May Meeting Minutes May 2023
Meeting called to order by President Ralph Godin @ 7:04 pm
Pledge led by President Ralph Godin
Secretary’s report read by Jamie Belanger
Motion to accept: John Castonguay, all in favor
Treasurer’s report read by Mark Cardarelli
Motion to accept: Ray Demore, 2nd Rolly Arsenault, all in favor
Board of Advisors: BOA held meeting on April 16th per Rob Knapik’s request. BOA cannot discuss anything until Membership asks him so the meeting was adjourned until further notice.
Officers: New fobs are now working. Ralph says Janice has decided to step down as Membership chair and said to see him if you are interested in taking it over. Ralph also says we still need a clubhouse chair. Ralph says hopefully this month the patio will be done and the electric in the new shop will be worked on as well as the floor being sealed.
Archery: John says the first shoot was on the 23rd with 3 shooters due to the rain. He had a few donations from other people that came for breakfast and made $105 for the day toward archery. Next shoot is May 21st. John thanks everyone that came out to help get the course ready.
Fish: Matt says the adult tournament went well and 25 anglers checked in fish. $300 went to John Kosuth, 2nd Pete Guertin, 3rd Steve Dzicek. Matt thanks Steve and kitchen crew and those that helped him with the derby. Matt says they are stocking pond at 10am this Friday if anyone wants to come help. The pond will be closed until the junior derby on May 13th at 8am. Jerry’s bait and tackle and John Kosuth as well as others donated prizes. All year round if you come up with something, he will accept donations.
Forestry: In the last few weeks, Ray Pemberton met with Erik Irving who is a surveyor and they marked the property line with orange paint. Blazing will be done after that. The cutting plan can be decided once the blazing and the forester are done. The proposal and bill came in from the forester at $4,200 which is below what we approved.
Game: no report
Pistol: Russ is having a work party the 6th at 9am, bring your outdoor tools like rakes shovels, gloves, blowers. If anyone has drills or saws they will be fixing some of the benches. Russ asks that anyone who uses the steel targets please keep them at the berm for safety reasons and do not shoot any closer than 25 feet from those targets.
History: no report
Trap: no report
Rifle: Jim white says there will be another qualifying weekend the 6th and 7th. Art will be there 8-12 Saturday, Jim will be there 12-4 Sunday. Jim White has new signs and asks that you flip up the RANGE ACTIVE sign when you are on range, and flip it back down when you are done. Jim will also be having a work party May 20th at 9am to form the concrete pad. 40 people have been qualified at the 200 yard range so far.
Grounds and Maintenance: no report
Kitchen: Steve says he has a lot of stuff for sale in the kitchen, see him after the meeting.Steve has to clean the kitchen at some point in May to prepare for Board of Health, he is waiting on the call from them and will set up a work party. He also wants to organize upstairs too now that we have new shelves.
Membership: Janice will hang the new wait list tomorrow or Wednesday. Ralph thanks Janice for all her years of service.
Clubhouse: no report
Work hours: no report
Old Business:
- Ray asks when we are able to walk on the grass. It is not mandatory that you stay off it, it is just requested that we stay off it as much as possible.
- Mark says all initial fobs have been given out. He says you can now get additional fobs, key cards, or fobs for auxiliary members you can see him tonight, $20. The card reader and keypad are going to both stay that way. The old fobs will be eliminated from the keypad, and the lock codes for those that have them will still work. If you took the wrong fob, it is going to be deactivated, we have had at least a few instances where this has happened already.
- John Piotrowski has built the new shelves and benches in the maintenance shed.
New Business:
- Ralph wants to get up to $800 approved for a dumpster to get rid of all the trash next to the dumpster as well as emptying the 3 trailers on property. Second Ed Gervais, all in favor.
- Jon Neitz says 250th anniversary for the country is coming up. He says Freemasons were an integral part of this. One of the things they would like to do on July 22nd or 29th is to rent the building and work with the kitchen to do a meal and historic revolutionary musket event on one of those 2 days. A donation would be made. Jon is asking for approval to use of the 100yd range for the event which will be open to members as well and Jon will make sure hold harmless are signed. Ralph makes motion to allow Jon to use the range, second John Castonguay, all in favor.
