Pennsylvania Trappers Association Inc. August 2013 Report

www.patrappers.com

President — Brian Mohn, 138 Farview Road, Hamburg, PA 19526; 610-562-1790; papatrees@aol.com

Vice President East — Joel Whitehead, 845 Snake Hill Road, Thompson, PA 19526; 570-756-2714;
JFRED@nep.net

Vice President West — Ned Weston, 120 Swope Road, West Sunbury, PA 16061; 724-894-2239;
nedweston@gmail.com

Secretary — Don Klinger, 522 S. Pancoast, Reynoldsville, PA 15851; 814-371-1170; advantage16@verizon.net

Treasurer — Donna Spittle, P.O. Box 708, Hummelstown, PA 17036; 717-239-9267; spittlefam@paonline.com

Editor — Ed Price, 3833 Old Newburg Turnpike, Union Dale, PA 18470; 570-679-2318; pricee@nep.net

NTA Director — David Shuttleworth, 5452 Tamarack Drive, Sharpsville, PA 16150; 724-962-4260;
dianeshutts@aol.com

FTA Director — Mark Kasten, RR2 Box 2287, Hallstead, PA 18822; 570-278-2553; willsher@epix.net

Public Relations Director — Barry Warner, P.O. Box 223, Dallas, PA 18612; 570-675-7041;
beavernbass@comcast.net

Website Designer — Barbie Breckenridge,
barbiebreckenridge@gmail.com

Membership Options:

Individual membership including subscription to 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

Donna Spittle

P.O. Box 708

Hummelstown, PA 17036

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

I would like to thank everyone that helped District 10 make our 76th Rendezvous a success.

The resilience of members allowed us to prevail through the less than favorable weather that came our way. Bob and Scott always found a way to adapt to an ever changing plan. The auction on Friday night was a success and good time by all who attended. I would like to thank Bill Meck, (our volunteer auctioneer) and everybody for your support.

We held our general membership meeting on Saturday and presented a Lifetime membership increase to those in attendance. As of January 1, 2014 a Lifetime Membership with publication will increase to $500.OO; Lifetime Membership without publication $250.00; Senior Lifetime Membership with publication $250.00; Senior Lifetime Membership without publication $200.00. A motion came from the floor to increase the regular annual membership with publication to $30.00 as of January 2014. Motion passed by a majority vote of members. Other highlights of the meeting were a presentation by Dan Ocko from Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors Inc… PTA board earmarked $4000.00 from the gate attendance to this project. Pete Rake announced the State Banquet will be March 8, 2014 in Hughesville, contact Pete for tickets and donations. Greg Kohl gave an update on KIFE and projects they are planning. They are also seeking candidates to serve on KIFE’s board. Ned Weston addressed the members on hard work and accomplishments that we have had through his years on the board and a vote of confidence on the direction we are headed. We will all miss Ned’s presence on the board but will continue to ask for his guidance and experience, as we do our other members. We than had the election results and change of Officers were as follows: President Brian Mohn; V.P. East Joel Whitehead; V. P. West Charlie Sykes; Secretary Don Klinger: Treasurer Donna Spittle; Public Relation Barry Warner; Editor Ed Price; FTA Director Bill (Mark) Kasten; NTA Director Dave Shuttleworth.

2013 Awards and recognitions presented at the general membership meeting: We inducted three members into the HALL OF FAME: Bill Kalinauskis, Denny Michael and Paul Strausner. Youth Trappers of the Year Awards: Hayden Kretzer, Joe Fischer, Kyle Lynn and Isaac Long. Trapper of the Year: Karen Mohn. Director of the Year: Bob Counterman. President’s Award: Jack Wilkinson. Conservationist of the Year: Steve Wentzel Jr… Lifetime Achievement Awards: Tom Schwabenbauer, Bob Reid, Mike Weiss Jr., John & Judy Jefferson and Bill Phillips

Bob Counterman tried a different concept to keep members together on Saturday night. Bob and his family broke out the BBQ and friendship, the result was a very well attended and relaxing evening.

The summer is going by quickly, between the long work hours at the farm, Youth Field Days, Hunter, Trapper Education classes, County Fairs and family obligation. Before I know it the trapper training schools will start. So in closing I ask you to promote our slogan “Our Image is our Future”.

Have you sent in your sweepstakes tickets? — Brian Mohn

 

VICE PRESIDENT EAST REPORT

District 10 did a great job with the rendezvous. Scot Mucha and his crew ran a terrific show. The grounds were clean and all the buildings were used. The demos were excellent and demonstrators knew what they were talking about. The vendors were well stocked and had just about anything a trapper would need, from a beginner to an experienced trapper. Lures, traps, and equipment of all kinds were there. The fur handling demos were real informative. Any questions were answered as the fur was done. The food was good and convenient. The camping area was clean and neat. The weather was wet, but I think everyone had fun. One thing I noticed was the amount of information on hand. Handouts were everywhere.

