West Chester Fish, Game and Wildlife Association
Executive Committee Meeting –2/10/2014
The February 10thmeeting was held at the East Bradford Old Schoolhouseand the meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by President Gary Dunn.
Those in attendance included: Gary Dunn, Andy Madsen, Rick Waltz, Arlene Stewart, Mark Kershaw,Mike Colley, Debbie and Larry Athens, John Johnson, Jim Semetti, Bernie McGovern and George Poole.
The agenda was presented by George and accepted unanimously: motion by Bernie, second by Andy.
The previous month’s minutes were readand accepted unanimously: motion byJohn, second by Bernie.
Treasurer’s Report:Bernie stated that membership is still way down in spite of the good turnout at our Membership meeting in January. Bernie informedthe board of his intention to complete and submit, with payment of $120, our annual application for small games of chance permit from PA. He also reported that he will make the following disbursements in February: Envirothon -$200; and Paradise Farm Camp -$500 which is again earmarked to subsidize enrollment fees for low income children. The report,including the proposedbudgetary expenditures, was then accepted unanimously: motion byMike, second by George.
Nursery Report:Mikereported that all is very cold but well at the nursery with excellent water flow and no ice forming inside the holding pens. The extremely cold weather does cause the fish to stop feeding since the water temperatures were in the 30’s; but, other than reducing their growth, did not cause problems for the fish.Mike also stated that he received a request from Brandywine Trout Club for 5 bags of trout food since they were running short of food for their fish. Mike delivered the food which will be replaced or paid for by Brandywine later in the spring.
Stream Report:Mike noted that the extreme cold caused West Valley Creek to freeze all the way across above the Ravine Road Bridge. This is something he cannot remember ever happening before.
Old Business:
Membership Meeting - Gary thanked the entire group for helping make our Membership meeting a success. Andy thanked John for his excellent presentation, and Larry for contributing his 50/50 winnings to the club, as he led the group in a round of applause for each.
Website - Larry and Justin Athens have been busy maintaining our new web page, which is now live. Larry reported that he intends to post the results of our Membership meeting elections on the site. George stated that he will continue monitoring the email at the site which has become increasingly more active to members and non-members.
Watershed Congress – George reported that he completed our registration form and submitted the $150 registration fee. John and Bernie have agreed to represent us this year at the event on March 15.
West Chester Fish, Game and Wildlife Association
Executive Committee Meeting – 1/13/2014(continued)
OldBusiness (continued):
Newsletter –George informed the group thathe had contacted Liz via email regarding our March newsletter. He reported that Liz stated that she had not yet received any submissions of material from our members; but she is still looking forward to working with everyone on the next issue that should be distributed by the end of March.
New Business:
Spring Meeting –Mike reported that we will need to change the location of our Spring Meeting and Hunter Safety School. Due to construction of their new Public Works building, the East Bradford Twp. the meeting room and parking area will be closed from March 1 through September 30, 2014. Jim volunteered to contact the Borough of West Chester to request use of the Borough Hall for the Spring Meeting scheduled to be held at 7:00pm on April 25th. John reported of several potential speakers for theSpring Meeting. The board asked him to pursue his suggestion of contacting Fred Gender, member of VFTU and co-owner of the new Tackle Depot store which specializes in fresh and salt water fishing equipment.Andy confirmed that he will have the raffle tickets printed after we have a list of prizes and a definite meeting location.George provided a draft copy of the donation request letter which he intends to forward to the board members via email later in the week. This will allow members can print as many copies as they need to solicit donations.
Double your Donations –Jim reported that he intends to join WCFGWA as a Life Member this year. He stated that his employer will match all of his ‘charitable donations’ to our club and suggested that other members ask if their employers will also match their contributions to WCFGWA. If so, Bernie or George can provide you with our tax ID number which will be needed by your employer for their match.
Recruitmentof Volunteers – Larry suggested that committee members continue to think about ways to encourage additional members to participate in volunteer efforts of our organization and share these ideas at our next meeting. He pointed out that forming committees and recruiting others to work as teams on our projects and events would allow the club to continue to grow and generate interest from new and existing members. He added that we really need a Membership Committee as stated in our bylaws and Arlene offered to consider being the chairperson for Membership. Please consider this idea for forming a committee that you may be able to serve as chairperson or member.
Stocking Dates–George and Gary reported the following three definite stocking dates with additional dates to be decided as necessary: Saturday, March 22nd at 10:00a.m.; Friday April 11th at 6:00p.m.; and Friday May 9th at 6:00p.m.
At 8:40 a motion to adjourn the meeting was made byBernie, with a second byMike. The motion was unanimously accepted.
Respectfully submitted by: George Poole, Secretary.
(Over)