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From: John B. Hubard...President ECSC
Posting Date: April 19th, 2007
Emmet County Sportsmens Club Spring President's Letter...
Now that spring has finally come, one's thoughts start turning to the summer and the many things possible while enjoying the warmth of the sun. For the members of this club, those thoughts usually include lazy days spent busting targets with a favorite shotgun.
The purpose of this letter is to let you know what has been going on at the ranges since your last visit, so you can rejoin us and feel right at home.
First, and most important, the sale of our Conservation Easement to the Little Traverse Conservancy has been concluded, the funds have been transferred to our account and we have started on the capital improvement plan we so desperately need. At the moment I am writing this, the site for the new pole barn has been cleared and grading almost complete. Bill Sutton, the head of our building committee, feels construction on the pole barn is just a few weeks away, and will be followed shortly thereafter by the well and septic systems. The last phase will be the renovation of the clubhouse (with an indoor toilet!), which might be underway by late May, if all goes well. We hope to finish everything by mid summer.
It should be mentioned that our fund raising was concluded much sooner than expected, thanks not only to some very supportive members, but also to a very generous anonymous challenge grant offered just before Christmas. The grant helped us close our funding gap almost overnight, for which we all should be most thankful.
The mild fall weather permitted us to use the 5-stand long into November before having to shut it down. It was opened last week almost without any problem and has been in use several times since. We will get the crazy quail course up and running as soon as the contractors no longer need the soil from the lower skeet field for fill. The other venues are up and running as usual.
We will be starting a spring league on 15th April, which should last for six weeks. Keith Danforth is organizing it so that every experienced shooter will be paired with a novice (teams of two persons). The experienced shooter will shoot the more difficult targets, while the novice will shoot the easier ones with both scores added together for a composite score. One of the most important goals of the league is to attract younger people to the game, as well as having fun in a novel way.
The club has ordered a new Atlas 250 trap machine for installation in the tower at the 5-stand range. The 40-year old Remington machine, previously in the tower, has been sold. The newer Atlas will be lighter and can be moved more easily to other positions, if needed.
We intend to purchase our new targets in May, usually 100,000 birds, which should last to summer 2008.
There have been several requests for us to set up a "ladies day" during which any aspiring female shooter could get some basic instruction on the shotgun without enduring the critical eye of their male colleague. The club has two female shooters (both excellent shots, you guys) who have offered to help coach, so it is my hope that we can set this up in late June or early July. Please pass this on to anyone you feel might be interested.
The club also intends to hold more "Youth/Novice Days" as well.
The last item of note is an unpleasant one: we have a considerable number of minor repairs needed to the structures at the club, so I am asking for help from anyone able to spend an occasional day or so at the range fixing something. We have one trap house roof which is leaking, at least one door rotted, a gun rack broken, almost all the fiber glass roofs of the 5-stand shooting stands need replacement, etc. Please let me, or any of the Directors of the ECSC Board, know you are willing to help and can swing a hammer. Most of the repairs involve light carpentry skills and/or someone to merely hold something while another does the tricky work. This is your club; please help.
I hope everyone is having a pleasant spring and is looking forward to a summer of shooting at the club ranges. Please bring a friend; we all enjoy new faces, new jokes and seeing new guns.
John B. Hubard
President Emmet County Sportsmens Club
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