President — Brian Mohn, 138 Farview Road, Hamburg, PA 19526; phone: 610-562-1790;e-mail: papatrees@aol.com
Vice President East — Joel Whitehead, RR#2Box 90, Thompson, PA 18465; e-mail: JFRED@nep.net
Vice President West — Ned Weston, 120 Swope Road, West Sunbury, PA 16061; phone: 724-894-2239; e-mail: Nweston@netzero.net
Secretary — Tereasa Houtz, 300 Flint Lane, Landisburg, PA 17040; e-mail: PTASecretary@embarqmail.com
Treasurer — Chad Kijowski, P.O. Box 614 , Dayton, PA 16222; phone: 814-257-9846; e-mail: HKijowski@yahoo.com
Editor — Russ Ford, 309 Pine Dale Road, Carlisle, PA 17013, phone: 717-249-7271, fax: 717-249-8509; e-mail: Ptaeditor@pa.net
NTA Director — David Shuttleworth, 5452 Tamarack Drive, Sharpsville, PA 16150; phone: 724-962-4260; e-mail: dianeshutts@aol.com
FTA Director — Mark Kasten, RR2 Box 2287, Hallstead, PA 18822; phone: 570-278-2553; e-mail: willsher@epix.net
Public Relations Director — Mike Gontor, 87 West 7th St., Jim Thorpe, PA 18229; phone: 570-325-4974; e-mail: FuFiGa@ptd.net
Membership Options:
Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
Individual membership without subscription — $10
Junior, age 16 and under without subscription — $5
Lifetime membership with subscription — $300
Lifetime membership without subscription — $100
Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
PTA Treasurer
Chad Kijowski
P.O. Box 614
Dayton, PA 16222
www.patrappers.com
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The Pennsylvania Game Commission gave their final approval to the 2010-11 Trapping Seasons at the April Meeting. As a result we will have our first Fisher season, a six day exploratory season from Dec18-23. We will be permitted one fisher per license year, and all licensed Furtakers may obtain a permit. Trapping is limited to WMU’S 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F. The PGC also changed the Bobcat season, to a three week season, from Dec.18- Jan. 9.
One bobcat per license year and all licensed Furtakers may obtain one permit and trap in specified WMU’s. These seasons are the results of hard work by the PTA and cooperative Fishers
I attended the NTA northeast leadership conference in April with several of our officers. I always enjoy learning from the other state associations that participate.
Our own Dave Shuttleworth opened the meeting as the NTA NE director, and assisted John Daniels and Karola Owen with the program. “Good job Dave”. Something to look forward to from the NTA is a series of nine shows on trapping hosted on Alan Probst’s “All Outdoor” show. As you can imagine this is not cheap and we should all consider sponsoring this project.
Now that I have your attention to your wallet don’t forget the PTA, we are selling our Sweepstake tickets for a four-wheeler and we also have a new Coyote print for sale by Melissa Ball. They all will be available at our Rendezvous. I won’t take anything away from Dave’s Report, but we all look forward to catching up with friends at the convention.
See you there. — Brian Mohn
EDITOR’S REPORT
Hi to All,
It’s a beautiful time of the year! Not too hot or too cool. Just about the right amount of rain or sunshine is making everything grow & give us pretty colors for our eyes to take in. Yes, to me, Springtime (Next to Falltime) is a great part of the year. And as an added bonus there are lots of all those outdoorsy play & work things we can do.
Although I’ll have to admit this Spring I am not up to doing many of those things I usually enjoy doing at this time of the year. Yet I am trying to get a few repairs, clean-up chores, gardening & a little trapping equipment maintenance. Just working on or should I say “Playing” with the traps & such, keeps my Hopes for the upcoming seasons.
As I grow older & weaker, I have to work myself into a state of mind where, what ever I can get done each day, is a blessing to have gotten it done. I’m pretty sure as we all age & we all slow down, most of us do not give up our hopes for doing what we love to do.
I do know that: if all goes as I hope it will, I will be looking forward to what lies ahead. And most importantly to slow down & enjoy my play-time & play sports. My days of going “GUN-HO” are ending! I have enjoyed many, many seasons enjoying the Great Outdoors and all that it offers to us. Now, I will slow down & try to enjoy the 1000’s of things that my eyes & my mind had overlooked while I was a “GUN-HOER”!
So what I’m saying is: that perhaps we may all need to slow down & “Smell the Roses” no matter what your age.
Soon to be here: 2010 Convention: I’m looking forward to being there & seeing many of you, my friends both old & not so old. Also coming up are the many events that your districts participate in. And as all ways your help & time in helping at those events.
Do not sit on “Your Laurels” and let the other guy do it. Step in & offer your skills at what ever level you can.
So long for now. THANKS for YOUR TIME! — Russ Ford
DISTRICT 1 REPORT
Hello District One. The gun raffle was a success. Thanks to Jim and Donna Murphy for chairing the event and to everyone involved for their many contributions of time and monetary support.
Thanks to Jim Howe for hosting the Spring district meeting. The Spring meeting was probably the best attended Spring meeting, since I have been director. Thank you for the guys who performed the demos at the meeting. District 1 voted to send the FTA $500 for their television promotional ads that are targeted to promote trapping across North America.
Since my last report, I attended the District 3 banquet on April 25th and District 2’s gun raffle on March 20th. Both events were well-attended and organized. I really enjoyed the evening and met a lot of interesting people.
Ned Weston helped me represent the trappers at the Slippery Rock Baptist Church in March. There were about 300 people at the event. We signed-up a half dozen people for membership and had a great meal. Thanks, Ned.
Our Fall district meeting will be hosted by Crawford County on September 25th at the Conneaut Lake Sportsman’s Club. Demos and Dealers will be there by 9:00 AM and the meeting will start at Noon.
Darrell Pyle has agreed to assume the Venango County Leader role and Jim Stoops has agreed to take over Mercer County. Thanks to each of them for stepping-up and helping out in this capacity.
God Bless. — Charlie Sykes
DISTRICT 3 REPORT
Hi all,
Just a short report to update everyone on our district happenings. Our Spring meeting was held on March 27, at Paci’s Lounge and we had 30 members present. Our yearly events were gone over, and then we switched to convention ideas, information and talk. We even had another convention meeting at the fairgrounds on April 18, to look over our ideas on sight.
The convention will be here before we know it, and it seems like everything is moving along towards a good time for all. We are still looking for more help at the convention, so if you can spare a few hours during the event, please give me a call @ 724-348-6721 to get on the schedule. Many of our district members have already set aside some time for this event, but the more help we have, the easier it will be for everyone.
If you get this in time, our next convention meeting will be held on Sunday, May 16, at Paci’s Lounge in Brownsville. If anyone needs directions give me a call and we’ll try to get you in the right direction.
Two of our district members, Dave Garbutt and Barbie Breckenridge, have donated much time to re-designing the PTA’s web site. I think you will like the changes and it’s new look. Some items are still under construction, so check back often as it grows. Make sure to check it out at www.patrappers.com. Dave and Barbie, thanks for your work for the PTA, you make us proud.
Our district’s 6th annual banquet was held on April 24, with our biggest turnout yet. If you missed it, you sure missed a good one. Good food, drink, and loads of prizes, along with great company.
If you did make it, it was good to see you there, and district 3 thanks you for the support. I should also shout out a thank you to our sponsors, without you our banquet wouldn’t be what it is. I have to thank our district members who helped at some point in this year’s banquet, selling tickets, working the door, shirts, mugs, programs, different raffles, lining up sponsors, donating items, etc.
The list is long and I’m sure I will forget to write someone down, but it is unintentional. Much thanks goes out to : Doug and Rachel Bergman, Greg Grim, John Wilkinson, Bob Jameson, Dan Weiss, John Poorbaugh, Francis Watt, John Kozubal, Paul Polansky, Gib Bergman, Andy Johnson, Rege Denne, Debbie Bergman, Zoe Kennedy, John Tarap, and of course my kids. Thanks everyone for busting your butt to make sure everybody had a good time at this year’s banquet.
We received lots of adjectives descibing the banquet, and they were all the good ones. I think Greg and Doug walked several miles delivering Chinese Auction prizes. Also at the banquet, last but not least, our District 3 trapper of the year 2010, was awarded to Doug Bergman. Thanks Doug for all you do here in D-3, and we can’t wait to see that demo area !
‘Till next time. — Dave Eckels
DISTRICT 7 REPORT
Upcoming events for Dist. 7—-May 16,district meeting at West Milton community park,.starts at 1 pm.–July 25,district picnic at Booneville campground near Loganton , bring covered dish ,starts at 1 pm.—-Aug. 14, trapper training day at Watsontown Lions club Youth Center, 3.8 miles west of route 15 [at the White Deer exit], on the White Deer Pike road,starts at 8 am.
We will also have a cable restraint class this day at the same address. You must register on the PGC website,cost $15. This class will be from 8 am to noon.— Mini-convention will be Sept. 18 at the Booneville campground. District meeting will be at 2.00 pm.
There will be demos during the day. The Sugar Valley Historical Sociaty will be having demos and speakers also during the day. There will be food stands.—Christmas party will be at the Mazeppa community hall on December 18 at 6 pm. Bring a covered dish.— Fur auction will be Jan. 16, 2011, at Washingtonville., starts at 9 am. 4% comm.
