VOL. 18 NO. 1 Dedicated to the care, protectionimprovementof the Fish PointWildlife Area Feb 2016
2015-2016
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Ron G. Hohne
Vice President Kevin Hollingshead
Treasurer Darcie Hohne
Exec. Secretary Barbara Gosler
Rec. Secretary James Gosler
Director – 2yr Mike Dabrowski
Director – 1yr Harold Mayer
Director – 1yr Scott Hollingshead
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editor of this newsletterencourages members to send items to be considered for inclusion in future newsletters. Events, book reviews, recipes, and letters to the editor, articles on hunting (especially at Fish Point) allare welcome, but at the discretion of the editor.
MEMBERSHIP COUNT
Adults 120
Juniors72
DNR: 10
Total Members 202
We currently have 202 members in good standing at the end of 2015. Renewal letters have been sent to those whose memberships have expired in December. We encourage those receiving the renewal letters to promptly renew, which will help support the 2016 budget activities.
A strong membership is vital to the long term success of the organization, so please share the good work that the association is doing for the area, and encourage your fellow outdoor enthusiasts to join or renew their memberships. We are a working organization that is dedicated to the care, protection and improvement of the Fish Point Wildlife Area.
Reminder that if you have changed your email or home address, please let us know so we can keep our records up to date for the newsletter and other email communications pertaining to the Management Area. Send an email to , or a quick call to 248-618-9070
Barbara Gosler- Membership
Recording Secretary Report
Happy New Year Fellow FPWA Members,I hope this email finds you all doing well.Our winter work day and membership meeting is planned forFebruary 20ththis year.Planned work activities are still to be determined, pending weather conditions.At the membership meeting we will be proposing the 2016 budget and plans for the year.For ourannual scholarship submissions, see FPWA website for more details on the Scholarship program, there is still time to enter.
We will also hold the elections of officers and board members for 2016, as part of theFeb 20thwork day/meeting. All positions are open and interested candidates can make their interests known by replying to this email. Contact one of the current officers/directors or just come to the workday meeting and announce that you are interested in a particular position.
Position openings include:
President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Membership Secretary, and three Director Member positions.
Interested individuals will need to be at the membership meeting in order to formally accept the position if elected. Work dayusually begins around the8:00 amtime frame with membership meetings starting between11:00am and noon.
We are also looking for ideas on potential Banquet door prizes. Last year was the special 15th year Anniversary print. Past years included water bottles, hats,emergencykit, waterfowler's daily hunt/log book, just to name a few. We would like to get suggestions from you, our members. If you have any suggestions please reply to this email.
FPWA Scholarship Program
Dear members, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the FPWA scholarship program. Every year the association budgets $500 to help support the educational opportunity of a high school senior planning to study in any conservation field at an accredited college or university. For more information on the scholarship program go to
Click on “Pages” from the subject bar and then “scholarship” in the dropdown. Here you can find all the information necessary to submit an application.
Elections
This is an election year, not only for our next U.S. President, but also for 2016 FPWA officers and directors. The elections will be held at the February work day/ meeting. Individuals interested in bringing diversity and new perspective to the association are encouraged to seek an officer or director position for 2016. Interested candidates can contact me at or 248-618-9070 and should plan to attend the February meeting for the election and 2016 budget planning.
Email Communication
Why is a correct email so important for FPWA? Email is the quickest and most cost effective method to reach the majority of the membership (currently at 87%) and solicit feedback. Historically, topics requiring FPWA membership input often have short response windows. Waiting for the next membership meeting, next newsletter, post card mail outs or telephone polling were either not practical, costly, or they were very time consuming. Therefore our primary method of communication and feedback is via email. In addition to member input topics, the newsletter, CWAC & DNR reports along with various communications are also quickly distributed via email.
We continue to include as much of this information as reasonably possible for those that prefer the hard copy newsletters, with the understanding that primary communication and feedback is via email.
It is FPWA’s practice not to sell or share email addresses with third parties, nor will we contact junior members if emails change for family and privacy matters.
