Welcome to Bullet Points, our news & events email.
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Housekeeping note:
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Wildlife Awards cancelled |
Due to insufficient interest, we have unfortunately had to cancel the Wildlife Awards planned at the clubhouse for Saturday, June 10.
This is unfortunate, as our previous efforts to incorporate the Family Fun Day member appreciation event and these Wildlife Awards also met with insufficient interest. The feedback from our polling following the cancellation of last year’s event indicated that these Wildlife Awards were preferred as their own standalone event, and should be held in the spring. However, despite making those changes for this year’s event, we still find ourselves with the same result. Consideration will need to be given to the future course of this event.
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Reminder: you are responsible for checking for the status of any fire bans |
With the return to warm, dry weather it is timely to make the reminder again that you are personally and individually responsible for checking for any fire advisories or fire bans prior to starting a fire on the property.
You are also personally and individually responsible for any charges Beaver County levies to extinguish a wildfire resulting from a fire you started in spite of a ban.
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Reminder: we no longer have a physical office location |
We have concluded our arrangement with the firm that handled our member services for us previously. This means that our office is no longer located on 99th Street in Edmonton.
Why did we make this change?
The prior arrangement was no longer serving our purposes and the decision was made, this spring, to sunset our dealings with them and bring these services in-house instead.
Where will our office be?
It isn't feasible for us to maintain our own full-time physical office. Instead, we will maintain a virtual office and will be keeping to our usual Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. hours.
What's the best way to get hold of us?
As before - an email to [email protected] is the simplest and best way to reach us. You can also contact us by phone at 780-467-0085 (same number as always). If your call is not answered, we may be helping another member or just be away from the phone. Just leave a voicemail and we'll get back to you as soon as we're able.
Will there be any in-person office days?
Yes, absolutely. We will make arrangements for in-person office hours on one day each month at the Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce, 100 Ordze Road in Sherwood Park.
For the remainder of 2023, these in-person office days will be 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. on the following dates (more dates are included during renewal time):
- June 15
- July 20
- August 17
- September 21
- October 19
- November 16
- November 30
- December 14
Why are in-person office days even needed?
This is a fair question - we've structured our website to be as self-serve as possible, we've developed a rich set of Frequently Asked Questions, and the vast majority of remaining questions and conversation is able to occur by email or over the phone.
There will always be members who need a helping hand with things, like processing renewals or making online payments. Also, some people prefer to deal with things in person. To facilitate this, we'll be maintaining these in-person office days.
So wait - we won't be able to just drop in whenever to pick up gate access cards now?
Unfortunately no, this is something that just isn't feasible to maintain. We are however committing to processing gate access card requests in a timely fashion to minimize wait times (see the next section below).
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Gate access cards: a cohesive process |
With the previous office arrangement, management of the electronic gate access cards tended to be variable and chaotic. We're intent on smoothing that out, so we're putting some solid structure in place. Below are the details for that.
Service expectation
To begin, we will aim to process electronic gate access card orders within 5 business days.
Cards for new memberships
We will process gate access cards for new memberships on Thursdays, mailing the cards out on Fridays. These should reach you in the following week.
Cards for renewing members
Our membership year runs from January 1 to December 31. If you renew prior to December 31, your card stays continuously active. The gate access cards of members who have not renewed by December 31 are deactivated on January 1. When a late-renewing member has paid the renewal fee (and completed the orientation, if needed), their access card will then be reactivated. (We don't send you a new card, we reactivate your existing card - we get this question a lot.) Members who have renewed prior to 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday will have their gate access cards reactivated on Thursday of that week. We are no longer reactivating on demand - it's just not sustainable.
Pick up of gate access cards
It will be possible to pick your electronic gate access card at one of the in-person office days listed above. Contact us by email at [email protected] before 4:30 p.m. on the day prior, to arrange this. Outside of this, we will simply mail you your card.
Purchase of extra access cards
Members with a Family membership may purchase an additional access card, if desired, for $25 with an email to [email protected]. These are processed with the same timelines as cards for new memberships, as mentioned above.
Replacement of lost/stolen/damaged cards
We will "warranty" gate access cards for manufacturer defects. That is, if your card stops working and there is no visible damage (we'll need you to send us pictures), we will replace it at no charge.
Replacements for damaged or lost cards can be purchased for $25.
Replacement cards will be processed with the same timelines as listed for new membership cards above.
Lost or stolen cards must be reported to us as soon as you become aware of the fact (obvious reasons).
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We've been continuing our updating of the property and its amenities through the spring. Below is a few projects we've gotten completed. |
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Regrading around the clubhouse
We have regraded around the clubhouse to facilitate drainage away from the foundation. The concrete pad on the north side, which was sloping toward the building due to settling and was in poor shape, was also removed, and gravel and walkways added.
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Fence along laneway in campsite #7
The entrance to the laneway leading to our maintenance storage site sits adjacent to campsite #7. To ensure the laneway does not become blocked when this site is in use, we have added a short length of fence along the side of the lane. A chain and 'staff only' sign will be added to the end of the laneway soon.
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Storage shed moved
The storage shed used by some of the shooting leagues has been moved from its previous position north of the garage to the dead space by power pole next to the 50 m range.
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Gravel added around the spring throwers
The ground around the spring throwers on the Shotgun range can get fairly muddy in wet weather. Gravel has been added to these areas to make them more pleasant to use following a rain.
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Town hall regarding the Shotgun range |
We'd like to put out a call to all users of the Shotgun range and gauge interest in a town hall to discuss the overall layout, safety, and future directions for the Shotgun range.
The main topics for discussion are:
- safe firing line and direction for the manual spring throwers
- possible alternate location for the manual spring throwers, particularly if one or two more are added
- the potential for safety conflict between the spring throwers and the automatic thrower during Trap League events
- the position of the clay target stands currently forward of the manual throwers
- the shot size limitation on the CFOs approval for this range
- the location of the patterning board and its safe use
- parking issues
- waste management issues.
We're thinking this would likely be most productive held in-person at the facility , likely some time in the next six weeks or so.
If you'd be interested in participating, please let us know at [email protected] & give us an idea what works best for you over the next six weeks & let us know whether a weekday evening, weekend morning, or weekend evening us best for this. |
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Shooting leagues are up and going! |
The SPFGA is fortunate to have a membership with a broad variety of interests in the shooting sports. With the return of warm weather, our shooting leagues are starting back up. Volunteer-run, participation in any of these leagues is available to you as a member.
Multigun - 3-gun shooting with pistol, rifle, and shotgun on dynamic courses of fire; various dates.
Bullseye Pistols - precision pistol shooting with coaching and instructors, Mondays 2:00-4:30 p.m. on the 50 m Range.
Rimfire Metallic Silhouettes - shoot standing unsupported at metallic silhouette targets with .22lr rifle; Mondays 4:30-8:00 p.m. on the Overflow range.
Thursday Night Fun Shoots - fun, skill-building pistol shoots with varying formats; Thursdays 5:00-8:00 p.m. on the 50 m Range.
Outlaw Rimfire Precision Series (ORPS) - precision positional shooting with .22lr rifle at distances of up to 100 m, various dates and courses of fire.
Cowboy Action Shooters (CAS) - pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooting with a Western flair; Tuesday nights 5:00-8:00 p.m. on the 50 m range.
F-Class - long-distance, precision target shooting from the prone with bipod or front rest; various dates on the 300 m range.
Weekly Trap Series - We're up and going now! Five stand trap using the electronic thrower; Sunday afternoons 12:00 noon-4:00 p.m.
Please note: all leagues are now cashless. Cash is not accepted; payments are processed as debit or credit card transactions at the event.
Check the Events Calendar on the website for further details on each league & come on out and try them!
