President — John Whitfield, PO Box 1989, Keystone Heights, FL 32656; phone: 352-475-1904; e mail: huntfishwriter@aol.com
Vice President — Dane Dwyer, 426 East End Rd., San Mateo, FL 32187; phone: 386-325-9642, e-mail: fortdwyer@hotmail.com
Secretary/Treasurer — Carol Lokken, 7047 Spinnaker Blvd., Englewood, FL 34224; phone: 941-475-1206; e-mail: beachbum5253@comcast.net
NTA Director — George Dykhuizen, 8110 Casa De Meadows Dr., Englewood, FL 34224; phone: 941-697-7634; e-mail: principal1@embarqmail.com
Web Site: www.FloridaTrappers.org
Membership Options
• Family membership, including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Associate membership (without magazine) — $15
• Lifetime membership (without magazine) — $100
• Lifetime membership with two year subscription — $125
Complete membership application on first page of association section, and send dues to:
Carol Lokken
7047 Spinnaker Blvd.
Englewood, FL 34224
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
We are tremendously excited about our upcoming, terrific 30-Year Celebration, planned for this year’s Fall Rendezvous — to be held on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25 and 26, 2009, just west of Tallahassee, FL. Please mark your calendars now and plan on coming to join in with us for several days of celebration, fun, trapper education and activities. There will be something for the whole family, especially for our young, next generation of trappers and outdoorsmen.
The Rendezvous will be held at Dave Enfinger’s farm, near Chipley, FL. Dave’s address is: 2381 Bonnett Pond Rd., Chipley, FL 32428, and his phone number is 850-638-7669. Directions from I-10 and Highway #77, west of Tallahassee, are posted on our Web site: www.FloridaTrappers.org.
Agenda and Schedule of Events
Friday: Although our main events will be held all day Saturday, all attendees are welcomed to come in on Friday for camp set up and we’ll kick it all off with our Youth Oriented demos first, starting at 4 p.m., with a fantastic beginning trapper demo, conducted by George and Terry.
This will be followed by a demo on “Snare Building and Adjustment” by Ronnie and Mike, with a special emphasis for young trappers. This will be followed, at 6 p.m. by a wiener roast and bonfire and our annual membership meeting. So, come a day early if you can, bring your children, camp out and enjoy the youth presentations and the wiener roast and bonfire.
Slamma Jamma Saturday
Starting early at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, donuts and coffee will be available to everyone. Then, we will have a full morning of trapping demos, running from 8 a.m. until non (see Web site for details of demos).
At noon, we’ll provide a free lunch for all attendees and their families.
At about 1 p.m., we will all enjoy our now famous auction, with Dave moderating and selling all kinds of trapper gear and equipment, supplies, books, tapes, CD’s, hunting and fishing gear, knives, lures, scents, stretchers, traps, snares and a large selection of outdoor-related items — all auctioned off at really great prices.
Then, from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m., we will have more demos, games and family activities and a skeet shoot.
At 5 p.m., we’ll have a Chili Cook Off, judging the best Chili, and everyone will enjoy a big chili supper.
Finally, at 6:30 p.m., we’ll listen to a live band and fire up a huge bonfire — where no doubt, many “tall tales” will be told. It will be an evening to remember, for sure.
Sunday morning, we’ll break camp and all head home, with a host of new friends and all fired up for a great fall and winter trapping season.
Please remember to bring as many auction items as you can, as this is our primary fundraising event of the year. If it has anything to do with the woods, waters or outdoors — bring it. Thanks in advance for rounding up anything you can bring.
Camping and Accommodations
If you can only come for one day, please arrive as early as you can on Saturday and enjoy as many activities as you can. If you can come earlier, you can camp for free at Dave’s farm on Friday night prior to the outing, as well as on Saturday night following. Note that there are NO hook ups, no power and no showers available. There will, of course, be restroom facilities and running water available.
Also, for the campers, there is a gorgeous Campground, with all facilities-power, showers, etc. just a few miles away. Falling Waters State Park (with Florida’s tallest waterfall-73 feet) is located at 1130 State Park Rd., Chipley, FL 32428, (850) 638-6130.
And, finally, there are three hotels available at the I-10, Highway # 77, Chipley exit (Exit # 120). There is a Days Inn, Holiday Inn, and Comfort Inn, all just a short drive from Dave’s farm.
