To the Good People of OSTA, Another great shoot at Rushcreek is in the books. Attendance was up a bit over the previous shoots which was nice to see. The folks at Rushcreek really done a great job again this year having everything ready to go and the grounds were very well kept, well done and thank you to them. There aren’t many places I can recall where they bring camp wood right to the fire and make sure there is no one going hungry. The Fish fry was great as usual. Thanks to Rushcreek again for a job well done. Ed Jarvis has decided to step up and take care of the kids shoot. We had a really nice kids shoot at Rushcreek with about 10 shooters. Ed did a great job with the shoot and added extra incentives to the shoot which made it even more fun for them. I found a few apples and made another reward type shot if the kids hit the apple. Curtis Chapman hit the apple three times in a row so he got an OSTA t-shirt, good job Curtis! With Ed stepping up, I feel the kid’s fun shooting program is in good hands. I would like to encourage others to help Ed out as needed. During the meeting on Saturday, possible shoot locations were discussed including Guernsey, Jackson, and East Homes. I am looking into all of these locations, and would like as much feedback from the members as possible on next year’s shoot locations. The office of Secretary needs to be filled for OSTA to continue in the manner we are currently operating in. I am not opposed to staying on as president but I will not also do the secretarial duties. If this office is not filled, major changes will have to be made. If other officers are not willing to go forward without a secretary we have no choice but to shut our club down. We cannot do it all. Ted has served our club well, and deserves a well needed rest. Not to mention, he is a newlywed. Congratulations Ted and Julia. We also discussed OSTAs involvement in shows/other events. So far it is looking like events like the Deer and Turkey show where it is a high cost low reward may not be in our best interest. However events like the George Hilf which is low cost or free, may be worthwhile for the club to attend. Fletch and Chris have expressed interest in helping out with this. Paul Knisley will not be able to attend the Willard shoot, but in his absence Jeff Fletcher has agreed to make sure the Kids bows and arrows will be there and available if anyone needs them. Thank you Fletch. It is that time of year when we need to start seriously thinking about the state shoot. We need donations for the raffles and auction items and giveaways for the kids, door prizes, etc. The items for the Scott Gensert Memorial Kids Fund Auction should be quality items so that we may raise money for that program and keep auction time down. If anyone runs into items for door prizes or has items for raffle please notify me to see if we need those items before you spend the money on it. A brief discussion was had at the meeting about arrow rules for the longbow class. This issue was not brought up in the proper fashion as pertains to our constitution and bylaws, and was so addressed. It was my error that this issue was addressed for as long as it was, that should not have been the case. Folks, these issues should be dealt with by submitting a proper written proposal stating changes and justification for those changes especially when dealing with longstanding rules. However, a written proposal was submitted after the meeting and after review by the committee it was deemed necessary for the proposal to be rewritten for more clarification and justification. A proposal has been made as follows: Proposed change –“All classes may shoot arrow material of choice including natural arrows such as wood, bamboo, or river cane; aluminum or carbon arrows.” To replace existing verbiage in black and in parenthesis. Basis for the change is to encourage more people to participate in our shooting events and to simplify the classifications to the bow being shot for the competition, not the bow and arrow combination. Essentially, we will have no more arrow restrictions whether it is recurve, longbow, or selfbow. I think it would be prudent for our members to do some research, read our constitution and do some soul searching before voting on this issue. I have done a fair bit of research on how this proposal should be voted on, this will be discussed at the next meeting at Willard. Also to make things perfectly clear, a proposal will be discussed to clarify once and for all how OSTA votes on standing rules. Our next shoot will be held at Willard on August, 6th and 7th. The folks at Willard always do a great job. We expect a great shoot. Hope to see you all there. Respectfully Matt Fout