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Reminder: please put garbage in the correct place |
Despite having an entire section in the facility orientation devoted to this topic and having put out reminders since, garbage and recycling still isn't making their way into the correct places.
So, once again, paper and cardboard go into the bin on the left of the units. This means flattening boxes and putting them into the slot. This also means not leaving the boxes piled on the ground or simply just throwing them into the middle (garbage) bin.
Bottles and cans go into the blue bin on the right with the small square slot.
Actual trash goes into the middle compartment with the hinged lid.
Staff is spending more time than should be required to make sure that our recycling streams aren't contaminated. We're a conservation organization and this should be important to us.
This is your club. We all should be taking pride in it and ensuring that it's cleaner after we've departed than when we arrived.
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2023 Mapleseed Events - Updated |
Registrations continue to flow in. Events have a maximum of 15 attendees & fill up quickly, so register early to avoid disappointment. Register below:
Apr 30 - Event is full
Jun 17 - Event is full
What's a Mapleseed?
Project Mapleseed is an apolitical rifle marksmanship training program that focuses on teaching traditional rifle marksmanship from standing, sitting/kneeling, and prone positions in a one day shooting clinic termed a "Mapleseed".
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Maintenance season is upon us |
During the warmer months, our maintenance staff will be out and about on the property attending to various tasks.
These can occur at any time, but impacted trails, roads, or other amenities will be clearly marked.
Closures during shooting hours will be kept as minimal as possible, however members should be on the lookout for signage and ensure they do not enter areas that are marked closed.
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Fish pond closed until further notice |
The Fish Pond is closed for maintenance. The beaver population on the property has jumped up quite a bit in the past couple of years and they've made their presence felt.
You've probably noticed this in other areas of the property, but the Fish Pond in particular is quite a mess because of them. Trees in the area have been cleared & dragged into the pond. Water quality is very poor as a result & the water level is considerably low. We won't be restocking the pond this year.
We'll be engaging in some substantial cleanup and maintenance here and will update you when the pond is back up and running again.
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Any interest in archery leagues at SPFGA? |
We'd put out a call recently regarding interest in archery leagues, as this is something we receive questions about. However, we haven't received much of a response. Archery leagues are something we'd like to see open up this year, but it's really only feasible if there are members who'd be interested.
Like our firearms leagues, these leagues would be member-organized and member-run. We'd help support them, of course, but they'd be run by members.
So, if you're an archery enthusiast and archery leagues are something that interests you, please email us at [email protected]. If you'd be able to help organize and run these, please also let us know that too.
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We're still looking for a couple of Range Safety Officers, our interviews haven't turned up any suitable candidates yet.
So, if you're an RSO and are looking for part time work over the summer, give the posting on the Job Opportunities page a look!
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These Did You Know? articles were suggested by members as a source of quick reminders, highlight specific rules & briefly explain their reasoning.
Did you know the the safety curtain must be raised when the last person on that range departs?
It's tempting to think it should be left it down - it marks the range as closed. But, doing that creates three problems. First, anyone arriving at the range after you've left would have to fully determine that no one is down range before raising the curtain. Second, no one arriving would be able to handle uncased firearms, ammo, or magazines, and everyone would need to stay behind the yellow safety line because the curtain being down means the range is closed. Last, the wind blows the curtain around in the down position, leading to damage.
It just makes more sense to leave it up.
So, if you're the last person on a range and are packing up to leave, make sure you raise the curtain as your last step before heading out.
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Facebook
Discussion Group
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Please come and join our members-only Facebook discussion group, The Ketchamoot Discourse, a place where SPFGA members can talk amongst themselves.
Head on over and take a look. See you there!
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Looking for the Acknowledgement button? There isn't one on Bullet Points - it's Safe and Sound, our facility safety and system message stream, that has those.
Having trouble viewing or think you might have missed some issues of Bullet Points? Please contact the office. To see all past issues of Bullet Points, visit the archive on the website.
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