Fredericton Trap & Skeet Club

Annual General Meeting

January 11, 2009

Presidents Report 2008

 

Our club continues to prosper and has enjoyed another successful year. That success is strongly dependant on the dedicated core group of members who volunteer their time and various levels of skill and expertise to organize events and maintain the club’s facilities. Without this committed dedication we would not have what we enjoy today. To those members and sponsors who have helped to maintain or further our club’s success in the past year, I extend a heart felt thanks.

The Sporting Clays Committee continues to provide shooters with an array of challenging and fun presentations. All of the monthly shoots saw good weather and were as well attended as in previous years. It was interesting to note that the high price of gasoline and ammunition was not a deterring factor in the enthusiasm level of shooters. The Tuesday evening sporting clays shoots remain a popular mainstay from May through to September. As many as 35 shooters have enjoyed this weekly event.  A 5 stand compact sporting clays course was set up on skeet field # 2 a few times during the winter months and was used as additional sidebar entertainment during the BBQ Blast sporting clays shoot. This event involves an electronic remote controlled release device that launches various presentations from auto machines and the high and low skeet houses. The committee continues to work on improvements to enhance the sporting clays stations and trails system.

Trap and Skeet shooting remains popular year round. Our skeet chair, Mr. George Lindsay, introduced a youth oriented shooting program which attracted 15 participants. This initiative offered 50% discounts on shooting fees and ammo along with a further incentive contributed by Mr. John Lockerbie, Ruffed Grouse Society (one free shoot card per shooter).  We were also fortunate to have Mr. Bob Kierstead, President,  Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association, partner with us in this successful venture. A generous contribution of $500.00 was most appreciated.  The RNBRA is especially interested in promoting all youth shooting disciplines and viewed their contribution as an investment in the future of shooting sports.

 Facility improvements this year included the replacement of the Winchester skeet machines on skeet field # 2 with two new Pat –Trap throwers. The large capacity carousels and the quiet operation of these units were a welcome addition for our skeet shooters. Some of our members shoot registered skeet (NSSA) and trap (ATA) targets. This adds an additional level of proficiency and accreditation to the sport.

FTSC continued our commitment to maintaining our 300+ acre property with approx 28 hectares thinned over the past year. It is our intention to continue this program in 2009.

I would like to thank our major sponsor, Ross Faulkner, The Gun Dealer for the support of Beretta and Browning at our two largest sporting clays shoots and John Lockerbie for the season opener shoot sponsored by the Ruffed Grouse Society. During the past year our club has hosted the annual DNR field day as well as the Maritime Forestry College group of students.

The FTSC website has close to 12,000 hits and has provided us with a promotional voice to the world. Thanks to Bev Bacon for all of his commentary and photography work on the site.

It has become a tradition at FTSC to support a local charity at Christmas time. This year the Feed a Family Campaign received a donation from our Christmas Charity Shoot.

I would like to thank my fellow Executive and Board of Directors and everyone who has helped enhance the quality of our club in the past year. I hope 2009 continues to reward your shooting expectations.

 

 

 

 

Laurence Gilbey

President