At the meeting Charlie Sykes was elected to Vice President West to take the position held by Ned Weston. Ned has had some serious health problems and can use all the prayers we can offer. Please take a moment to remember him and send a card.

The Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs also met on June 8, with important legislation issues. We should support Carl Roe as PGC executive Director, and also support keeping the term of Commissioners at 6 years. The Federation is our voice in Harrisburg and is working hard for all the outdoors people of Pa. Please support their efforts.

Well, time to get the stuff ready for the upcoming seasons. Fall will be here soon. REMEMBER TO REGISTER AND VOTE.

Be careful, stay safe and enjoy the great outdoors of Pa. Show respect to the land owners; offer to help where needed, and ask permission.

‘Till next time. — Joel Whitehead

 

VICE PRESIDENT WEST REPORT

I would like to take a minute to thank everyone for their support and trust in electing me to this position. I will try very hard to represent everyone in the best possible manner. Thank you to District 10 for a great state convention. Congratulations to Bill Kalinauskis for getting into the PTA Hall of Fame and to Karen Mohn for a well-deserved Trapper of the Year Award.

Recently, it was voted on to increase the association’s membership fees. On several occasions since then, I have been asked why buying a membership is important and what benefits it has to the members. Your membership is a way for you to protect your interest in trapping and your rights as a trapper. You are part of an organization that works diligently to protect those rights and represents you at meetings and events held by the National Trappers Association, Furtakers of America, Furbearers Unlimited, PA Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, the PA Game Commission and other organizations. You are also assigned to a local district, which has regular meetings. Information about trapping regulations, legislation and association activity is shared at the meetings. All members are encouraged to actively participate in meetings, events, and also in the formulation of our policies and programs through their voting power within the association. The members also work to educate and encourage youth to engage in trapping activities. This is a way for you to pass on your knowledge of trapping and to get the next generation involved in the conservation of wild furbearing resources. I hope I have stressed the importance of how membership in the PA Trappers’ Association works towards ensuring that we all get to be part of preserving the art and privilege of trapping.

God Bless. — Charlie Sykes

 

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a chance to make it to the Rendezvous. It was a little wet but I had a great time and want to thank D-10 for all the hard work and the great job they did this year with the Rendezvous.

John Chase was able to attend the Miss PA Pageant and Miss PA Outstanding Teen Pageant this year and presented the winners with mink jackets on behalf of the PA Trappers Association. Thank you John for attending – I know it was really tough to spend all that time with all those beautiful ladies. I would also like to thank Muscalus Furs who help us out every year in getting the jackets for the pageant.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for the vote of confidence and another term as the PTA secretary. Have a great summer.

Thanks. — Don Klinger

 

STATE CONVENTION REPORT

Hello to all. I hope you made it to the convention and had a great time. I took a lot of work from a lot of dedicated people to organize and run the show.

There are a few people I want to thank – Steve Wentzel, Bob Counterman and John Stenger for helping to organize the show. Brian Mohn and his family for doing the mountain man race and contests. Also thanks to everyone who helped out during the show. We had a great bunch of people.

Also want to thank the vendors, tailgaters, food people and fairgrounds people. Without them the show would not have been possible.

Next month I will have a more detailed report, because I did not have time to get everything done before the deadline. Enjoy the rest of the summer. — Scot

 

DISTRICT 1 REPORT

Hello members. At this time I would like to introduce myself. My name is John Chase, and I am your new district director. I would like to thank Charlie Sykes for his years of service as district one director. Charlie was elected to the position of vice president west. Congratulations Charlie.

On June 15th, the PTA gave me the opportunity to go to Pittsburgh and attend the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant. After the pageant I presented Miss Pennsylvania and Miss Outstanding Teen with mink fur coats. These young ladies really enjoyed receiving their fur coats and are happy to represent the PTA during our State events.

Walter Greathouse represented Mercer County at the youth field days on June 8th – they had 77 kids in attendance, and each one received a #110 conibear. Jim Murphy represented Crawford County for their youth field days on June 22nd. It took place at the Pymatuning Sportsmen’s Club, and they had about 225 kids in attendance.

The district has a full slate of events scheduled, so the help of members would greatly be appreciated. Waterford Days July 19th – 21st, Jamestown Pioneer Days July 27th – 28th, Crawford County Fair August 17th -24th, Stoneboro Fair August 28th – September 2nd, Waterford Fair September 2nd – 7th, Pymatuning Waterfowl Expo September 21st -22nd. Keep in mind these events are to educate the public, promote our trapping school and to continue to build our membership.

