Club Vice President
Hi Everyone. I am Pete, the Vice President and as such it is my responsibility to run our club invitational shoots. Along with our President Al Wiscovitch, I also deal with the day to day running of the club in general, and specifically we handle any complaints or issues that any of you have. Naturally you are always free to voice any issues at our club meetings held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM in the clubhouse, however; Al and I are here to keep things running smooth on a daily basis. So, when problems arise, you should always feel free to contact either of us for immediate help.
I need to bring everyone up to speed on the changes and improvements that have been made for our education program. Those involved in the program have already been updated, and I want to thank Steve Baker for taking the initiative to make sure that people involved in the education program are currently not only aware of the changes, but are also aware of the necessity in making those changes. This has been evolving since the end of last year and was formalized in January of this year, however; apparently even people within the program were not aware of the why’s and reasoning behind the changes and that has been creating some unfounded resentment towards those of us who have worked so hard to accommodate the needs of not just the education program but also the needs of everyone else in the club.
The other side of that coin is that the rest of our membership has also been unaware of our efforts to make sure that everyone’s interests are served, so there has been resentment on that side as well. Naturally Steve Baker’s efforts have helped tremendously on the education side, however; much of the membership is still unaware of what has been evolving over the last few months. So, to hopefully clear up any misunderstandings, here is what has transpired.
As the education program has expanded, their footprint on the club has also expanded. This led to serious congestion at the practice area. To relieve that Al and I began a major drive back around August of last year (possibly earlier, but my memory can only deal with that far back). At that point Al secured another Connex and we made plans to totally rework the existing, yet underused, education area that is next to the broadhead pit. Nothing around here happens overnight, but over time we put in that new Connex, trenched and ran power over to it, built a bench inside along with bow racks to hold all the bows that had been buried deep in the target Connex. Al installed a vent to keep the bows cooler in hot weather. This was all done to make it easier for the education program to operate without having to climb over the Tractor and the Quads just to pull out the equipment that they need every time they run a session.
In January we (Al and I) put out a directive to our Tournament Chairman and our JOAD Coach to let them know that there will be no further education conducted at the practice area to eliminate any chance (or perception) of congestion in that area. I also explained to them that we would be continuing to improve that education area and have plans to move the broadhead pit so that it can be expanded to the left with a couple more targets as well as eliminate having to restrict use of the pit while education is in progress. This is again something that affects both the education program as well as our membership, so we have to keep some balance in how it is handled.
Some issues have arisen as one would expect, such as the need for students to practice at longer distances before going to outside tournaments. This led them to come back into the practice area to facilitate that. Naturally that is a conflict that we can not have, so I had to again explain that they could not be there. At that point they started to use the FITA lane, which is what that lane was intended for from the beginning. I assumed it was handled, however; complaints started rolling in from members that the education program was monopolizing the FITA lane, that they were setting up a Easy-Up, and parking more than two trees deep into that lane.
I went out there and looked at the situation and sorry guys, there is nothing wrong with the way that education is using that FITA lane. We opened up the practice area for everyone else to shoot from 10 to 80 yards without an organized education class in the way, and they have to go somewhere. That FITA lane is the perfect place for them, it is marked off in meters, it is separate from the field range and it was intended to have separate rules when we put it in.
The rules for that FITA range are as follows. It is closed on Sunday during our open to the public hours from 8:30 to 2:00. The rest of the time the education program has priority and has been advised of the following rules. Parking needs to be no closer to the bales than the 70 meter marker (that is three trees deep). They can use an Easy-Up, they can set up spotting scopes, and they can stay there and shoot as long as they like. For safety they need to watch for people using the Field Range who need to cross their lane, and those people shooting the Field Range have the right of way.
The Field Range on the other hand also has separate rules. No parking deeper than two trees for the Field Range. For safety, people shooting the Field Range need to remain aware of that crossing and not just walk out in front of someone shooting the FITA lane. You have the right of way, but you don’t need to be “Dead Right”.
Along the lines of improving the education area, just last week Jim and I went over there and moved that light standard out of the shooting lane and into a position that we think will still work to light up those bales for an occasional Flint Round. We also dug out that stump that was in the way and regraded the area. We moved the bow rack to between the tree line on the east side of the shooting lane.
We also looked the area over and have tentative plans to move a couple of the round tables over closer to that tree line so that bystanders can comfortable watch the education area, and have a plan to move all the trailers, equipment, and the dump truck to form a line extending from the education Connex towards the Cook Shack, with the Dump Truck being closest to the Education Connex so we can take power from there to keep it charged. Like everything else, other things need to be done in preparation for moving the equipment like moving those pipe racks that are currently behind the Club House so we can drive the dump truck around behind there to get it parked over next to that Connex (the reason being that backing it in with the chipper attached is a two man job because the driver can’t see the chipper to back it up).
To sum this up. To our members in the education program, we have built you a separate area and you have the FITA lane as well, plus we are doing everything possible to continue to improve on this. And to the rest of the membership, we have freed up that practice area and are working on moving the broad head pit. Also, if anyone has any constructive ideas, please talk to Al or myself and lets put it into the thought process.
Oh, I need people on Saturday Apr. 20th at 8:00 AM for setup and clean-up before the Big Game shoot on Apr. 21st. I will also need a pick-up crew for Monday Apr. 22nd at 9:00 AM.
That’s all for now folks.
Pete.
Pete Whitworth
(909) 223-5822
