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NW CT Chapter of Trout Unlimited Minutes of Meeting March 6, 2012
The March meeting was called to order by President Jim Fedorich at 7:30 PM at the Torrington Elks Club. Thirteen people were in attendance.
The Secretary’s Report for February was read by Secretary Bob Hart and was accepted as read.
The Treasurer’s Report was read by Mike Alciati. There is currently $1602.22 in our checkbook, of which $250 is tagged for the TIC program. The treasurer’s report was accepted as read.
Jim reported our Annual Fundraising Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 14th. Raffle tickets, meal tickets and copies of the menu are available from any of the officers. Raffle ticket sales are going well. Jim will have a gathering at his house on Wednesday, March 7th to organize the bucket raffles.
A discussion was held on the prizes for the card raffles, silent auctions, and other items. The main card raffle prizes will include a 50 caliber Thomson Center muzzle loader with scope and sling, a Model 870 Remington shotgun and two fly fishing outfits purchased from a private $500 donation. There will also be a silent auction for two cross bows, a colorized framed print of the Naugatuck River, and two small matted prints of the Naugatuck River. We continue to welcome and look for more items as prizes.
A mini raffle has been set up to help supplement our donations to the HRO stocking program and the Kid’s Goshen Fishing Derby. The raffle will consist of 100 tickets only at $10 per ticket with the drawing to be held at the HRO Game Dinner at Woodridge Lake on March 25th. Prizes will be: 1st – eight tickets (one table) to our Annual Banquet in April, 2nd – fly casting instruction for four people by Doc Schildgen, 3rd – 100 tickets for our bucket raffle at our Annual Banquet.
Jim announced our chapter received a donation in the amount of $500 from The Friends of the Naugatuck River. The monies are to be earmarked as $250 for our annual picnic and $250 for plantings for our Naugatuck River cleanup.
Frank Schildgen brought up the following announcements: the Naugatuck/Pomperaug Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be holding their monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 8th; Jenifer Zordan mentioned the “Women Gone Wild” program to benefit Multiple Sclerosis will be held on June 3rd at the Harwinton Rod and Gun Club; Harold McMillan from the Housatonic River Outfitters is looking for donations for their stocking program; and Doc Schildgen will resume his monthly fly casting instruction on the 3rd Sunday of the month at the White Memorial Woods and is looking for volunteers willing to help out.
Dick Heffernon mentioned we got a fifth school for the TIC (Trout in the Classroom) program, the Sallisbury Middle School.
A motion was made and accepted to donate $250 to help stock fish for the Kid’s Farmington River Fishing Derby.
Our program for this evening was a discussion and powerpoint presentation by Tim Berry of the Connecticut DEEP. Tim talked briefly on the State’s trout stocking program which he said was ahead of schedule and included fish that were roughly 20% bigger due to the mild winter. He also reviewed the new fishing regulations that took affect on January 1st 2012, especially the new seasonal TMAs on the Farmington River. Tim then spent most of the program discussing how both fishing and hunting license sales were down to roughly half of what they were in 1990. The DEEP is concerned this will affect future funding and has come up with a program entitled the Three Rs to help sell more licenses, with a goal of 30% more sold licenses in 5 years. The three Rs look to Recruit new people, especially young people, Retain existing license holders and Recapture previous license holders.
Our next meeting is scheduled for April 3rd at the Torrington Elks Club in Torrington, Connecticut at 7:30 PM. The program for the evening will be a talk by Dr. Bill Vincent on “America’s Waterway Watches”. Bill is a member of the US Coast Guard Auxillary and will discuss how the Coast Guard is working to raise terrorism awareness on America’s waterways.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Bob Hart Secretary, NW CT Chapter of Trout Unlimited |