks to all the members that volunteered for Youth Day. It was a fun day for everyone that was there. We got many positive comments and interest in the club from those attending the event and how much they appreciated the Club hosting Youth Day. Airsoft Winners
Uncontested seats in the upcoming election. President: Ed Church Vice President: Jon Clauson Correspondence Secretary: Megan White Recording Secretary: Todd Wallace Treasurer: Brad Stevens Finance Officer: Jon Thompson Sergeant at Arms: Paul Wherley Sergeant at Arms: Wade Lovelette Research Officer: Bill Fenstermaker Conservation Officer: Dustin Seagren Membership Secretary: Cathy Hagen Firearms Safety: Bob Mohs Club Food: Paula Adamski Newsletter: Brian Beckwith KD Range: Joel Danielson Archery: Shane Rosby Shotgun Ranges: Scott LeVaag Smallbore: Bruce Hassig 100yd Range: Ed Higgins 25-50yd Range: Dave Jaeger Pistol Range: Marc Donarski Camping: Matt Moberg Upcoming Elections Contested seats in the upcoming election. There are 12 names for 10 positions on the Board of Directors John Hein Leo Huhta Jim Schmitt Eric Nathe Ron Volrath Fred Hiller Carl Kerssen Bob White Loren Kohnen Robb Gass Lisa Olson Russ Adamski The elections will be held on December 15 at the December Membership meeting. This meeting is following the the annual Potluck at the Elk River American Legion. Meeting time is 7:00pm.
Club Officers Ed Church President 763-274- 0458 ECH116@aol.com Jon Clauson Vice President 612-251- 4286 nosualc@gmail.com Dan Larson Corresponding Secretary 763-913- 4029 ersc2015info@gmail.com Todd Wallace Recording Secretary 763-441- 7182 todd.wallace@emerson.com Brad Stevens Treasurer 763-441- 8196 brad.stevens@alerus.com Jon Thompson Finance Officer 763-263- 9587 rsgear@charter.net Scott Laaveg Conservation Officer 612-616- 3245 Scott.Laaveg@RCIS.com Merle Kratzke Sergeant at Arms 763-441- 1381 mmkratzke@hotmail.com Paul Wherley Sergeant at Arms 763-755- 8002 Bill Fenstermaker Research Officer 763-856- 0887 billfenstermaker@hotmail.com Cathy Hagen Membership Secretary 763-529- 4113 cathy_hagen@msn.com Activity Chairs Bruce Hassig Small Bore 952-249- 0283 behassig@comcast.net Nick Larson KD Range 763-633- 8080 nickl8685@charter.net Ed Higgins 100- yard Range 612-363- 6378 bighig6202@gmail.com Dave Jaeger 25/50- yard Range 847-942- 6034 djaeger101@charter.net Marc Donarski Pistol Range 612-309- 6856 m.donarski@att.net Russ Overbye Shotgun Ranges 763-241- 9611 russ6645@gmail.com Paul Rupar Archery 763-688- 3435 paulrupar@yahoo.com Matt Moberg Camping 763-441- 8114, 612-849- 4160 mmmatcher@aol.com Robert Mohs Firearms Safety 320-345- 0478 robert_mohs@yahoo.com Paula Adamski Club Food 763-464- 2854 adamski.paula@gmail.com Brian Beckwith Newsletter 612-616- 3624 erscnews@gmail.com Board of Directors at Large Jim Hagen 763-529- 4113 jim hagen@msn.com Ron Volrath 612-210- 8002 John Hein 763-786- 2338 jnhein@comcast.net Fred Hiller 763-238- 1654 tankbuoy@gmail.com Loren Kohnen 763-498- 8321 Mtrowst76@aol.com Leo Huhta 763-566- 2009 LHuhta@rtiintl.com Carl Kerssen 612-670- 2893 fyt2@foreveryourstattoos.com Jim Schmitt 763-441- 8080 jkschmitt58@gmail.com Bob White 612-867- 4073 rtw59@hotmail.com Eric Nathe 763-647- 0695 ericnathe@gmail.com
November 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9am Public Rifle Sight In 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 7pm ERSC Meeting - Clubhouse 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Notes: December 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 6pm Potluck Dinner 7pm Member Mtng Elk River Legion 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Notes: