National Wild Turkey Federation –
Ontario Provincial Board Meeting Minutes of February 6, 2005

1. Meeting called to order by Mike Evans at 10:10 AM

2. Attendance Well attended too many to list but 38 people in total. Mike Evans thanked all for attending.

3. Minutes of the October meeting were read by Tom Howe, Tom Howe made a motion to accept the meeting minutes as read and was seconded.

All were in favor and Motion Was Passed.

4. Financial Report

Tom Howe presented a financial statement to the group and reported that there was an account balance of $20,823.51. Reported that some 10% gun raffle rebate cheques were still outstanding. Mike Evans made a motion to accept the financial report as presented and was seconded.  All were in favour and Motion Was Passed.

5. Old Business

• Truck Cap – Trevor Aljoe has issued five post-dated cheques for January 2005 to May 2005.
• Past Treasurer – Alex Henderson has been ordered to pay the Crown $300.00 per month.

6. New Business

• Calling Competition – Ottawa Valley will not host calling competition in September but probably in April and will be a Provincial sanctioned competition. Bancroft will host Nationals (Canadian Grand Nationals) on September 17 in Maynooth. This competition is pending Provincial board approval and will be open to US and Canadian callers. Winner would progress to Grand Nationals in September. Motion to approve the contest was made by John Todd. Some question as to if Americans would be eligible for Grand Nationals as OFAH and NWTF have different competition rules. Competition would require funding either through the Provincial account or through Superfund. Prizes and funding is required for 3 prints, 3 ultimate call packages and 3 camo gun cases at a cost of $683.97 USF, will also be looking for donations. Funding was requested by Paul Ross and seconded by Rick Dafoe, all were in favor and passed. The Bancroft chapter will present their request at the May meeting. They will be seeking sponsors and approval for sanctioning this event was granted at the December 2004 meeting.
  
  
  
• Rd Kevin Townsend – Banquet dates discussed with Kevin with chapters having conflicts with dates. There are 22 banquets in a 6-week period. Provincial Chapter numbers are now 34 with a potential of 5 more and 2 in Quebec. The NWTF fiscal year is September 1 – August 31. Any RD issues can be e-mailed to ontrdkt@sympatico.ca All Chapter presidents given packages containing banquet information, super fund expenditures since 2002. Kevin requests that the auction order submitted by Kevin be followed as he has organized it they way he expects items to sell. Banquet tickets have been sent and should have been received by all chapters that have set a banquet date. Upon arrival of the banquet package all items should be carefully inspected. The insect repellant unit that is introduced as the sponsor gift is not yet approved for use in Canada but will all be hopefully shipped to Kevin with the firearms and if not will need to develop a resolution. Kevin will be requesting a post banquet work sheet the night of the banquet so be prepared. It is difficult to come up with a complete report the night of the banquet in 30 minutes but Kevin is not looking for exact figures. Many chapters are not happy with counting money during the banquet and Kevin stated that all chapters need to be accountable for large sums of money as he also has reports he needs to complete.  There may be an increase in the Sponsor Membership cost. Price has gone up in states and some chapters include 1 or 2 meals and others do not. This needs to be consistent across the province, which may require some chapters to make changes. Sponsor packages will be discussed at the next meeting in May as proposed by John Todd. There is a new alcohol policy from the NWTF, each chapter will receive 100 red wristbands for banquets to be worn upon identification checks. This policy is to be followed and posted at the bar, regardless of who runs the bar to reduce the risk of liability. Cabela’s has a line of NWTF clothing and merchandise but be aware the prices are in U.S. funds. Mike Walters in Woodstock is licensed to produce NWTF articles and can be reached at 519-421-9200. Banquet firearms will be at Gagnon’s Sports in Oshawa this year. The remaining firearms at Gobles in London will remain there until gone or for a six month period. The Turkey Hunters Care program donates turkeys to needed families in Chapters areas and Kevin would like to know if your chapter is participating. Kevin has a Club – Car available at a value of $3900 USF and would like suggestions of how to get rid of it by possibly including it as a gun raffle prize in November but will further discuss at the May meeting. Some were upset with the lack of posting of winners from the November Gun Draw Raffle. The OAGC has to be given a list of all winners. Tom Howe obtains the license through his local Municipal office and a report was submitted to them with addresses omitted due to the nature of the prizes. Plot mules can be purchased for $1200 and the MNR can provide grant money but they would be MNR property. Kevin suggested that perhaps 4 units could be purchased (One each in N, S, E &W) and could be distributed and shared by all chapters. Information on these units was passed around for all to see. This financial request to the MNR could be requested with other items as part of a project and then become property of the Chapter. The Bancroft chapter has one and is happy with and is also working with the MNR to use theirs. The wine in the banquet packages will not be coming to Canada. The mirror in the banquet packages is breaking a lot and will not be replaced but will be credited to the chapter. Can expect 20 boxes total for banquet materials. Sponsors can have both copies of their receipts but a list should be kept of all sponsors and donors. Keep all Fed Ex packing slips to ensure damages from shipping can be tracked and billed to the shipper and can be submitted to Kevin the night of your banquet.

