Hot Topics!
Events
for the week of February 17 and Our Next Chapter Work Day
on March 9 (Updated February 16, 2019)
- Saturday, February 16, Sock Hop at the Chapter, 6 PM to 8 PM, RSVP to Nona Rector at nkr4vol@gmail.com
- Monday, February 18, President's Day, Chapter open all day
- Saturday, February 23, Project Healing Waters, 9 am to 11 am at Chpater House.
Next
Monthly Work Day, Saturday, March 9
- Saturday, Grounds Maintenance Tasks begin at
8:00
AM.
- Saturday, 9 am, Prospective Member
Interviews
and New Member Orientation at Chapterhouse
- Saturday, 9:30
AM
to 12 noon,
Next scheduled All-in-one Badge issue at the Chapterhouse for
new
members and those members that have never had a photo ID issued
Note: Firearms ranges closed until workday is complete.
No
other events are
presently planned however it is always prudent to check with the
official
Chapter Calendar for
any last minute changes.
New Member Inducted in February 2019 (posted February 10, 2019)
Several new members were inducted on Thursday, February 7, 2019.
Welcome our newest Ikes, from left to right:
John Dupue, Ryan Ames, Rich Lieberman, and Bruce Norton
(not shown in the photo are new members Amy Lieberman and Bryce Hanson)
Welcome to our newest Ikes!
Draft Membership Meeting Minutes for November have been
Posted for Review by Chapter Members (posted November 5,
2018)
Go to the
Member
Login page
to access and read the draft minutes for the recent membership
meeting, These will be offered for membership ratification at
the next monthly membership meeting
.
Also note that last month's minutes were read and ratified
at
the recent meeting and those minutes and many others are also found in
the same
Member Only web location.
Do You Plan to Host an Event at the Chapter? (updseted September 4, 2018)
The
Chapter is an amazing asset if any member want to host an event on the
premises. If you have an intent to host a group, make sure
you do
some advance planning and contact the Chapter's Event Planner, Greg
Raines. Earlier in May, we updated the Chapter's
House and Ground Rules
and at the same time established a requirement for anyone desiring the
use of the Chapter to access, download, read and complete the
Request for Use of Chapter Premises.
This document outlines requirements for use, releases the
Chapter
from liability and assures the requester the full knowledge of the
Chapter's expectations. The document can always be found
midway
on the
Facilities page.
Please submit your completed application to Herbert Pritchett at email at
hwpritchettsr@yahoo.com well
in
advance of the anticipated use so that you are assured of permission to
use and no conflicts with other events. Always look at the
Chapter
Calendar when planning
.
Our Chapter was Awarded Twice during the Recent National Convention (Updated August 3,
2018)
See
News Tab.
See the News Tab for Several Recent "News" events (Posted June 22, 2018 )
See Conservation page for the latest
Adopt-a-Highway report (posted
May 6, 2018 )
New Communications Capability at Our Chapter
(updated
May 6, 2018 )
The
long awaited change from our previous Internet supplier to Comcast
Business has been accomplished. We now have a high speed
Internet, TV and telephone. If you want to access wifi at the
Chapter you may use our guest access network line by setting
up your device
to receive the signal (you may find the credentials in the
Member Only Login page). This access was fixed on May 6 so now it should work easily
for all.
Our
new phone number, accessible at phone boxes outside the Chapterhouse,
at the tool shed and a remote phone in the kitchen, is 540-412-9330.
You can make outgoing and incoming calls. The bell
does not
riing loudly for incoming calls outside and if no one is close by do
not rely on it being answered if it is an emergency. The
previous
phone service was limited to outgoing 911 and was "copper wire"; this
new phone is VOIP and can be used for any local dialing which is especially
useful for those members that do not have good cell phone service at
the Chapter.
.
Danger Notice!!
Raven Clay Pigeon Thrower (Posted
April 17,
2018)
On
range 4 is a clay thrower that is stored in the large green box that is
locked by a combination lock.. Only those that have been trained are
allowed the combination and access. On the Facilities tab
near
the bottom there is a
Raven Clay Thrower manual of operation.