- Ralph says 2 months ago there was a new ruling that someone could work others work hours. Ralph wants to amend the rule that says you can still do someone else’s work hours for hardship reasons and you can only do them for one person. Second Ed Gervais, all in favor.
- Ralph says someone brought to his attention that there might be an issue with some people regarding mowing the rifle range. Ralph says if Jim White wants to mow the range, he is free to do as he pleases and no one is to bother him about that or doing other things with the range.
- Last month the Blackstone police department put on our calendar they are closing the range for qualifying. Hanna security does it as well, but they donate about $100 per person. Someone said it was approved but no one knows anything about it. Someone was supposed to be here at the meeting to discuss but they are not in attendance. Ralph says he will not close the club every time a police department wants to use the range.
- Ray Demore asks about the targets that were shot up. Ralph says it has been said many times that we have a metal stand specific for shotguns and reminds people to use them correctly and at least replace what you damage.
Motion to adjourn 7:41 pm:
April Meeting Minutes 2023
Meeting called to order by President Ralph Godin @ 7:00pm
Pledge led by President Ralph Godin
Moment of Silence for Bill Wurzberg
Secretary’s report read by Ed Gervais
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, all in favor
Treasurer’s report read by Mark Cardarelli
Motion to accept: Jerome Jussaume, all in favor
Board of Advisors: Larry Aubin reported that the BOA met and have chosen Larry to be the Chairman, with Ed Gervais as the co-chair.
Officers: Ralph thanks everyone who participated in the game dinner. Ralph says the pole barn is done and on budget and thanked John Foley.
Archery: John says he will be having a work party April 15th to put out the 3D targets.
Fish: Matt Fontaine says the pond will be stocked April 7th at 10am and will be closed until the adult derby at 8am on April 15th.
Forestry: No Report
Game: No Report
Pistol: Russ Hinchliffe says the first clay shoot will be Thursday April 6th and a work party will be held May 6th at 9am.
History: No Report
Trap: No Report
Rifle: Jim White says he will be having a work party Saturday April 8th and spoke about the regulations and qualifying for the 200 yard range.
Grounds and Maintenance: Bob Lepage thanked everyone for helping at his work party.
Kitchen: Steve Bedard says 98 tickets were sold for the game dinner which made a profit of $3,737. Steve thanked everyone for helping but there were way too many names to mention.
Steve announced there is a 9×9 pheasant pot pie for the raffle. Steve says there will be a breakfast buffet on April 15th for the adult derby. Junior member Easter breakfast will be this Saturday April 8th. Steve says there is still pork and goose sausage for sale.
Membership: 50 new probationary members came in Saturday, 3 are at the meeting tonight, and 2 more will be coming this week. Janice thanks everyone who helped at the new member meeting and thanks Steve and the kitchen for a great lunch. Janice says the updated list will be done in a few weeks, and if any full time members do not have their badges yet to see her.
Clubhouse: Steve Bedard said the position for clubhouse chair is still open.
Work hours: No Report
Old Business: No old business
New Business:
- John Castonguay asked for up to $1200 for work benches for the new maintenance building. Russ Hinchliffe 2nd, all in favor.
- President Ralph Godin would like to appropriate $5600 for a new kitchen door and clubhouse door. He will bring it up again after he gets a third quote.
- $100 was appropriated to Wreaths Across America, John Castonguay 2nd, all in favor.
- Jerome asked about a field project and wants signs to reduce foot traffic in the fields until October on his dime. All in favor.
- Paul Soares reported the nesting boxes were empty of eggs this year and one needs replacement.
- Mark says new gate fobs for badges 1-152 are available.
Raffle winners:
Barry Mander
Dee Kwaitkowski
Bob Lepage
Pot Pie winner: Deb Burr Motion to adjourn 8:19pm
March 2023 Meeting Minutes
Meeting called to order by President Ralph Godin @ 7:01 pm
Pledge led by President Ralph Godin
Secretary’s report read by Jamie Belanger
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, all in favor
Treasurer’s report read by Mark Cardarelli
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, all in favor
Correspondence: Our club member Jason Shea is in charge of the bird program at The Beagle Club. There is a flyer on the front table for a meat raffle at the Beagle Club March 11th at 4pm to benefit their program.
