Minutes from the Annual Meeting of the Wintergreen Sporting Club, Nov. 5, 2016

The Annual Meeting of the Wintergreen Sporting Club was called to order by John Tani (president) at 5:07 PM on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, at the Tuckahoe Clubhouse. Over 50 people were in attendance.

The minutes of the meeting of November 10, 2015, were approved by voice vote.

Stuart Harvey (Secretary) presented a revised set of by-laws which were submitted to the membership by email in October 2016 for approval (see approved changes here, marked in red). These changes were affirmed by voice vote.

Bruce Henderson (Treasurer) reported on the club finances. The club is in satisfactory financial condition, with over $3,000 in the bank and no foreseeable unmanageable expenses. Income is mostly from annual membership dues of $25 per year per person. Donations by members have covered the major expense of the aerator for the trout pond. Also sharing expenses with WPOA have reduced the club’s costs and ongoing responsibilities regarding the aerator. Details follow:

Opening Balance*     $1,520
Total Income*              4,553
Expenses*                    2,426
Ending Balance*         3,647

* These numbers do not include a "donation fund" for the procurement of the aerator for the WPOA Trout Pond in Stoney Creek. Aerator Donations Received: $3,146. Sent to Wintergreen Property Owners Association: $2,000, Balance on-hand in trout pond fund: $1,146.

Reports by the Leads

Social Committee: Judy Rendich, social chair, reported on the social aspect of the club and in particular, the current meeting.  She covered the scoring system for the chili contest. (See Social Committee Report for more details here.) She asked for suggestions for future events.

Boating Group: Jerry Rendich, boating lead, covered past activities and mentioned plans for 2017. (See Boating Group report here for more details.) Jerry also announced a gift to the club, by Ellen Hampton, of a sit-on-top kayak. 

Archery Group: Mike Capps, archery lead, pointed to the much increased participation in archery events to where the club may need to add targets at the Rodes Farm range. Targets in place now are wearing out due to heavy use. He also noted the construction by volunteers of the field archery trail in the woods at the end of Old Stoney Creek Road owned by WPOA. (See Archery Group report here.)

Shooting Group:

Pistol and Rifle Team: Gary Madison, the shooting group’s new pistol and rifle lead with Ron Coté, reported they had two trips to the Hite Hollow range this year. He noted the gun safe handling review given in October which attracted 45 attendees. The team hopes to use Rivanna Rifle and Pistol club range in Charlottesville (at extra expense to the participants). The club is looking for other ranges in the area and is open to suggestions from the members. He said the group seeks both indoor and outdoor ranges.

Shotgun Team: Charles Schulte, the shooting group’s shotgun lead, mentioned the WSC activity based at Flying Rabbit, a target range in Mt. Crawford, Va. This shooting team has been meeting twice a month as weather permits.

Jim White, a club member, announced a National Rifle Association course on firearm safety at Wintergreen’s Tuckahoe Clubhouse, a follow-up to the firearms safety meeting held in October. This would not be a club program but will be available to members and the program will be promoted to the membership.

John Tani mentioned an opportunity for club members to become involved in 4-H instruction regarding archery and firearms. 

Fishing Group:

Bruce Henderson, fishing lead, covered the developments at the Wintergreen ponds.  The club partnered with Lynchburg College to survey three of our ponds to determine their health and other factors. He announced the successful installation of an aerator in the trout pond, a club project working with WPOA. It is to be fully operational in the next few weeks. Future work on the trout pond includes adding cover to improve the habitat. The club hopes to continue to work with Lynchburg College to study the conditions of several more Wintergreen ponds.

John Holman conducted an excellent and well-attended bass fishing clinic for club members in late September, Bruce reported.

The first WSC Bass Fishing Tournament is being planned for April 2017.  Also, fly tying classes are again being planned. The club has a need for a number of fly-tying vices for the class. Al Simpson and Mike Fisher plan to conduct a one-day trout fishing clinic as well.

Meeting adjourned at 5:55 PM, when a club dinner was held.

Next meeting--5/13/2017

Submitted by Stu Harvey, Secretary, Wintergreen Sporting Club