To the good people of OSTA, What a great end to our “25th Anniversary” celebration year. The state shoot was a great success for both OSTA and Claylick Bowhunters. Our numbers were up substantially and several people have asked to join our club. Thanks to all those that helped make the state shoot a success. A special thanks to all the bowyers, craftsmen, vendors and members who made and/or donated items for our raffle and the Scott Gensert Memorial Kid’s Fund. The kid’s auction done very well this year and we are in great shape there to do more for OSTA kids in the future. I cannot express enough gratitude to the members of Claylick for giving us the backdrop for such a good shoot. I know they worked from the time we signed the contract last year right up to the minute we arrived and then some. It was great to have the new shower/bathroom house. The shelter house up top was a great place to hang out and enjoy each other’s company and a few good tunes at night. The food was great and hospitality second to none I have seen. We nearly maxed out the occupancy (by law) of the clubhouse during our auctions and meetings. I think we missed it by only 6 people. A memorial tree was established at Claylick so that we may shoot memorial arrows into to remember our friends and family that have passed. Due to the kid’s auction running over, the memorial arrow shoot was delayed till Sunday at which time a half dozen or so of us shot our arrows into the tree and Paul Knisely hung a sign on the tree. The tree is a large oak tree located at the beginning of the course. Thanks again to those at Claylick. I have a signed contract with them for next year’s state shoot which was co-signed by Lauby, thanks Lauby, that was a good moment. I do apologize for the delay in getting this newsletter out. I was trying to firm up our schedule before sending it out. So far, I have received most of the contracts back or at least had verbal confirmation. The schedule will be similar to this past year’s. This is all still tentative until I receive all the contract but this is what 2016 will likely look like. April will be the fun shoot at Apache. Saturday will be a free shoot day while Sunday will be a pay to shoot day. May will be back at Ross County, which was our biggest regular shoot of the year. June will see us head to Blackhoof which was a great shoot this year, our second largest regular shoot. July will be held at our friend’s at Rushcreek. These guys go out of the way for us and I hope our numbers are better here this year. August we will go visit out friends at Willard who have always done a great job for us. We will end up back at Claylick for our state shoot. I have yet to nail down the date for the banquet, but it will likely be the end of Feburary or first week of March. I will let you all know asap. The life member shirts I referred to at the state shoot will be passed out at the banquet during a designated time. I did check out a club that asked us to give them a shot at a shoot. Ashland Bowmen had asked for a while to be considered and upon a visit and in talking with “more experienced” OSTA members, I decided that club may not be big enough to hold all the campers and the logistics just didn’t seem to work out. Apparently, OSTA had been there several years ago and camping space was an issue then also. It is a great club however, and I strongly recommend checking it out. They have a beautiful property, nice course, fishing ponds, a muzzleloading club and much to offer. I personally plan on spending some time there in the future. For contact information, please call or email me. 2016 will also be a voting year for president and secretary. Nominations will be accepted throughout the year and voted on at the state shoot. Ted has indicated that he would like to pass the torch on to someone for the office of secretary. As of now, I have no issues staying on as president if that is what the club wants. Nominations are welcome. Financially, we are doing pretty well. We will have some outgoing monies for awards, banquet, insurance and possibly some vending items. Our due diligence as a club and the efforts of the past and present officers along with good shoots and the generosity of members and non-members for raffle and auction items has served us well and I am glad to report that we are stable (not rich!) financially. Thanks to everyone for making our club stronger. I truly believe 2016 could be a great year for our club. We have been getting more and more requests for membership which is important. We aren’t a young club so let us keep in mind that we should be “Fostering the spirit of traditional archery”. Let us show our children, family, friends and strangers alike the benefits to our way, our forefather’s way. The friendships made and the good times had are second to none in my experience. Let’s make sure what we are about is passed down, that is my goal and I truly feel we should all work to give others that same opportunity. Happy Hunting My Friends, Matt 740-648-5493 honeysucklewoodworks@yahoo.com
Here is a kink to the map for Claylick.
OSTA Shoot Schedule
TENTATIVE!! OSTA Banquet Cardinal Shooting Center, Merengo April Fun Shoot Apache Bowhunters Lockbourne May Ross County Bowhunters Chillicothe June Blackhoof Bowmen Jamestown July Rushcreek Sportsmen Belle Center August Willard Conservation Club Willard September OSTA STATE SHOOT Claylick Bowhunters Newark
Don’t forget to bring your canned goods / non perishable food items with you to each shoot. Items are give to the local club to donate or distribute to the needy in their area.
Thanks for helping OSTA to give back to the communities we visit.
Please support these vendors, they support us!