It is linked here for your convenience. Always work on the
thrower from the left side and to the rear of the thrower and outside
the swing arc of the throwing arm. Please review the
instructions and be sure you understand the steps for preparing,
operating and storage of the thrower. Users are performing
the
incorrect steps in using the equipment. The electrical leads
have
been damaged several times over the past year. The throwing
arm
is being jammed/forced into the wrong position as users seem to think
that the safety pin needs to be inserted when the arm is in line with
the main structure of the frame at the 6 o'clock position.
The
safety pin is inserted only when the arm is left naturally after the
last pigeon is thrown and the power removed. Looking from
behind
the thrower out to the range the arm will naturally end up being in
about the 7 or 8 o'clock position.
Do not force it into any other position.(see
step 3 in the procedure to understand that the throwing arm is not in
line with the structure of the thrower and the pin is inserted in front
of the arm. The arm moves in a counter-clockwise direction.
The pin prevents the arm from reaching the cocked position at
the
back of the thrower.
The
pin is never inserted behind the throwing arm.)
Disconnect the power leads to the large terminals of the
battery
but do not disconnect the charging circuit from the solar
panel.
(see step 2 and step 6 of the procedure to note how solar leads should
remain connected and never removed. The power leads (larger
wires) are attached to the larger terminals of the battery when
operating the unit and removed when ready to stow the unit.) Remember:
Red goes to positive and black to negative poles.
If you do not understand these
procedures do not operate this thrower
as any deviation from the procedure has the potential to serously
injure you. Remember: Never set up for use with anyone to the right or
front of the thrower. Always work from the left side of the
thrower (archery range side of the thrower). Seek instruction from a
range officer that knows how to operate the unit and if one is
unavailable, call either Jamie Branham or Sandy Stanford to arrange a
lesson. Their contact information can be found in the
Contact
tab of the web site
Our Chapter Apiary is in the Local News (posted
April 15, 2018 )
See
article
Chapter
Awarded Monetary Grant from Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (posted
March 28, 2018 )
See the
Conservation tab for more
information.
Spanish Speaking Person Sought
Greg
Raines indicated at the March Membership Meeting that the VA
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) is asking for
volunteer Spanish interpreters
for a class they will be holding for children. Anyone
interested
may contact Greg at
540-287-2628
(A text message works best).
We Now Have a Work Van for Facility Maintainance Chores
(posted
March 18,
2018)

Thanks
to the efforts of one of our members, we have a vehicle that we can use
for chores around the Chapter and to support our activities off-site.
The Chevrolet E3500 van looks and runs like new and was donated to the
Chapter by Dominion Electric. The decals were added so that
we
can be visible in our community and project our image of Conservation
and community service. The van will become very useful in
July
when we need to transport cargo to the site of the National Convention
we are hosting in Fredericksburg.
Project Healing Waters Social Media
Sites (Posted
August 3,
2017)
Members may learn more about Project Healing Waters by accessing the
web sites at
http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/programs/locations/virginia/
or the more detailed information on the
Fredericksburg Facebook page of
Project Healing Waters
Archery Ranges (posted
June 15,
2017)
Members
are reminded that the Manahoac Bowmen organization operates an
archery range which is
inside the woods beyond the flag pole on the west side of the pond.
No IWLA member
is allowed to use that range for archery purposes without the
permission and guidance of the Manahoac Bowmen. There is a
series
of ranges for use by IWLA members to the right of the Bowmen's
building.
It is situated between the Shotgun Range and the Bowmen's
building. There are several shooting lanes of varying
distance
for targets primarily for arrows with field points. Archers
shall
not be using broadhead arrow tips on any target not designed for their
use. If you are not familiar with this prohibition please
reference the
Chapter's range rules.
