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Membership Meetings

Minutes – 5/10/08 Board Mtg.
Sharon Hall / Penn State Shenango Campus / Sharon, Pa

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In Attendance:

A. Monroe, P. Anthony, J. Kremis, N. Loprire, T. Jochman, C. Jochman, and R. Natoli
1. Opening Comments – Aaron Monroe
  • Mercer County Sportsman’s Field Day on June 7th – Dick Rickert asked Aaron to review a request by Jim Tidd of the Grove City Sportsman’s Club.  Jim asked Dick if TU would be willing to have a booth at the field day.  We would be required to give a fish cleaning demonstration for all of the youth groups stopping at our booth during the day.  Dick Natoli, Pete Anthony, and Aaron volunteered to help out at the booth.  We need to contact Jim Tidd to determine who would supply the fish for the fish cleaning demonstrations.
2. Minutes from Last Meeting – Aaron Monroe
  • The minutes were approved with a date change for the August Workday.
3. Treasurer’s Report – Jeff Kremis
  • Budget - Jeff reviewed his budget report for the period ending April 30th.
  • Banquet Summary – Jeff reviewed his spreadsheet for the April 5th Banquet held at the Shenango Valley Civic Center.  We had approximately 220 people attend, and as a result of that increase, we increased our profit over 2007 by 17%.  The banquet was a big success; the only problem we had was running out of food due the large increase in attendance over 2007 (220 versus 180 in 2007).
  • Donation Plan for 2008 – The board discussed various worthy organizations that could use funding, and they decided to contribute to the following organizations:

    1.     Trout in the Classroom - $750

    2.     3-C-U Trout Association, in care of Bob Hetz - $300

    3.     Munnell Run Farm Foundation - $400

    4.     Pa TU and Pa Trout Magazine - $250 and $150 respectively - Total of $400

    5.     Shenango River Watchers - $50

    Tom Jochman made a motion to disburse the above listed funds, Jeff Kremis 2nd the motion, and it passed.
4. Committee Reports:

A. Watershed Coordinator – Jeff Kremis/Jim Mondok

  • Springfield Gulch Surface Mining – P. Anthony said that Jim Mondok is investigating the efforts planned for the wetland area of Mill Creek.  They are definitely going to mine it, and we should monitor their activity to insure they comply with DEP regulations.  Jim will report on this next month.
  • Spring Workday – The date is set for August 23rd at Cool Spring Creek.  We will cut down some trees and we need to contact landowners for permission to do that.  Tom Jochman suggested we ask George Junior Republic School for Boys for help in doing the tree work.
  • Easement Project along Cool Spring Creek – May 15 was the deadline for 2008 Growing Greener Grant requests.  Consequently, Jim Mondok and Pete Anthony plan to submit a proposal for next year.  They will work on a proposal that includes land on both sides of the stream from Route 62 to Route 258 (Scrubgrass Road)

B. Nursery – Pete Anthony

  • Munnell Run Nursery Status – Pete reported that all of the Trout have been stocked, and the raceway is empty.  The nursery volunteers will do required maintenance; the raceway will be emptied in order to clean it and evaluate whether painting will be required.  Trout for the 2008 / 2009 year will be delivered Tuesday, July 1st.
  • TU’s Oil Creek Chapter Donation – The chapter donated $200 to us in appreciation for fish stocked in Little Sandy Creek, which came from our nursery.
  • Recycling Bottles & Cans – If anyone has bottles and cans they can drop off at the nursery, Pete will see that they get delivered to 3C-U when they purchase Trout feed.  Our nursery receives a fish food discount for the recyclable materials.

C. Banquet / Newsletter - Nick Loprire

  • 2009 Banquet – Possible dates for next years banquet would be March 21st or 28th (first choice).
  • Banquet Earnings – See section 3, the Treasurers report.

D. Membership – Tom Jochman

  • Tom will update his Newsletter mailing list and bring it to the August 3rd picnic / meeting at Mercer County Conservation District Training Building.  He will divide up the list so our board members can make phone calls to inquire about newsletter “hard copies”.  We may be able to save money by e-mailing newsletters to our Trout Unlimited Chapter members in lieu of hard copies sent via the US mail.

E. Youth Coordinator – Dick Rickert

  • Trout in the Classroom Grant – Dick said that the application has been mailed and it will secure funds to help pay for the program slated for Laurel High School.
  • Mercer County Sportsman’s Field Day – See the “Opening Comments” section at the beginning of the meeting minutes.
5. Old Business:
  • Nothing discussed
6. New Business:
  • 2009 Banquet Ideas – Tom Jochman suggested we learn from an idea that the Butler Township Fireman’s Association uses to peak the interest of their banquet attendees.  The Butler folks list their prizes on the outside of the envelopes they hand out with banquet tickets they have sold.  That way, the people walk in the door knowing what the prizes are, and that may help to increase spending on raffle tickets.  Another way of getting prize information out early to our chapter members is to include a separate Banquet Prize List (removable page) with the Newsletter.