Board of Advisors: no report
Officers:
- Ralph thanks Devon Deragon for taking down the tree this weekend and Bob Lepage, Pete Guertin, and anyone else that helped to cut it up.
- John Piotrowski is ¾ of the way done with the shelves upstairs. He is still under the budget of XXXX.
- Ralph thanks Dick Baker for helping him move the old trailer out of the way where the building is going.
- Ralph thanks Mark and Janice for all the work with Membership renewal.
Archery: no report
Fish: Adult tournament will be April 15th and Kids Derby will be May 13th. Matt is still looking for donations for kid’s prizes. The pond will be stocked April 7th and will be closed from then until the 15th. Stocking for the kids derby will be May 5th and the pond will be closed until May 13th. Matt is getting reports of dead fish at the pond. If you use power bait, you should not be putting the fish back. If you do not want your fish, freeze them and save them. Matt will smoke them.
Forestry: no report
Game: Jeff says the game dinner is the 25th and he is still looking for raffle donations. Steve says there are currently 4 more in house tickets.
Pistol: Russ says Thursday night clay shoots will start April 6th
History: no report
Trap: no report
Rifle: no report
Grounds and Maintenance: April 2nd Bob will be having a work party, which he will inform all new members about at the new member meeting April 1st for anyone that wants to start getting hours early.
Kitchen: Steve has the menu pretty much set and will not be sharing it in advance. Steve made 4 porchettas, zesty Italian sausage, and twice baked potatoes, see him after the meeting if you would like to buy anything.
Membership: Janice thanks everyone that helped for renewal. See Janice if you paid by mail and have not received your badge because you have paperwork to fill out. There are 53 open spots. Those consist of 6 life members, 30 probationary members, and 17 regular members. Janice will start calling the waitlist tomorrow which has 67 people.
Clubhouse: Clubhouse chair has decided to move, so Ralph is now looking for a new clubhouse chair.
Work hours: no report
Old Business: Matt is asking about the website, Ralph says ask Jamie if you need something posted.
The old garage is getting torn down and deliveries starting this week or next.
New Business: Dick Baker wants to know if he can work his grandson’s work hours. Dick Baker makes motion to allow other full time members to do another full time member’s work hours, Larry Aubin 2nd, all in favor.
BOA Nominees
Larry Aubin
Lenny Audette
Tom Bienkiewicz
Ed Gervais
Matt Fontaine
Mike Benedetto
Mark Kuras
Eli Laverdiere
Motion to adjourn 7:39pm
February 2023 Meeting Minutes
Meeting called to order by President Ralph Godin @ 7:01 pm
Pledge led by President Ralph Godin
Moment of silence for Larry Aubin’s wife Sandra.
Secretary’s report read by Jamie Belanger
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, all in favor
Treasurer’s report read by Mark Cardarelli
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, 2nd Jerome Jussaume, all in favor
Board of Advisors: Larry says at least 4 more members need to be nominated for the board of advisors tonight.
Officers: no report
Archery: no report
Fish: Matt says the pond was stocked on Thursday and reminds people to write in the book of you are taking the fish home. The adult fishing derby will be Saturday April 15th and the kid’s derby will be May 13th. Matt asks for donations for prizes for the kid’s derby.
Forestry: no report
Game: Jeff says the preserve license came in this past week. Game dinner is March 25th, tickets are available. 3 tickets left for in house, to go tickets will continue to be offered as needed. See Jeff or Steve Bedard. Jeff says raffle items are needed for those that want to donate something.
Pistol: No report
History: No report
Trap: Ron says trap will continue, weather permitting
Rifle: No report
Grounds and Maintenance: Bob Lepage says there will be plenty of work hours available throughout the year.
