The proper disposal of cigarette butts has come up a number of times in communications over the past few months. They have been contaminating the cardboard and can/bottle recycling streams and, in one concerning instance during the dry period in the spring, were associated with a fire in one of the garbage bins. When they're not being put into a bin, they're being tossed on the ground, which is more disappointing to see at a conservation facility.

So, to ease this issue, we are trialing some cigarette butt receptacles. We're starting with three for right now - one at each of the Big Bore, Handgun, and Shotgun ranges - with plans to add more if this proves helpful. These are flame retardant and ensure proper disposal of cigarette litter. These are located near range sheds, but a short distance away because smoking is prohibited within the range sheds. So, please use these receptacles to ensure your cigarette butts are disposed of properly.

Advance reminder that the shooting end time on the firearm ranges moves to 6:30 pm, starting Friday, September 22. All firing must cease at this time each day.

Throughout the year, our range hours shift to accommodate the changes in daylight hours (see below). These times are posted at the gate and on the website.

Please be advised that sales of 2023 memberships will close at the end of the business day on September 30.

We close to new membership signups and renewals of existing memberships for the current year at the end of September annually (three quarters of the year has passed at that point).

Renewals for 2024 for current members will open in November, and new membership signups will resume in January.

A nice bit of praise was posted online recently for Don Brockway, our maintenance technician. We agree with you Shelley - Don is exceptional and an asset to the organization. We're very fortunate to have him.

We've received quite a few positive comments on the improved state of the property since Don joined us. The place has never been so well-mowed, neatly trimmed, and tidily organized. Kudos Don - thank you for all your hard work!

We'd mentioned the new backup generator and transfer switch in the February 5 issue of Bullet Points, ensuring uninterrupted power and smooth, continuous operation of the automatic entry gate, access control system, security cameras, and internet connection. Each of these have their own backup power, but longer outages have historically caused issues.

With this system having been online now for more than six months, we are very happy to report a sharp drop in instances where any of these systems have gone offline due to power interruption. Even more importantly, there has not been a single instance this year where a member has been unable to exit the property during a power outage. A comparable period in past years would seen 3 or 4 occasions of members being unable to exit, usually involving them disassembling parts of the gate hardware, something that brings its own costs.

The NAIT Continuing Education department is offering a course on basic meat cutting where you will learn to separate quarters of sides of pork into primal, sub-primal and subsequent retail cuts. You will also learn to masterfully prepare your own handmade fresh and smoked sausages. Four course dates between September and December are available.

This will be a women's-only session of firearms training by Project Mapleseed on Sunday, September 10, 2023. We have purchased all 15 spots for this session and have made them available for $50/participant. (Normally a Mapleseed session is $100/person, so this is an excellent value!)

Held at the clubhouse on Sunday, September 24, 2023, this session will be a presentation and wilderness walk by a representative from the Alberta Trappers Association focused on furbearer management and trapping in Alberta.

Later in the day, following the trapping information session, there will be a hands-on presentation of the techniques and process of wicker weaving in the making of durable objects. In this session, you'll make a willow basket.

*Photo credit: Alberta Trappers Association www.albertatrappers.com

Once we've ironed all the details out, this will be a Hunter's Education session offered by a Alberta Hunter Education Instructor Association (AHEIA) certified instructor. We plan on this being held at the clubhouse in October.

These OWP sessions of the SPFGA Outdoor Women's Program have been generously funded through a grant by the Alberta Conservation Association.

Tickets for the Member Appreciation Day have been slower than anticipated. When we cancelled the Family Fun Day last year (the predecessor to this event), we polled you for feedback. Those thoughts informed the changes to this year's event. Despite that though, we're at the point of having to cancel again. If that happens, we may have to refocus our efforts on other events next year.

Please take a moment and reach out to us at info@spfga.ca to let us know why this year's event didn't work out for you.

In the What's Your Thought? poll in the August 22, 2023 edition of Bullet Points, we asked which time of of the week was preferable to you for remote club meetings.

These Did You Know? articles were suggested by members as a source of quick reminders, highlight specific rules & briefly explain their reasoning.