Beaver sale will be on April 3,2011, at Hillsgrove. There will not be a December fur sale this year. Any questions please contact me–570-437-2679 or email–minkman46@aol.com
DISTRICT 8 REPORT
I do hope you all are pleased with the change that the Trapper & Predator Caller Magazine has made to this publication. Only you may be the judge of that decision. Let the Editor know how you feel about it.
Convention time is almost here again. District 3 will host the PTA Rendezvous June 17th to 20th , 2010 at Washington County Fair Grounds, Washington, Pa.. I hope to see you all there. The Fur Takers of America will hold their National Rendezvous June 10th to 12th, 2010 at Columbus, Indiana. Please help to support all of our Trapper Associations.
We will be needing volunteers for our youth field days and trapper training school. So if you can come out and give us a hand. We will need some help to work at the District 8 table at the PTA Rendezvous in June at the Washington County Fairgrounds. If you could work a few hours or more it surely would help out. We will be selling the District 8 Raffle Ticket and many other District 8 items.
July 22nd to 25th, 2010 Tuscarora Valley Heritage Days, East Waterford, Pa. District 8 will need members to volunteer to work at the booth that we will have at that show. We need to advertise real will for the show we are having there in September. I was hoping that the members of District 8 would come to Heritage Days to see what the grounds looks like before we have our show there in September.
This year we will hold our District 8 Trapper Training School at Mercersburg Sportsman Association Inc., Mercersburg, Pa., August 28, 2010. The school starts at 8:00AM lasting until 5:00 PM, Breakfast at 7:00 AM. This school is designed to help the beginner as well as the advanced trapper. We have very experienced instructors. Everybody is welcome to attend. You may contact me for an application form.
For those folks that did not hear, we are moving the District 8 Marysville Show to East Waterford, Pa. September 10th,11th & 12th 2010 we will be holding The Tuscarora Valley Extravaganza at Tuscarora Valley Heritage Grounds, East Waterford, Pa..
For more info contact me by mail at Allen Eppleman, 4232 Carlisle Road, Gardners, Pa. 17324 or phone 717-486-7573 or cell phone 717-226-9623 or e-mail aleppleman@comcast.net. — Allen Eppleman
DISTRICT 11 REPORT
There were about 25 in attendance at our April meeting at the Schuylkill County fairgrounds. We were able to take a tour of the buildings and grounds with a representative from the fairgrounds. He answered many of questions as we talked over issues concerning the 2011 convention. It looks like the facility will work out great.
We discussed many things concerning the convention and the state banquet at the meeting which ended up being pretty long, but we got accomplished what we needed to for now. Some of the major tasks for these two events are being handled or are in motion. There are still a lot of things that need someone, possibly you, to take charge of. Please let Ralph or me know if you are willing to help out in any way, even if it is only for 1 day or a couple of hours. We especially need people from the local area who have local contacts to help us out.
The state banquet will be held on September 18th at the Eagles Club in Lebanon. Tickets for the banquet will be $25 each or $45/couple, anyone under 16 will be $12. Tickets are available by calling me at (717) 367-2637 or e-mail spittlefam@paonline.com. Advance tickets for the bucket raffle can be purchased also by calling me. If you buy $50 worth of bucket raffle tickets, and you know you will, by July 15th you get $25 worth for free. We will have the usual raffle tables for the men, women and children, a silent auction, live auction and the bucket raffle. I will tell you right now, the meal is going to be one of the best you have ever had.
Those who attended 2 years ago know what I’m talking about. Please plan now at attend, invite some friends and help support the Association. If you have any items for the banquet auctions or raffles, or would like to help out by soliciting something, let Ralph or me know. Ralph has letters made up if you would like to contact any businesses for donated items.
We have 4 Trapper Training School planned for the district again this year. The dates, locations and contact person for each are listed below. If you know of anyone who would be interested in attending please put them in contact with us.
Berks / Schuylkill County – Sept. 11 @ Auburn Fish & Game
Contact: Ron Smith (570) 294-6270
Dauphin County – Sept. 25 @ Dauphin County Anglers & Conservationists
Contact: Mike Spittle (717) 367-2637
Lancaster County – Aug. 28 @ Millcreek Sportsmen’s Assoc.
Contact: Terry Suter (717) 393-4738
York County – Aug. 28 @ Starview Sportsmen’s Club
Contact: Brett Spangler (717) 384-8752
We are going to try to get district 11 members together sometime during the state convention this year in Washington County so if you are there, listen for an announcement so you can meet with us. I’ll let you know the Gathering at Kutztown went in the August issue. Hopefully you were there and already know.
Till next time. — Mike Spittle, 717-367-2637