The district trapping school is scheduled for September 14th. It will be held in Erie County, at Bill Phillips’ house. The address is 2789 Dublin Road Waterford, PA. 16441. Registration will begin at 7:00am. For more info contact Walter at 724-475-4138.

The district’s fall meeting will be on September 28th in Union City. I will have more details as they become available. Any question I can be contacted at 814-823-5429.

Our Image Is Our Future. — John Chase

 

DISTRICT 3 REPORT

Hello All,

I have to start out this report with a thank you to District 10 for hosting the State rendezvous in Gilbert. Bob, Scot, and Steve, and the rest of the guys and gals helping there, Mother Nature sure didn’t do you guys any favors, but it all worked out fine. It was a far drive, but there were a good number of D-3 people that made the drive, good to see you all out there. Also have to thank Matt Pappa, Tom Lane, Rege Denne, Ron Shriver, and Tom Miller for their help in signing up the inside vendors for next year. Thanks guys, it all seemed to go smoothly.

Speaking of next year’s rendezvous, I guess we’re on the clock now. I’m writing this report right before I head to the FTA convention in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I’ll report on it in the next issue, but I expect we’ll have a crowd in Washington next June for the PTA/ FTA convention. If anyone has ideas on the convention, give me a call, let’s make it one to remember.

Next on the list are the County Fairs – Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland. As usual, we’ll need a little help at the fairs to man the booth, sell raffle tickets, sign up students for the trapper’s school, and the important PR work. Give me a call if you want to help at any of the fairs. Dates are: July 25 – Aug 3 for Fayette, Washington August 10 – 17, and Westmoreland August 16-24.

Our district picnic / pig roast will be held on August 24, once again at Cedar Creek Park, pavilion #5. District provides the pig and soft drinks, members bring the sides and desserts. We will have our first informal convention meeting at the picnic to go over some ideas, planning, etc. Hope you can make it, I promise you won’t go home hungry !

The date for our trapper’s school is September 21, at the Youngwood Sportsmen Club. If you or anyone you know would like to attend, we ask that you pre-register so we can provide enough lunch to go around. Class is free and with fur prices up, I expect a full house so call me to sign up early if you can.

Our fall Rendezvous will be held on October 6, at the Washington County Fairgrounds and the fur sale is scheduled for January 26, 2014 also at the fairgrounds.

‘Till next time. — Dave Eckels, 724-348-6721

 

DISTRICT 5 REPORT

I hope all of you are having a good summer and are already making plans for the upcoming trapping seasons. Time seems to fly by for me and before I know it fall will be here. Good luck with your preparations.

The Trapper Training School will be August 8-11 this year at Camp Harmony in Somerset County. There is a charge of $75 per student or $ 140 per team. The school starts at 5:00 PM on the 8th and ends at 12:00 noon on the 11th. Please contact Pat Wess @ 814-262-9455 or Don Sager @ 814-443-3185 for more information.

The fall meeting will be held on September 21st at the Indiana County Fox & Coon Hunting Association located at 255 Ramsey Run Road, Indiana, PA 15701. This will be an all day event starting at 8:00 am and lasting until 4:00 PM. This event is being held in conjunction with the Indiana County Fox & Coon Hunting Association and is being publicized as a sportsman’s day. At least five vendors will be present and a guest demo will be presented by Jeff Robinson of JR & Sons. Please feel free to come out and enjoy the outing and support our district and also invite your fellow sportsmen to come along and learn more about trapping.

Our district is made up of Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, and Somerset Counties and if you know of any trappers or anyone interested in trapping please encourage them to join the association.

Our district officers are as follows: Don Sager – Director, Jim Griffith – Assistant Director, Pat Wess – Treasurer, and Deborah Sedlmeyer – Secretary.

Please feel free to contact Pat Wess @ (814) 262-9455, Don Sager @ (814) 443-3185 or me with any information you would like to see in this report or any questions you might have. I can be reached at (814) 686-0497 or e-mail me at bdstern@atlanticbb.net Thanks for reading. — Brian Stern, Tipton, PA

 

DISTRICT 7 REPORT

Upcoming D-7 events—-August 24 is our trapper training school at the Watsontown Lions Youth Center starting at 8 am. The same day and location will be our cable restraint class. You must register on the PGC website for this class, it will from 8am to noon. September 7 is our mini-convention at the Booneville Campground near Loganton, starting at 8 am. There will be demos during the day and there will be a food stand. Also that day will be our D-7 meeting at 1pm. There will also be a cable restraint class in Tioga County at Arnot on July 27. If you would like to get your tickets for the PTA Banquet that District 7 is hosting next year at Hughesville contact Joe Mast at 570-568-0175. — Pete Rake

 

DISTRICT 9 REPORT

First I would like to thank everyone for supporting me for PTA editor in the last election. It’s a real privilege to serve such a great bunch of folks.