• National Jakes Event – Mike Evans has requested the name of one JAKE from each chapter to be submitted to him. One JAKE and one adult will be paid to attend event, the first week in June and names must be submitted to Mike by March 1, 2005.   P.O. Box 532, Port Rowan, Ontario, N0E 1M0 or dogwood@kwic.com or 519-586-9713

• Chapter Presidents Shooting Event – A Saturday in September is being looked into to hold a shooting event for all NWTF chapter members that would be combined with a fish fry or barbeque with a provincial board meeting to take place on the Sunday. A vote was held for September 10 & 11 with a number of interested members. Hotel/camping information will be forwarded later.

• Superfund – Superfund applications are to be in no later than August 15, as they will be discussed at the September meeting.

• Provincial Board Elections – Nominations for the Provincial Board will be taken at the September meeting and new board to be elected at the November 19, 2005 meeting. November 1, 2005 will be the last date nominations will be accepted and need to be sent to Jake Playne, RR #1, Perkinsfield, Ontario, L0L 2J0

• Open discussion called by Mike Evan – The gun draw required substitution of some firearms at Great Lakes Outfitters to winners and substitutions were of lesser value than original prize. Great Lakes Outfitters suggested that there were errors on the tickets and several members were aware of substitutions made that did not seem to be of equal value.  John Todd made a motion and was seconded and passed that the board reimburse winners for the difference in value of the firearm won to the firearm received. Some chapters did not receive tickets to sell while other chapters made no effort to sell the tickets they did receive. Of the 2500 tickets available only 1525 were sold, the draw did have an income of $30,500 and 10% will be rebated to the chapters based on the number of tickets each chapter sold. The NWTF is very disappointed in the treatment they received from Great Lakes Outfitters and Rick Dafoe proposed that a list of available substitute guns be made available in advance of the draw in case there is a need to make substitutions. It was suggested that the NWTF change suppliers. Also suggested that gift cards for Bass Pro be awarded, as prizes then the winner could be more selective in what they received. Could possibly include the club car in the raffle but possibly more tickets would need to be printed. Chapter presidents will need to request the number of tickets that their chapter would like to receive to sell. A motion was made by Paul Ross to change the format of the draw to four identical guns, as determined by the board (1 / Week) and merchandise cards for Bass Pro shop (values to be determined later) and was seconded, voted on and passed. Gerry Higa discussed the need to specify Chapter boundaries to prevent more than one chapter seeking donations from local businesses. Also some concern with one individual being responsible for all funds from Superfund. Mr. Higas chapter had an issue with missing funds and Jack Playne agreed stating that sealed envelopes be signed by committee members and opened later.
• 2004 Provincial Scholarship – Elgin Wild Turkey Chapter candidate will be awarded this $1000.00 scholarship who will then be eligible for the National $10,000.00 USF scholarship. April 1, 2005 is the deadline for applying Nationally. Tom Howe requests $750 for this scholarship if fundraising occurs and points out that this is an excellent opportunity for media attention.
  
• MNR – No urgent issues from the MNR at this time. Three active trap and transfer crews at eight sites. 50 birds being transferred from Kemptville to Quebec reported from an Ottawa Valley Chapter member. A draft of the wild turkey management plan is due at the end of March. New WMU’s are propped for this years hunt, see the MNR website under environmental registry. MNR expects minimal impact from the all day hunt as a 15% increase in harvest has been seen in some U.S. States. An evening killed bird must be registered by noon the following day and field dressing the bird is okay. Looking into telephone or Internet registry to decrease inconvenience of traveling to check stations.
  
• RD Request – Kevin requests funds for two cordless microphones for banquet use at a suggested cost of $500. A motion was made by Mike Evans not to exceed $700 and was seconded by John Todd was voted on and passed.

    

7. Adjournment a motion for adjournment was made by Tom Skuce, seconded, all were in favor and Motion Was Passed.

8. Meeting Schedule

May 8, 2005                           Bass Pro Shop, Vaughn Ont.

September 11, 2005            Location to be determined

November 19, 2005              Bass Pro Shop, Vaughn Ont.

You cannot attend the meeting in May and cannot have your chapter represented through an alternate from your chapter
YOU ARE EXPECTED TO CONTACT MIKE EVANS AT 519-586-9713