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Hot
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updated April 21,
2025
April 2025 New Member Induction posted
April 5, 2025
On Saturday, April 5, 2025,
Mike Weiss and Sandy Stanford gave an orientation to
four new members of the chapter at the chapterhouse.
The newest members of the chapter include, from left
to right, Paul Portu, individual membership; Stephen
Huffman; Melissa Bosco, (March 2025) family
membership; and Terrell Williams, individual
membership.
Welcome our newest members
of the chapter.
Judge John Tobin Award for 2024. Posted
April 5, 2025
See entry on News Page for the announcement for
this annual award.
Mowing and
Trimming to Start on Thursday, April 24, and Continue
each Thursday Morning During the Growing Season Updated
April 21, 2025
The Grounds Committee
chair, has announced that the first grounds activity
for controlling weeds and grass will begin on Thursday
morning, April 24.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, have been serviced and are awaiting
operators. We need more than the two or three
string trimmer operators we had last year to perform
this task efficiently. We have 5 string trimmers
seeking operators..
2025 Wild Game Dinner posted
March
8, 2025
Click on Activities
to see several photos of this year's Wild Game Dinner
celebrated today at the chapterhouse.
March 2025 New Member Induction posted
March
8, 2025
On Saturday, March 8, 2025,
Mike Weiss and Sandy Stanford gave an orientation to
four new members of the chapter at the chapterhouse.
The newest members of the chapter include, from left
to right, Kevin Cox, individual membership; Denny Hale
and Heather Pierce, family membership, Michael and
Melissa Bosco (Melissa not in picture) and sons;
family membership; and Nicholas Bermudez, individual
membership.
Welcome our newest members
of the chapter.
Presentation of Flown Flag to Chapter posted
March 7, 2025
the March 6, 2025 Membership Meeting, Heather Pierce, a
new member of the chapter (see above), made a
presentation of a flag flown over an overseas base in
2024 during her deployment. Shown here is Heather
making the presentation of the flag and certificate of
authenticity to chapter president Herbert Pritchett, Jr.
Deed of Gift of
Conservation Easement posted
March 7, 2025
At the March 6 chapter membership meeting, Jim Lloyd
made a presentation summarizing the creation of a Deed
of Gift of Conservation Easement which was recorded at
the Spotsylvania courthouse at the end of October
2024. The presentation charts and a selection of
records that provide details about this easement are
provided in the member login area of
the chapter web pages. The proceeds of the
sale of associated tax credits have been deposited in
the bank account as a CD by the chapter treasurer.
This concludes the action regarding the conservation
easement.
Driving at the Chapter posted
February 17, 2025
Right after a rain or snow
event the chapter grounds can become saturated with
water and/or ice. Please take extra care to keep
on the designated roadway and off the grassy
areas. The grass is damaged and the soil becomes
rutted. Remember, any damage created by a member
or a guest of a member will be the responsibility of
the member to re-mediate. We expect some snow this
week so drive responsibly and obey the speed limits on
the property - 10 miles per hour.
Eagle Scout candidate,
Logan Vargas, Troop 847, Upgrades Apiary Pollinator
Garden posted
February 11, 2025
On Sunday, February 9, Logan Vargas, Troop 847,
worked a project that improved and updated the
chapter's pollinator garden at the apiary. See Conservation
for the story and some photos.
February 2025 New Member Induction posted
February 8, 2025
On Saturday, February 8,
2025, Steve Bennett and Sandy Stanford gave an
orientation to one individual and one family
memberships of the chapter at the chapterhouse. The
newest members of the chapter include, from left to
right, Brian Hogeland (Michelle Hogeland was absent
for the photo), family membership, and Randy Lynn,
individual membership.
Welcome our newest members
of the chapter.
-
Final 2024 Budget Execution Report posted
February
7, 2025
The 2024 executed budget spreadsheet was presented to
the assembled members of the chapter at the chapter
business meeting held on February 6,2025. Members can
review the exhibit by logging into the member
only login page.
Eagle Scout Project posted
December
14, 2024
Our fire-pit has needed
fixing for the past several years. A scout created a
project for his Eagle Scout ranking to fix the
fire-pit. The old pit was disassembled and the ground
beneath it was excavated, leveled and lined with
stone. A new steel liner was added and the walls
of the fire-pit were reassembled. The fire-pit
is now smaller, well constructed and will serve
members of the chapter for years to come. Below
are photos of the group that assisted in this Eagle
Scout project and the new fire-pit
The chapter appreciates the
effort that has made another upgrade to our facility.
Chapter Membership Approved the Fiscal Year 2025
Budget posted
December 78, 2024
At the December 5, 2024 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 2025
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.
Events for the week of March 23 and Our Next Chapter
Work Day, April 5, 2025
updated
April 4, 2025
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.
Our
2025 mowing season will start up again later this month,
watch for an email notice or an entry on our chapter
calendar. One we start there will likely be weekly
mowing and trimming sessions each 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 in April 2025.
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. If you can
volunteer on Thursday, come and participate with the
other volunteers who toil every week during growing
season 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 April 5 (the first event this calendar
year). For safety reasons a pickup will not be
attempted 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.
Chapter Board Members
Inducted posted
September 8, 2024
At the September 5, 2024 Membership Meeting, the
recently elected members of the board of directors
were sworn in to their new terms for the 2024/2025
year. See below for last month's election
results. The photograph was taken after the
induction ceremony on September 5:
2024/2025 Electees
 .
Pictured from Left to
Right - Jim Rector, director; Jamie Branham, director;
Barbara Pritchett, secretary; Herbert Pritchett,
president; Ralph Kinch, treasurer Tammie
Paterak, and Terry Fellinger, vice-president
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.
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.
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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