Kitchen: Steve says not much is going on until the game dinner. Every once in awhile Steve will make breakfast on Friday or Saturday mornings if you happen to be around. The ice machine has been cleaned and Steve will let the Board of Health know. Steve is working on the menu for the game dinner. Steve has some sausage, breakfast sausage, one porchetta, and soup for anyone that wants to purchase. See him after the meeting.
Membership: Janice says renewals are this Sunday the 12th and the 26th from 12-4. If you need hours, come down and help. New member meeting will be Saturday April 1st at 10am. Janice says make sure you are sending in both forms if mailing in your renewal.
Clubhouse: Gord is usually here once a week and cleaning the clubhouse. He is not around this week if anyone wants to clean and get some hours in.
Work hours: See Ralph if there is an issue with your slips.
Old Business: John Foley spoke with Matt Till regarding the garage door for the maintenance shed. He can give us a 12×6 door and just needs a color. Jamie will talk to John about colors after the meeting.
New Business:
- Jerome makes a motion that the club appropriate XXXX for field improvement near the new rifle range. Three loads of manure at XXX a piece were donated. Jerome says we need at least one more load for XXX and it needs to be spread, and the machine costs XXX/hr. We need 3 hours for a total of XXX. The seed is XXX.XX. 95-100lbs of oats are approximately XX. Also need kitty litter, 5 bags at approximately XX.XX. The field has little to no grass in several areas. Jerome says this is improvement for dog training, better for pheasant hunting, and to provide food for native animals. Jeff Graves wants to amend the motion to include the 5th load of manure that Jerome says we need.
- Ralph asks if this is coming out of game fund, Jeff says he did not discuss that this would come out of game. John Castonguay asks if it’s coming from game fund as opposed to general fund because this would primarily be for dog training and pheasant hunting.
- Lenny says when the field was planted by the current rifle range road it was a one-time thing, he asks if this is a one time planting. The cost provided by Jerome is for a one time planting.
- Jeff says there were fields over there that had proper cover, and says the club should probably restore what was removed. Jeff says if we vote on this tonight he is not committing the money is coming from the game fund.
- Matt asks if we can split the cost between different funds. He also asks if we know the soil can support the seed because we have been trying on that field for 10 years with no luck, Jerome says we do not know if it will work. Ralph asks if we can do a soil analysis first to see if it can support the seed before we spend the money on the field. Ralph also says the only other fund this could come out of is the stabilization fund. Russ Hincliffe makes a motion to do the soil sample first, Larry Aubin 2nd, all in favor.
- Ralph wants to make a motion to donate XXX from the club to Larry Aubin’s wife’s go fund me page, 2nd Mark Cardarelli, all in favor.
- Ralph says the forester says XXXX-XXXX for the forestry plan and it needs to be submitted by June 1st to approve and submit to the town. He will then have to charge us again for the cut plan for the forestry company. This cost is to cover a 10 year period. Currently, the taxes are XXXX with the forestry plan. Without the forestry plan, the taxes would be XX-XX. Dan Sullivan asks if the club gets the money for the trees they cut, Ralph says that will also be the case with this. Tom Maeder says he is happy to help if needed. Ralph makes the motion for XXXX for the forestry plan to move forward. All in favor, none opposed.
- Jerome wants to spend his own money to move forward with the seeding project, all in favor.
- Brian Richard asks about the letter for Electric from the town. Club is automatically signed up, unless opted out.
BOA nominations:
All members below nominated and accepted:
Ed Gervais accepted
Mike Benedetto accepted
Matt Fontaine accept
Mark Kuras accepted
Bob Dobson, accepted
Eli Laverdiere, accepted
Monique says merchandise will be for sale at the membership renewals but she will not be ordering any more merchandise. Ed’s friend can do it on order as needed.
Motion to adjourn 7:55 pm
January 2023 Meeting Minutes
Meeting called to order by President Ralph Godin @ 7:00pm
Pledge led by President Ralph Godin
Secretary’s report read by Jamie Belanger
Motion to accept: Larry Aubin, 2nd Bob Brooks, All in favor.
Treasurer’s report read by Mark Cardarelli
Motion to accept: Bob Brooks, 2nd Larry Aubin, all in favor.
