President — Curt Haberman, 500 Pennsylvania Ave., Somers Point, NJ 08244; phone: 609-927-5773; e-mail: mudtrapper@yahoo.com
Vice President — Dick Webber, 577 Macopin Rd., West Milford, NJ 07480; phone: 973-697-1814; e-mail: webberco@optonline.net
Secretary — Jay Mounier, 1765 Dutch Mill Rd., Franklinville, NJ 08322-2122; phone: 856-697-1007; e-mail: jemounier@juno.com
Treasurer — Steve Decker, P.O. Box 197, Netcong, NJ 07857; phone: 973-448-0145; e-mail: trapworld2000@yahoo.com
Membership Officer — Ron Diehl, 852 Berkeley Ave., Beechwood, NJ 08722; phone: 908-783-3090; e-mail: trapperron2003@yahoo.com
NTA Director — Fred Stine, 149 Winding Brook Ln., Califon, NJ 07830; phone: 908-832-6998
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25.00
• Family membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $30.00
• Junior membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $18.00
• Senior membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $18.00
Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
NJFH, Membership Officer
Ron Diehl
852 Berkeley Ave., Beechwood, NJ 08722
SECRETARY’S REPORT
NJFH held its Annual Convention on Nov. 2 and it was a dandy! We were blessed again with beautiful weather for which we are abundantly thankful to our heavenly Father, our Maker and Provider. I think the attendance was larger this year than any time in the past. We had the parking lot full at one point and folks were coming and going all day. I know at about 10, the midway in the vendor area was so crowded that people couldn’t easily get through. We were glad to see many old friends including Clint Ekelman and to meet many new ones. We had members present from NJ, PA and NY that I talked to. There may have been more states represented — I don’t circulate as well as I used to. There were a lot of recent graduates of Trapper Education and the best thing was that there were many youngsters soaking it all up.
The demos were really great and included instruction you don’t get everywhere. In particular, one famous snareman and author gave pointers on how to avoid getting chiggers while doing a snare demo! Thanks, Eric — that was excellent information. We only have people doing demos who have first hand knowledge — been there, done that! Oh, the joys of getting out in the South Jersey Pines (scratch, scratch). The vendors seemed to be busy all day. One tailgater told me he sold just as much as he spent — leaving with his truck just as full of treasures as it was when he arrived, but different treasures! One of the supply vendors said he did so well he wasn’t even going to bother putting the net on the truck for the drive home — so what if some of the money piled up back there blew off?!
I’m happy to report that the Fur Harvesters booth was busy constantly helping folks process their membership applications and renewals. We even managed to get some members back who didn’t realize they hadn’t been getting the newsletters for a while. It’s always uplifting to know that the members get so much out of our mailings! We did pretty good business in member’s merchandise — hats, shirts, etc. Remember that these items are available only at the Convention, our meetings and various events that we do for youth and public education. It was becoming a full-time (OK, maybe half-time) job to handle the mailing of stuff, so we had to stop.
We had many donations from the vendors and the membership for our fundraiser auction. I was glad to see that there was some very healthy bidding competition for some of the items and I was especially glad that there was at least one bidder more competitive than I was on everything I bid on. Both of the handpainted stretcher boards — the one we raffled and the one I almost bought in the auction — proved very popular. I guess we’ll have sandwiches at the Spring meeting again next year! Speaking of food, Martin’s Custom Catering did a great job of handling the food. Everything was delicious, but their soup and chili were especially good. Real stick-to-your-ribs grub!
The short story on the Convention is that everybody had fun and that is why we go to the trouble! Thank you all!!
Curt promised me he was going to write a big column for the kickoff of the new season with all kinds of valuable tips and great advice that nobody could miss if they wanted to have a successful year, BUT he was so eager to get to his hunting/trapping camp in Potter County that he forgot to write it. Either that or the dog ate it, or some other lame excuse! All I know is that this is it from us, so I’ll try to give the advice that he gives all the time (it is really, really good advice). Stay safe, stay dry, stay legal, work hard and have fun. Don’t worry about the money — if you want to make money, get a job! Show proper respect for the animals and your own work by doing the best job you can handling your fur. If we can be of any help to you fellows who are just starting out, call one of our Officers or Directors.
I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving. From New Jersey Fur Harvesters, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From me, may the light of the Lord Jesus light up your lives in this season when we celebrate His coming to save the helpless and the lost.
May God bless you all!
— Jay Mounier
