To The Good People of OSTA,Another great year of shooting, camping and telling stories with our friends has come to a close. We ended the year with a great State Shoot at Claylick. Claylick done a really great job again this year getting everything prepared for us and setting us up to have a great weekend. I really appreciate all the hard work the members at Claylick done to make things run smoothly. The upgrades done at the memorial tree were an especially nice gesture and appreciated. Thanks to Roger and all those involved in that project. We were graced by the flyover of two bald eagles Sunday morning to start the day off right. Overall, we had @340 shooters for the weekend as well as several folks who came just to visit with family and friends. I’m looking forward to going back there next year for our State Shoot. Without going into a long list of thank you, I would like to say that I truly appreciate all the help from everyone that pitched in to make this a great shoot. You know who you are. Saturday was a pretty busy day with not much stop in action it seemed like. Mike and Ted worked like crazy trying to get everyone registered and peddle shirts and what not. We tried to move everyone along as quickly as we could. Ed Jarvis ran the kids balloon shoot in the afternoon. I didn’t get to see much of that but it looked as though the kids were having a good time. Not long after the kid’s shoot we gathered for our meeting. During the meeting we had basically two main issues to discuss. The need for a secretary and the discussion of a possible change in arrow materials rules. After what seemed like an eternity of nobody stepping forward or making any nominations for secretary, Bobbi Fry was nominated and was confirmed unanimously as our new secretary. I hope everyone understands that her willingness to do this task saved our club from implementing several changes which many wouldn’t have liked. She should be commended for her effort. No nominations were made for the office of president so you all are stuck with me for a little while longer. We didn’t talk about nominations for vice-president or treasurer but those offices will be up for nominations next year (FYI). Now, the arrow rule. After much debate, research and deliberation, It was determined by the executive committee to vote on the arrow change rule at our banquet, which by the way, is scheduled for March 5 at Claylick. Originally, I announced that the vote would be held at the state shoot meeting. However, since the language of the proposal was changed and had not been discussed on or published the appropriate amount of times according to our Constitution and By-laws, it was necessary to push the vote to the banquet. Measures are being taken to help better define how Standing Rules will be voted on in the future. With that said, the proposal for the arrow rule change is as follows:(Longbow and Selfbow classes must shoot wooden arrows; anything else constitutes Recurve Class for competition.) 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 verbage in black and in parenthesis above. 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.The proposal has now been published and discussed the appropriate amount of times and will be voted on at the banquet. Any changes will take effect beginning at our May 2017 shoot. Saturday evening we had a good dinner provided by Claylick and then moved on to the Scott Gensert Memorial Kid’s Fund Auction. Thanks to all who brought items to auction off and to those who bid on items. We had some spirited bidding and some good fun in doing so and raised $1,866 for the Fund. Well done folks. Make sure that if you still owe for items you get with Mike Peters to settle up. Money is due by the banquet. This past year there were several unpaid accounts that just drug on all year. If this happens again this year we will likely not accept credit on good faith next year. Also, I was not pleased at all with how rude some people were during the auction. Hoot and I couldn’t hear each other from four feet away at times because of all the jabbering going on. Actually having to yell at adults on numerous occasions during an auction for kids in memory of Scott was ridiculous. So disrespectful. It seems to be the same people over and over. This WILL NOT HAPPEN NEXT YEAR. Removal from the function or event is possible, pulling of score cards, member in good standing status revoked ect. It is all on the table. The same will be true for meetings.Sunday morning was a new day. A wake up call from Huff’s dad flying overhead, morning Church service and a pair of bald eagles gracing the sky over the first few targets going up the hill. I heard we had a little congestion on one of the courses and that will be looked at for next year. We ended up having a few shoot-offs and awards were handed out shortly after. Raffle winners were announced and door prizes handed out to both adults and kids. I hope that everyone enjoyed the shoot and if you have any suggestions on how we can do better, let me know. With the days getting shorter and the leaves starting to turn colors and fall, it won’t be long till we switch from foam to the real thing. Best of luck to everyone who makes it out this year and be sure to post pictures of your hunts on our Facebook page. Matt740-493-3129honeysucklewoodworks@yahoo.com
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.