So remember to update your email address with us to be informed and involved to or call us at 248-618-9070
James Gosler- Recording Secretary
FROM THE PRESIDENT
2015 was another one of those years. Over 40 inches of rain fell during the planting season makingplanting crops very difficult. We completed the bridge replacement with two new bridges. We also added two new blinds. We did a tiling project in fields 20-22 which will help with thedraining ofthose fields this spring. The association, as in the past, helped with the maintenance on the area. The 2015 hunting season was below normal due to Mother Nature. As many of you may know, I am stepping down as president of the Fish Point Wildlife Association this year. In 2015 I suffered a major health issue and want to concentrate more on myself and my Missouri duck and spring goose guide service. I will be running for a director’s position and will continue to help out at Fish Point. I would to thank all of the association members and the many other individuals that I have worked with for the past 15 years. I feel the FPWA is strong and will only grow stronger. Feel free to contact me any time. 810-335-0591 or Ron Hohne President FPWA
______
FROM THE VICE PRESIDNET
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. We are off and running for the 2016 season. The banquet Grand prize this year for is 1st place is a Benelli Super Black Eagle, 2nd place is a Remington 11-87 and 3rd place is $250. Raffle tickets will remain the same price at $5 each. We will be giving away another 870 for raffle ticket sales. Every 10 tickets sold or purchased will receive 1 chance for the 870. I will be mailing out tickets as soon as they are printed. If you do not want to receive any tickets please email me at the address below. All ticket stubs must be returned to mealong with the money 2 weeks prior to banquet which is being held on September 10th this year. If you would like more than 10 tickets please let me know within the next 2 weeks.
With the cost of everything rising pertaining to our banquet there will be a small increase forbanquet tickets this year of $5, so the ticket price will be $45 each. We do our best to keep our prices down, but with the increasing cost of hosting the banquet we had to increase ticket prices to keep up with rising costs. Still, $45 is a great price to come out for a night of good food, lots of fun, and comradery with your fellow water fowlers to help raise funds for a hunting area we all love.
Our winter work day is scheduled for Feb.20 at 8am.We will be going out to zone 3 to finish cleaning up the trees for possible future expansion of that zone. Chainsaws, chaps and muscle are needed. Lunch will be provided, and we will also be doing our membership meeting at that time. Officer elections will be held at this meeting. If you have any input or would like to be a part of the board you must be at this workday. I believe an email was sent out a couple of weeks ago pertaining to the workday.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at address or phone number below.
Thank you,
Kevin Hollingshead
Cell- 810-252-0847
Email-
Hello everyone,I hope everyone has had a good holiday season. Our Facebook page and website are active and can be used to receive the latest updates on the area. Both pages will be updated on a weekly basis or as needed to disseminate important information. I would like to encourage anyone to share any pictures they may have of the area on our Facebook page in order to highlight the continual improvement of the area.
Scott Hollingshead
______
TREASURERS UPDATE
February 2016
Hello Fish Point Wildlife Association, I hope everyone is ready to kick off another great year with the Association. I know I am, especially as we begin to plan this year’s Banquet, work days, youth hunts and all the other opportunities we have to get out and do what we do best. Which is to raise money, and work to conserve and promote our beautiful Wildlife Area. I am looking forward to another great year and I know that our members will once again outdo themselves when it comes to raising money for this great organization, that I am always proud to be a part of. With that being said I would like us to challenge ourselves to surpass our 2015 banquet profit of nearly $12,000.00 and set a goal of $15,000.00 this year. If we all sell a few more raffle tickets and dinner tickets I think we can reach and surpass this goal. Let’s pull together and show everyone what we can do.
I wish you all a safe and prosperous New Year and look forward to seeing you all in the future at our various upcoming events.
Sincerely,Darcie Hohne
Treasurer, FPWA
______
FPWA CONTACT INFORMATION
As always please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions regarding this association or Fish Point in general.
Ron Hohne - President
E-mail:
Cell: (810) 335-0591
Kevin Hollingshead - Vice President
E-mail:
Cell: 810-252-0847
Darcie Hohne - Treasurer
E-mail:
Barbara Gosler – Memberships
E-mail:
Mike Dabrowski – Director / CWAC
E-mail:
Cell: 586-255-0181
Butch Mayer - Director
E-mail:
Scoot Hollingshead – Director
E-mail: