Attendance: J. Kremis, C. Jochman, T. Jochman, W. Stevenson, E. Armburger, J. Mondok, T. Harris, N. Loprire, P. Anthony, K. Tarczy, R. McClelland, J. Kearney, and R. Natoli

• Jeff introduced our guest for the meeting, Bill Melaro, who recently moved to Sharon from the state of New York. He and his wife wanted to be closer to his children and their families, so they chose Sharon, Pa. Bill was a member of Trout Unlimited in NY.

• The minutes were approved from January 24, 2011.

• Neshannock Chapter “Employee Identification Number” (EIN) – Carol and Jeff discussed our chapter’s EIN number problem. TU National assigned the same EIN number to 2 different TU Chapters, and that presents a problem when our chapter turns in the financial report at the end of the fiscal year. Carol encountered a problem with the Internal Revenue Service that was a result our fiscal report from the fall of 2010. No resolution at this time.
• Receipts & Disbursements Report – Carol reviewed the financial report for January.
• The Treasurers Reports will be filed for future audit

A. Stream Improvement – Jeff Kremis

• Coolspring Creek Improvement Plan – Jeff reported he is still waiting for a proposal from Mark Sausser, Pa Fish & Boat Commission.
• Big Run Project – Tom Weingartner distributed most of the rocks on top of the mudsill planking. We may have to wait until this summer to distribute the remaining rock. Also, we could use a load of “smaller size stone” to fill in voids between the existing large “basket ball sized rocks”.
• North Deer Creek – Eric said their last meeting was held in October, and the next one will be March 12th. The kids fishing event starts April 16th and runs for 30 days.
• Custalogatown Boy Scout Camp Project – Eric and Mark Sausser will meet on March 30th to do a project layout for rehabilitating a “deeper water pool” in North Deer Creek; this “enhanced pool” will be used for handicapped accessible trout fishing. Phase I of the project will begin on the August 27th workday.

B. Nursery – Pete Anthony & Ken Tarczy

• Meeting Minutes & Stocking Schedule – Pete sent out the nursery meeting minutes from February 19th. He also sent out the trout stocking schedules for Munnell Run Nursery and also for the Pa Fish & Boat Commission.
• Raceway Status – Average size of the brown trout is 11 inches long.

C. Banquet / Newsletter -  Nick Loprire  & Carol Jochman

• Presentation – Glen Weisner, guest Fly-Tier and owner of Glen River Fly Co. will do a presentation on fly-fishing at the front end of the banquet that may take about 20 minutes.
• Major Bucket Raffle Prizes:
  • $500 Neshannock Creek Fly Shopping Spree
  • Orvis Helios Fly Rod (choice of weight)
  • Damascus Steel Knife and Buck Knife
  • Beeman Air Rifle with Scope
  • Orvis C.F.O. Reel & Reddington RS2 - 5/6 Reel
  • Orvis Waders, Orvis Sonic Rain Jacket
  • TomTom XL 335.LM Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Rod Raffle Prizes:
  • Diamondback Fly Rod made by Jim Brown
  • Orvis 4-piece Fly Rod
  • Powell Fly Rod (Nick purchased for an earlier banquet)
• Television, Meat, and 50/50 Raffles will be held again this year along with the Scale-the-Trout Game. Scale-the-Trout winners will get tickets for the Bucket Raffle.
• Munnell Run Nursery Table – A photo display detailing nursery activities will be set up, and nursery staff will sell hats, T-Shirts, and promote TU membership. A free hat will be awarded to those signing up for TU.
• Silent Auction Prizes – About 40 prizes including the following:
  • Several boxes of hand-tied flies
  • Fly Tying gift baskets
  • Wine gift baskets
  • Large assortment of fly fishing equipment
• Verbal Auction – Various artist prints of the outdoors and the boxes of flies tied by our guest tiers will be offered for bidding during this auction.
• Free Gift for attendees – Nick showed us a sample ballpoint pen with our chapter logo on them from National Pen Company; they will be given away at the end of the banquet.
• Newsletter – Tom Jochman said he is e-mailing the Newsletter to 160 out of 263 Chapter members. He recently updated the Chapter 216 membership roster, and the roster has a listing for: 1) those with e-mail addresses, 2) those without, 3) landowners, and 4) those that had their membership expire in 2010. Anyone who needs a copy, contact Tom.

D. Membership – Tom Jochman

• Chapter 216 Membership Roster Updated – See the “Newsletter” section above for details of the changes.

E.   Youth Committee – Jeff Kremis

• Rivers Conservation Youth Camp – Jeff Kremis
  Jeff said that applications are due to be submitted March 15; this event takes place at the Allenberry resort in PA. The age of kids being accepted are from 13 to 16 years of age, and so far we have no applications for kids that we could sponsor.
• Wolf Creek Youth Fishing Derby – R. Natoli and Carol Jochman
  R. Natoli reported he has approval of the date of April 30 and “rainout date” of May 7 from Grove City Borough Manager Vance Oaks, and GC Sportsman’s Club member Jim Tidd. He also sent in a Permit Request to the Pa Fish & Boat Commission on February 28th. Everything is working smoothly so far.
• Kids Event in May at Buhl Park in Sharon – Jeff Kremis
  The Shenango River Watchers (SRW) are holding their a kids event in May, and they need volunteers to show kids the technique of casting used for fly fishing. Possible volunteers include N. Loprire, J. Kearney, W. Stevenson, and K. Tarczy. There may be about 200 kids attending.
• Cub Scout Tour – Tom Jochman
  Tom setup a date for Saturday, May 14 for a tour of our Munnell Run Nursery and the wetlands, a fly casting demonstration, Coolspring Creek min-stocking, and a discussion of various stream improvement projects our chapter works on. Scouts attending the tour include Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Weblos. He asked for volunteers from the board to assist with this program; possible volunteers include R. Natoli, T. Harris, K. Tarczy, and P. Anthony.

• Trout in the Classroom (TIC) – Jeff Kremis / Reg McClelland
  The Delahunty School (Hermitage, Pa) program is in need of “backup equipment” that could be used in case of failure of the existing chiller, power head, filter, etc. Jeff reported he wrote up a grant for $900 that, if approved, would pay half the cost of the backup equipment. Also, he and Reg are going to set up a day for a visit to our nursery followed immediately by trout stocking in Coolspring Creek.
   
  Also, Munnell Run Nursery staff member Tom Harris filled out a grant application for the same equipment to be used for a new TIC program for Mercer, Pa’s 9th grade school class. Tom and Luke Rust, 9th grade Biology teacher, will attend the TIC training.
   
  
• Chapter Website – Pete Anthony said the John Siebert has most of our updates completed, and he is very pleased with John’s work on the site.
   
  
• Chapter Bylaws – Jeff will work on them this winter; they need to be submitted for approval by the end of 2011.

• Marcellus Shale CCC Training – Jeff reported the training would be held March 19th in Clarion, Pa. Possible Neshannock TU board members attending include J. Kremis, J. Kearney, and R. McClelland.
• Donation to Laurel High School – Pete Anthony secured a promise of 100 Brook Trout and 100 Rainbow Trout from the Laurel Conservation Club cooperative nursery. These trout will be stocked in Wolf Creek just prior to the Fishing Derby to be held April 30th. He suggested we should donate $100 to their club to be used for trout feed at their nursery.
   
  Jim Mondok made a motion to donate $100 to the Laurel Conservation Club, Eric Armburger seconded it, and the motion passed
   
  
• Project Healing Waters – In the interest of time, Jeff said we would discuss this at our March meeting.