Correspondence: Standish Sportsman’s Club in East Brookfield is hosting a Sportsman’s show February 11th and February 12th. $2 off coupons will be left on the front table for anyone that is interested.
Board of Advisors: No report
Officers: Ralph thanks John Piotrowski moved the building for the pheasant committee, Cheryl Briggs and crew for all the work on the kids Christmas party which had a good turnout. Ralph says John Castonguay is getting parts needed to fix the backhoe, Ralph will get a cost and if it’s lower, he will have John buy it. Ralph thanks Joe Theberge for the mugs he made for officers and chairmen for Christmas.
Archery: No report
Fish: Matt Fontaine thanks Ed Gervais for all his years of service. He is going to keep it running the same way with 4 tournaments per year. Kids derby will be the Saturday of mother’s day weekend. Matt asks if anyone wants to donate to the kid’s derby to please see him. Bob Lepage said he might be able to be co-chair for fish.
Forestry: Ralph spoke to the forester and he is willing to come have a meeting with us about having the property blazed. Member Eric Irving is a surveyor and he will do the blazing for the property. Ralph confirmed the forestry plans needs to be done by June 30th.
Game: Jeff Graves says hunts are done for the year and the pen is cleaned up. Jeff thanks those that helped throughout the season and at the work party Saturday. Jeff is looking into doing a kid’s program so he is asking for any members involved with hunter safety to reach out to him. He is hoping to deliver the youth program in August or September timeframe.
Pistol: Russ says Wednesday shoots are now over and will probably resume in April.
History: No report
Trap: Ron Manyak says they will be shooting all year long, weather permitting.
Rifle: No report
Grounds and Maintenance: No report. Bob Lepage told Ralph after the meeting that he will take over as chairman for Grounds and Maintenance.
Kitchen: Board of Health came in and everything scored 100%. The soap dispenser is getting installed tomorrow and then the dishwasher will be finished. Steve says money-wise we have done pretty good. He just gave Mark an additional XXXX. Steve says the ice machine will be getting shut down pretty soon to get cleaned by George Hamm’s grandson. Steve says he is also able to fix a lot of the other kitchen equipment if we ever need it. Steve says he has 5 more packages of breakfast sausage for $5 per package, see him after the meeting.
Membership: Janice says in person renewals will be February 12th and February 26th from 12-4. Janice says forms are sent in email, on Facebook, and on the front table. If you need hours for next year, you can help at membership renewals. Wait list is updated as of the end of December.
Clubhouse: always need someone to clean.
Work hours: Durk has been ill and in rehab. Jamie updated the probationary list for meetings and hours.
Old Business: The meeting with John Foley for the maintenance building was held and the building is put off until March. John is ordering the trusses, but he is hoping the cost of materials come down. It will take approximately 3 weeks to build.
New Business:
Mark says if you do not have your key fob as of tonight, you will be locked out. Mark says he was able to get the building system to integrate with our existing system. The fob will get you into the gate and the main clubhouse door. We are currently limited to 500 users in the system. Mark is working on getting this updated but until then, please make sure to keep tabs on your fob. Mark says we can provide a fob in the lockbox by the old gate for police and fire, but there is an upgrade to the gate that can be done to allow them in automatically. They are looking into costs for this. Ralph says fobs for new incoming members are XX. To replace the fob is XX if you lose or break yours. Mark is also looking at a long-range reader for the fobs, but it’s XXX. This option would only be available once we tie it to the building system.
Nominations:
BOA
Ralph Godin nominates Larry Aubin, Larry accepted
Larry Aubin nominates Lenny Audette, Lenny accepted
Larry Aubin nominates Tom Bienkiewicz, Tom accepted
Larry Aubin nominates Bob Knox, Bob accepted
Ralph Godin nominates Jamie Belanger for Secretary and Steve Bedard as Vice President, both accepted.
Steve Bedard nominates Ralph Godin for President. Ralph accepted.
Bob Brooks nominates Mark Cardarelli for Treasurer, Mark accepted.
Tom Bienkiewicz wins the 50/50 raffle that was run to go toward the new dishwasher.