Raffle, Prizes and Give-A-Ways
In addition to all the raffle items (including the great Dunn Small Skinner Knife), we will be giving away many door prizes, gifts and some of our Florida Trapper logo merchandise. Patches, mugs, emblems, decals, Litho imprinted rabbit skins, hats and t-shirts will be available as several vendors will be exhibiting their stuff. Everyone will go home with something!
Registration
Please let us know that you are coming. You can contact me, Carol, any of our officers and or directors, and all will be glad to help you get registered. We just need to know how many are in your group and your arrival and departure schedule — for meals. Thanks. Florida Trappers will provide the meals and each attendee will handle their own camping/hotel arrangements. (Carol will maintain a list of who is coming.)
OK, please make your plans on attending, let one of us know that you are coming and let’s all have a grand time of it, with an old-fashioned Trappers Rendezvous and celebrate our 30 years in Florida. Visit us at the Web site for continuous updates.
Good trapping. And I’ll see you there.
— John Whitfield
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
We are looking forward to our get together in September. David Enfinger and company have a way of making folks feel welcome. Some good activities, table comforts and entertainment has been planned.
The only trapping I’ve done this summer has been setting traps for blue crabs and minnows for fishing offshore. We have made some good trips into the gulf after snapper and grouper.
I missed the NTA because our son was graduating from army intelligence school in Monterey, Calif. that week and we flew out there to see him. We did get to see some sea otters and seals. The country outside the populated areas was interesting to look at and we saw lots of bird life and a few deer. The farmer’s market was a big hit with the free samples they gave away, good fruit and veggies.
Be thinking about electing a new president and vice-president as both those positions will need to be filled.
Looking forward to seeing you in September at Enfinger’s farm.
— Terry Mayne
SECRETARY’S REPORT
We hope y’all are having a wonderful summer. It’s been HOT here in SW Florida and we still need rain. So much for the weather report.
As you have read, our Rendezvous plans are finalized and we hope for a huge attendance. I would love to meet our newest members. And I’m looking forward to spending that weekend with many friends. We promise the hospitality will be superb. Everyone will have a wonderful time. The food will be fabulous. And the fellowship? Well, there aren’t enough superlatives to explain it. Please plan to join us.
We have reached out to many of the nuisance wildlife trappers in Florida. I am happy to say we have had several become new members. We are always looking for new members and we invite you to help us grow. Our membership gift card incentives will stay in place. By the end of the year, we should be giving several members their gift card for signing up new members. Please contact me for details.
We are having a sale on some of our promotional merchandise. T-shirts, mugs and embroidered emblems are now half price until they are gone. Shirts come in sizes medium, large, extra large and I believe we have a few 2XLs left. Cost is $5. Mugs are $3 and patches are $2.50. There will be appropriate postage charges added. We will still have our hats at $13 and window decals at $5. And we have a brand new promotional item that will be revealed at the Rendezvous. Please contact me for details about these items. I will gladly e-mail photographs.
It has been a pleasure working with our president, John Whitfield. And I will miss him! Together, with our VP, Terry Maynes, and our district directors, we have remained dedicated to this organization and its mission to promote and preserve trapping and fur hunting. Though John will not be seeking reelection, I will keep my name on the slate for secretary/treasurer. We all look forward to productive years with growth and determination.
See you all at the Rendezvous. Contact me for membership, raffle or promotional items information.
— Carol Lokken
NTA DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The 2009 annual NTA Convention held in Lima, Ohio, was an unqualified success. Total attendance was 5,842 with 4,802 through the gate and an additional 1,040 campers, tailgaters, vendors and guests. Members of Florida Trappers who attended included: Dave Enfinger and his wife Judy, John and Ronny Braxton, Mike Townson, Randy Engleman and Cody Sikes.
There may have been others, but I was occupied in manning a booth that I shared with my Indiana trapping partner, Allen Hetrick. Allen attracted large crowds with his chainsaw carvings, while I conducted a “going out of business” sale for the steel traps I used in Indiana, but which are not permitted in Florida. Business was brisk. By the end of the second day, all 500 traps were sold out, as well as hundreds of stretchers.
It was a financial success for the NTA also. In addition to the impressive gate receipts, sales of NTA t-shirts and other memorabilia were at an all-time high, as was the income from the annual auction.
The festive mood at the Convention was also conducive to signing up new NTA members, and although the post-Convention new-member report has not yet been issued, hopefully Florida will add to its present total of 40. If you would like to join the ranks of NTA, please get in touch with me and I’ll sign you up. Cost is only $30 per year with all the money slotted to preserving and advancing the sport of trapping.
— George Dykhuizen
