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Hot
Topics!
updated July
14, 2024
July 2024 New Member
Induction posted
July 7, 2024
On Saturday, July 6, 2024,
Mike Weiss and Sandy Stanford gave an orientation to
teo new members of the chapter at the chapterhouse.
The newest members of the chapter include Thomas
Wolfe, individual membership and Brenda Edwards,
Individual membership.
Welcome our newest members
of the chapter.
Events for the week of July 14 and Our Next Chapter
Work Day on August 3, 2024 updated
July 14, 2024
See the official
chapter calendar for events during the month and
for any changes to the official event schedules.
Note especially our monthly slate of meetings and dates
where there are range closures.
Note also that our seasonal schedule of lawn mowing
and weed trimming started on April 11, 2024 and will
recur weekly on Thursday morning unless there is a
steady rain. The season ends when the weeds stop
growing around the latter part of October. The
equipment has been serviced and is ready to start the
season. Work hour credits will accrue for new
members and there will be a sense of appreciation for
all members who come to help keep the grounds looking
neat and tidy. It will make the perks of chapter
membership, like shooting and fishing, camping,
hiking, etc. much more enjoyable knowing you are part
of an organization that cares for and has pride in the
entire facility. Come and participate with the
other volunteers who toil every week to make the
chapter a showplace. A few more volunteers will lessen
the load on what now is a small percentage of the
organization. If you can't make it on a weekday,
come out on the first Saturday monthly work day.
If you desire an event to be placed on the calendar,
please communicate with the president, Herbert
Pritchett Sr at his cell phone number 540-226-0015
or his email address hwpritchettsr@yahoo.com.
You should also reference the event requirements
detailed in the Premises
Use Agreement located on the Facilities
web page.
Usually in the first week of the month, the chapter
will hold our board meeting on Monday (sometimes
Tuesday if there is a holiday or event such as
Halloween) evening at 6:30 pm and our membership
meeting on Thursday evening at 7 pm. Both meetings
will be in the chapter house.
Scheduled monthly workdays (first Saturday of the month
is our typical schedule):
- Saturday, grounds
maintenance tasks begin at 8:00 AM,
All new members need to sign the roster sheet
to obtain credit for work hours. You
must sign in when you arrive and sign out when
you leave. There are no exceptions.
The kitchen area of the chapter house is
off-limits except for kitchen crew on work day.
- Saturday,
Adopt-a-Highway roadside pickup event at 8:30 am
(We have obtained our new charter so are able to
pickup trash when the conditions are right.) Trash
has been collecting on Herndon Road and it will be
removed on June 8 (our May 5 pick-up was suspended
due to wet weather) at our next workday. For
safety reasons a pickup will not be scheduled if
the roadways are wet and slippery even if the rain
has subsided.).
IMPORTANT: When a pick-up is scheduled and you
are intending to participate, review and heed
the safety requirements on the Conservation
page.
- Saturday, 9 AM,
Prospective member interviews in the Activity
Center temperature permitting (or chapterhouse--
ask) and new member orientation in chapterhouse.
- Saturday, All-in-One
badging photos between
9:30 AM to 12 noon.
The photo sitting will be first come first
served. If you are possessing a temporary access
badge (either orange or white), please come in
to obtain a proper photo ID. If you are
replacing a badge (where a photo exists but the
badge has failed due to misuse) there will be a
new photo badge reissued for a fee of $10 using
either your archived photo or a new photo taken
at the time of issue.
- Saturday, around 10
AM, a trap thrower training session will be
offered as needed and weather permitting for the
auto clay pigeon thrower with wobbler base on
shotgun range (range 4). This is a 15 minute
tutorial and demonstration (if demand exists;
please advise Sandy Stanford if you want an
orientation.)
- Saturday after work
has completed there will be a lunch served in the
activity center or the chapterhouse, if weather is
too cold, before workday is considered complete.
Updated Note: Nominally
the monthly workday is 8:00 am to 1:00 pm but
in some cases, the workdays might continue even
later when workload demands it. In
consideration of the fact that fellow members are
volunteering their efforts in support of the chapter
on monthly workdays, other recreational pursuits
(fishing or shooting as prime examples) are closed
until the workday is complete. It could be as late
as 2 pm although it might end as early as 12
noon when work has been completed. The workday
tasks have priority and all members are requested to
participate whether or not the required new member
work hours have been met. Come out on a
workday to meet your fellow members and lighten
the workload by spreading it out. The earlier
the work is finished, the sooner we can all get back
to enjoying our property.
No other events are
presently planned, however, it is always prudent to
check with the official chapter calendar for any last
minute changes.
July Membership Meetings posted
June 23, 2024
Note that the monthly
membership meetings of interest has a slight
departure from the norms due to the Independence Day
holiday falling on Thursday. The board will
meet on Monday, July 1 but the Membership will meet
on Wednesday, July 3 for the business meeting.
Workday will happen on July 6. These dates are
posted on our calendar which can be reached from
this web page (see tab at upper left corner) or from
accessing the calendar directly at https://iwlafred-rapp.org/calendar.htm
The official calendar
will have the most up-to-date information concerning
chapter events and other important notices , for
example grounds closures, range closures and other
restrictions and notices relating to the chapter
operations.
June 2024 New Member
Induction updated
June 16, 2024
On Saturday, June 8,
2024, Mike Weiss and Sandy Stanford gave an
orientation to a new group of members for the
chapter at the chapterhouse. All members this month
were elements of family memberships. We had four
family memberships and 8 new members. The newest
members of the chapter include, from left to right,
David Taylor and son; Daniel Luedeke and Ellen
Monroe; and Jerrad and Sarah Consolazio.
Absent when this photo was taken are Erica Taylor
and Michael Shalton and Maria Kapetanakis.
Welcome our four
newest family memberships of the chapter.
A photo taken later of
the family membership missing on Saturday, June
8.
Michael Shalton and
Maria Kapetanakis.
Eagle Scout Project -
New Rail on Pier posted
May 29, 2024
On Saturday, May 25,
2024, a group of scouts, mentored by the facilities
committee, dismantled and replaced the aging rails
on the chapter's fishing pier. In addition, a gate
was added to facilitate Project Healing Waters Fly
Fishing participants to embark on their fishing
platform (pontoon). This was a great upgrade
to one of the recreational features the chapter
provides to those members that take advantage of
fishing in our pond.
The Prestigious Judge
John Tobin honor certificate was awarded at the May
Membership Meeting posted
May 5, 2024
See the News Tab.for details.
May 2024 New Member
Induction posted
May 5, 2024
On Saturday, May 5, 2024,
Steve Bennett and Sandy Stanford gave an orientation
to a new group of members for the chapter at the
chapterhouse. The newest members of the chapter
include, from left to right, John Riley, Jr.,
individual membership, Christopher Starford,
Individual membership; and Katrina and Mark
Fogelson, family membership.
Welcome our four newest
members of the chapter.
Mowing and Trimming to Continue each Thursday
Morning Updated
April 28, 2024
Jimmy Miles, Grounds
Committee chair, has announced that the first
grounds activity for controlling weeds and grass
began on Thursday morning, April 11, 2024 and is
schedules to repeat each week until further
notice. If it rains heavily and in
thunderstorm activity there will be no
grounds-keeping activity (it might be rescheduled to
an alternate day), if there is drought and little
grass growth there will be no mowing and during some
events the scheduled might be altered to support the
event. A notice by email will be given for
exceptions but otherwise there will be mowing and
trimming on Thursday mornings usually starting at 8
am conditions dependent. The mowers and string
trimmers have been working well and are awaiting
operators. We need more than the two or three
string trimmer operators to perform this task
efficiently.
The 2024 Wild Game
Dinner was Held on March 16 at the Chapter House Posted
March 17, 2024
On the evening of
Saturday, March 16, the chapter hosted the annual
Wild Game Dinner at the chapterhouse. See the Activities
page for a few snapshots of the event.
On March 30, the Chapter
Hosted a Pancake Breakfast, an Easter Egg Hunt and a
Painting Event for the New Bee Boxes Updated
April 28, 2024 (Photos pending)
A good time was had by
about 80 members and guests
New Version of Range Rules Published posted
January 6, 2024
New rules for use of the ranges have been
published. A change has been made to define better
the use of suppressors on the chapter property.
See either the Member
Login page or the Facilities
page to read the new requirements.
Chapter Membership Approved the Fiscal Year 2024
Budget posted
December 8, 2023
At the December 7, 2023 membership meeting of the
Fredericksburg Rappahannock chapter of the Izaak Walton
League of America, Inc. the chief financial officer, Joe
Webb, presented the board proposed 2024 budget. After a
discussion, the budget was voted on and passed with no
disagreements. The content of the line item budget
can be viewed as a PDF file at the Member
Login page of the website.
