We are closing in on the 2015 calendar year; and what a year it was! Our club has seen a lot of changes and there are a lot more to come. In 2015 we made great strides in improving our facilities and programs, we successfully held several large events, and we increased our membership base. The club is now the place to be for all shotgun shooters in the area.
My thanks go to Finance Committee members Joe Luke, Mark Travis, John Strom, Larry Rolfe, Early Piety, and Frank Williams for raising money for the sporting clay range; to Early Piety for his work on the Safety Committee; to Bud Steil for his chairmanship of the Skeet Committee, Frank Williams for his leadership of the Sporting Clays Committee, Dr. Stan Longenecker for his leadership of the Membership Committee, and Bart Colbert for his leadership on the Environmental Compliance Committee; and also to J.W Walsh and many others who served on all the above committees. I no doubt missed mentioning others that contributed and I thank them all.
We are currently working on projects that will bring the club into compliance with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). These projects should be completed by spring of 2016.
The club was very active throughout the past fall in holding many charity fundraising events, including the Boy Scouts and The St. Vincent's Foundation. We held the Emory Pappy Skeet Championship and the first Jacksonville Corporate Challenge - an event where proceeds go to the capital improvements of our club.
Now we are looking ahead to an exciting 2016. We will be hosting the Fish Fry Skeet Tournament in February; the Emory Pappy Skeet Tournament in October; Sporting Clays tournaments in April, July, August and October; a Second Annual Jacksonville Corporate Challenge (Date not determined yet); and many more fundraising and charity-related events throughout spring and fall.
By the time you read this article we will be through the holidays and you will be ready to come to the club and try all the new shooting toys you received for Christmas.
I hope to see you at the club a lot more often in 2016,
Z. Mincek
Club President