If you do not understand the basis for the requirement, do
not
shoot broadhead arrows without consulting someone in charge of the
Manahoac Bowmen organization. Shooting broadhead arrows at targets
meant for field points damages the targets severely. Broadhead arrows
are razor sharp and designed to rip and tear flesh. If shot
into
a target meant for field points they can easily break off and present a
very severe hazard to anyone left with the task of repairing the
targets. Violators of this
prohibition will be severely penalized. Again, do not use
broadhead arrows unless you know what you are doing. The
person
or persons that shot these arrows into field targets obviously did not
know what they were doing or were maliciously/willingly damaging
property. Please direct any questions
about the archery ranges and range requirements to Eugene Slagle at
eugeneslagle@gmail.com. You can obtainin additional
information
about the bowmen organization at their
web
page.
Assured Access to Advanced Health Care Directives
(posted
April 6,
2017)
At
the April Chapter Membership Meeting, George Lear reported to the
membership the existence of a service that the Commonwealth of Virginia
provides to its citizens. This service is a secure website
that
can be used to store important documents that protect your legal rights
and ensure your medical wishes are honored if you are incapacitated and
unable to manage your own care. The database of Advance
Directives at this website is held in a confidential and secure site,
protected by the most up-to-date web and database security standards.
All information submitted is used only by authorized individuals
and kept completely confidential. If you are interested in
learning more about this service you can obtain all the information and
subscribe by
linking here.
Free Money for the Chapter (posted
February 11,
2017)
If
any of our members (or anyone else for that matter) shop using Amazon,
it takes just a few adjustments of your account to have the Amazon
company donate a percentage of the sale to the account of the Fred-Rapp
Chapter at no cost to the member. The percentage is small but
just in the last quarter the Chapter has earned nearly $10 through this
no cost feature of Amazon. See our
Donations tab
for access to the steps to make this happen for the benefit of the
Chapter. Or learn more about Amazon Smiles and how to use this feature
by clicking
here.
Lost and Found (reposted
May 1, 2018)
Several items have been found at the Chapterhouse:
- A set of small keys
- A very nice electronic camera found at the Chapter
several
years ago.
- A pink, black, and blue woman's scarf left in
Chapterhouse
on December 5, 2015
Send an email to newsletter@iwlafred-rapp.org
describing your lost item and we
will figure out a good time to get the item back to its proper owner.
Our Fish at the Chapter Pond are being Tagged and
Tracked (updated
May 14,
2018)
Our Chapter Pond manager, Joe Webb, has started a fish tagging program
at the pond at the Chapter grounds. So far about 25 fish have
been caught, tagged and released. This program will help to
assess the health of our fishery. If you fish at the pond and
catch one with a tag on the left side of the dorsal fin make sure you
take note of the tag number. You can go to the fish tagging
website to see the history of the fish and add your own notations: Go
to the main web site front page at
www.fishtagger.com. Key in the
full Tag ID printed
on the tag and click Go. You will now be brought to a web page
displaying the tag's history. Please add your new catch information
here by clicking Add. You will be asked for information regarding your
catch such as angler name/e-mail, fish type, weight, length, location
caught, date caught, and any comments. You should print out and take a
Fish Tag Log Sheet with you when fishing in order to record this
information for entering into the computer after fishing. Please also
send Joe an email to let him know you had caught and reported a fish
that has been tagged.
Problems Receiving Chapter Email? Do you use
Gmail? (posted
May 6,
2016)
If you are having trouble receiving Chapter emails and you are using
gmail as your email delivery application, the mail might be located in
a tab called Promotions. In gmail, your email typically is received in
the Primary tab (known more commonly as the inbox). Gmail has
other tabs located next to the Primary tab and one of those is
Promotions. Look there and see what you can find.
If you
want to know more about the delivery of mail from the email
distribution tool we use (MailChimp) read this knowledge article:
http://kb.mailchimp.com/delivery/deliverability-research/about-gmail-tabs
As it turns out, if Chapter email is being delivered to the Promotions
tab, you can correct this tendency by simply moving your Chapter
originated email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab and it will
learn that you want future email delivered there Further
instruction about moving email messages can be obtained here:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/3055016?hl=en&ref_topic=3394594