Elected Officials Installed for Chapter Year 2023/2024
posted
September 8, 2023
At the September Membership Meeting held this evening,
Past President Steve Kotowski swore in the officials
elected for the year 2023/24 chapter board. All
officers and half the directors were elected at the
August meeting. Pictured below is the ceremonial
swearing in of those officials. From left to right
are pictured, Jim Lloyd, vice president; Sandy Stanford,
membership director; Barbara Pritchett, secretary;
Herbert Pritchett, president; Ralph Kinch, treasurer;
and Darrell Schultz, director. Also elected but
not present was Latoynia Ransom-Harvey, director.
Officers are elected for on-year terms and directors for
2-year terms. A complete breakdown of the board
constituency with term limits can be found at the member login
page.
Our Pond Supports All Kinds of Natural Flora and
Fauna posted
August 11, 2023
The pond has an abundance of examples of all
aquatic animals and flora in central Virginia.
This year there is a return of pond weed growth to the
shoreline of the pond. Our pond manager and a
few volunteers have been waging a battle to reduce the
growth to make fishing a little easier. The
growth will be abated when colder weather settles
in. Also, the pond has yielded an abundance of
fishing experiences throughout the winter and spring
when anglers have been rewarded with all sorts of
large catches including trout and bass. The pond
also serves as a source of other natural
wildlife. Occasionally, the wildlife that
inhabit our pond will sometimes need some
management. Here is a photo of one of our
members who has reduced the population of a healthy if
not ugly snapping turtle. I am sure there are
others in the pond so it is important not to dangle
your toes in the water lest you encounter the jaws of
one of these reptiles.
Butch Morris Awarded for his "Save Our Streams
(SOS)" Conservation Effort posted
August 4, 2023
See article and photo on the conservation
web tab on the Fred-Rapp chapter website.
New Officials Were Elected as Officers of the
National Chapter posted
August 3, 2023
The Izaak Walton League of America, Inc wrapped up
their annual convention last week. The
Fredericksburg-Rappahannock Chapter is proud to
announce that our chapter president, Herbert
Pritchett, Sr., of Fredericksburg VA has been elected
as the vice president of the national chapter of IWLA,
Inc. Pictured here is a photo of the
installation of the officers' ceremony conducted at
the convention. From right to left are the new
president-elect, Jodi Arndt; vice-president-elect,
Herbert Pritchett, Sr.; and treasurer-elect, Scott
Meyer, who is also from a Virginia chapter.
Herbert is the Newly Elected National Chapter
Vice-President (See the News Page) posted
July 29, 2023
We Have been Hearing Recent Claims of Very Large
Bass in Our Pond posted
June 28, 2023
Member Dirk Johnson sent a photo of a catch made by
his daughter at the chapter pond yesterday. This
is proof positive that we have some big ones in our
pond just waiting for someone to put a hook in their
mouth. She looks very happy!
Communications with Membership posted
June 9, 2023
It is again apparent that not all members are getting
communications from the chapter. We use a
variety of email, calendars and social media to try to
communicate information. Some information is
critical, for example firearms range closures. We try
to pass the word as quickly as we know when critical
situations arise. The fastest way to do this is
by email and the use of the chapter calendar. If
you are not on distribution for email please let me
know at newsletter @ iwlafred-rapp.org (take out
spaces to form the email address) and I will put you
on the list of distribution. If you have a family
membership include your significant other's
information as well. I need your first and last name
and email address to do this after checking to assure
you are a member. (No non members are on the
distribution.) I also try to make sure
information of import on the use of the property is
listed on the chapter calendar. You can always
check the chapter
calendar at this link. The calendar trumps
any other scheduling information usually. The chapter
calendar is a Google calendar and if you use Google
calendar as your personal calendar you can overlay the
chapter calendar so you can always be up to date with
chapter events. Less often, information can be found
at our website and our Facebook sites. If it is
a time critical notification, look for an email and a
calendar entry.
The only US postal mail notification you will receive
in any year is the annual mailing for annual dues
which normally happens in early to mid October each
year.
By the way, if you are changing either your postal
mail or your email address make sure you notify the
chapter so our communications will keep up with
you. Again, you can send it to me (Jim Lloyd) at
newsletter @ iwlafred-rapp.org (remove the spaces to
form the email address) and I will assure that the
databases needing change will get changed.
Come out to your chapter next
month on workday to keep our investment properly
maintained and a source of beauty, utility and pride!
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