|
Our greeter for the day was Deb and Kathy offered our invocation. John MacFarlane introduced his guest, Lieutenant Josh Bowyer of the Salvation Army, telling us that Josh and his wife Darby have two very cute children. Also with us as a guest of Zack's was Joel Pettigrew, a Thrivent representative, as well as two of our 2023 Lucky Duck Derby winners, Marcy Cole and Stacy Hammes. President Zack presented a $1,000 check to Marcy and a $350 check to Stacy for their ducks finishing first and second. Pete Wasberg, who sold the third-place ticket to Robin Sweeney accepted the $150 check on her behalf.  Peter, Stacy Hammes, Marcy Cole and President Zack Brian reported that we raced all 1000 ducks for the first time, with only 55 unsold, and that are gross sales and donations were $9,460, leaving about $7,800 after the $1,500 in prize money and printing expenses. He also said that after the race he attended to two duck's medical needs and that, despite valiant efforts, two ducks escaped and presumably will be seen flying south late fall. Brian then passed out this year's budget for the club and discussed it. The biggest change has to do with a decrease in our weekly meals from $10 to $8 and a corresponding increase in club dues. The Board recognized that the $10 we had been collecting from each member included a weekly $2.00 administrative charge for every Rotarian. This charge was being collected when everyone (except those whose attendance has been excused because the combination of their age and years in Rotary adds up to 85 or more and they have requested in writing to be excused) was paying for meals, whether they were eating or not. Now, because you only pay for meals when you eat, the Board increased club dues to, in effect, still collect the equivalent of $2.00 from every member weekly (but now, even from excused members). The annual RI, District and club dues will now be $300, instead of what was $200, but will be billed in two installments, one-half in July and the rest in January. Remember we waive club dues and the club pays the RI and District dues for any new member brought in during the 23-24 Rotary year. Brian then also reminded everyone that new fine and brag cards are available for the year. The sign-up sheet to volunteer at Salvation Army from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursdays was passed around, and Jamie Larson had more peach sales forms available for an expected arrival date of August 14th; presuming that date holds, sheets will need to be turned in by August 9th. There was a Rotary Minute based on the July Rotary magazine with two of three questions answered correctly. Deb led off the brags and fines, saying she enjoyed her third year of judging the food entries for 4-H and also to report she just returned from the Rotary Youth Exchange conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, learning a lot for her new role as District 5580 inbound student coordinator. Mark self-assessed a fine for missing the prior week's meeting while Wally said he and Zack enjoyed their canoe outing for the Lucky Duck Raffle, albeit Zack had two unintended trips into the water. This writer congratulated Buzz for selling 230 Duck Derby raffle tickets; Buzz said his secret was contacting former Rotarians who may feel a little compelled to support us. Matt followed up by saying he appreciated the fact his canoe partner, Brian, kept him dry, although the same could not be said of Brian himself. Keith Olson was our program for the day, talking about shooting trap, skeet and sporting clays. He has been a trap shooter just shy of 50 years and is a charter member of our local shooting club, having served as its president for seven years. The sport started in Europe in the 1700's and the target was live pigeons -- there were millions of them. A pigeon was placed in a trap, spring-loaded device which was opened by yanking on a rope. In the 1830's a gentleman came up with a little glass ball as an alternate target and they eventually put different colors inside them. Clay pigeons started to be made in the late 1800's. Today's clay pigeon is just shy of four inches in diameter and one inch in height; most are orange while yellow ones are treated as the hens, which you apparently try to avoid shooting. The American Trap Association (ATA) is the governing body, and all trap ranges are set-up the same, the majority facing north. An ATA target is moving at about 42 to 43 miles an hour. Trap shooting involves the shooter moving to five different stations, shooting at a target that is consistently moving at the same height and at pre-set angles. Sporting clays simulates hunting, with some of the clay pigeons running on the ground and at different angles. Keith described skeet as hardest of the three, where you are given 24 shots and a mulligan to shoot at clay pigeons being released from both a low and a high tower. Nowadays there are automatic machines that can propel thousands of clay pigeons without manual labor. (I hope I got all this right.) Keith said that 38,000 youth shoot trap in Minnesota, with 450 schools registered to compete in the sport. There were 12,000 who attended this summer's event in Alexandria, with 8,300 shooters. Over a four-day event there were 800,000 clay targets shot. There is a high degree of etiquette followed, with the result that even after over 2 million shots, there has not been a single accident at the event. Keith also brought some very interesting guns with him, some borrowed from others, and told us about them. There was a Browning 425 sporting clay gun, a Browning Citori trap gun, a rare Ljutic space gun (of which only 200 were made), a 1918 Ithaca single barrel trap gun that is rumored to have belonged to Henry Ford, and a Kreeghoff K-5. The last referenced gun costs $7,800 to begin with and you can add $4,000 to $5,000 in "furniture" or accessories, $30,000 to $40,000 in engraving, with a custom fit costing an additional $5,000. Keith encouraged us all to try out this hobby and it was obvious he has both extensive knowledge and gets a lot of joy out of it. |
.png)