I made it down to the State Rendezvous in Gilbert in June. District 10 did a great job, as usual, and I was happy to spend time with old friends and make a few new ones to boot.

It is a real pleasure to acknowledge Bill Kalinauskis in his being inducted into the PTA Hall of Fame. Bill has worked tirelessly for the last 30+ years for the organization, and this honor is well deserved. Congratulations, Bill, and keep up the good work!

We have a busy schedule planned for the District activities: July 22 – 27 – Troy Fair; August 19 – 24 – Harford Fair; September 7 – 8 – Trapper Training School at Camp Lackawanna; September 15 – Mini-Rendezvous at Triton Hose Co. in Tunkhannock; January 31, February 1 -2, 2014 – Northeast Regional Coyote Hunt; February 15, 2014 – District fur sale at Triton Hose Co.

If you would like to know any more about any of the events, contact Bill at 570-942-6895 or billdee@epix.net, or me at 570-679-2318 or pricee0503@hotmail.com. — Ed Price, Treasurer, District 9 PTA

 

DISTRICT 10 REPORT

Hello to all. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far. Things have been busy – gearing up to the State Convention. So I will keep it short.

I would like to thank everyone who helped out at the Convention. Also thanks to the tailgaters, vendors, demo people and anyone else who was involved with the show.

Northampton County youth field day and conservation camp were held recently. Thanks to Steve Wentzel, Bob Counterman and everyone else who helped out at these events.

Upcoming events: Lehigh County Youth Field Day – August 3; Monroe County Youth Field Day – September 7; District 10 Fall Convention – September 27 & 28.

That’s it for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer. — Scot

 

DISTRICT 11 REPORT

Time really does seem to just fly by doesn’t it? Seems like we were just talking and planning for the state rendezvous and it has come and gone already. It turned out to be a great event despite the day and a half of rain we all had to endure. It’s really great to have the time set aside to attend this annual event just to catch up with one another. Thanks to all from District 10 for hosting this year’s rendezvous and making everything go so well. Congrats to all the contest winners from the rendezvous. Two young men from District 11 that I want to make special mention of are our recipients of the Youth Trapper of the Year award. Isaac Long and Kyle Lynn received this recognition at the general meeting on Saturday. Special congrats to them.

Next year’s state rendezvous will be in District 3 in Washington County. Dave Eckels and the crew are already getting things going to host us in 2014. District 11 will be hosting the 2015 state rendezvous at the Schuylkill County fairgrounds. We will need to reassemble the army of great help that we had a couple of years ago to be able to accomplish this task. Everyone that I talked to that helped out before was ready to do it again. If you are interested in joining in, let me or Ralph know. We will start planning at our meeting at Millcreek August 11th. Speaking of that, our list of items for the auction is growing nicely. Tim Kiphorn has about 20 of George’s Species Specific 160 traps that he is putting up for sale. From Jeff Leeking: 5 NW #200 body grip traps, 1 #220 Victor, 24 double long springs 1’s, 11’s, & 2’s; 4 #1 Stay-Kawt, a trap made by Animal Trap Co. that was sold through Sears, 12 #0 Victor and B & L jumps, 12 asst. jump traps, 3 mole traps, 3 #3 jump traps – donated to D11, 1 old Pal tackle seat, 2 #4 Victor double long springs.

We will continue to take items for this sale up till 10AM on Sunday, Aug. 11th and the auction will start at noon. There will be a couple demos in the morning and free spots if you have stuff you want to bring to tailgate. Dave Rodgers will be there with a full line of trapping supplies. Hopefully you can make plans to attend this event.

I think all of our Youth Field Days are already over by now. I do want to say Thank You to all our district members that help out at these events. It is time well spent and does a lot of good PR on our behalf. I want to list for you the Trapper Training Schools and encourage you to bring someone to these schools that has any interest in learning about trapping.

Aug. 17th, York Co, Starview Sportsmen’s Club, contact Brett Spangler @717-659-7265

Aug 24th, Lancaster Co., Millcreek Sportsmen’s Club, contact Terry Suter @ 717-393-4738 or Brock Chapman @ 717-394-0077

Sept 14th, Schuylkill Co., Auburn Fish & Game, contact Ron Smith @ 570-294-6270

Sept 21st, Dauphin Co., Anglers & Conservationists, contact Mike Spittle @ 717-367-2637

Two other events that you may want to attend or help out at are the Schuylkill County Fair and the Lebanon County Fair. Dist. 11 will have display booths at both of these events. The dates for both are July 27th thru Aug. 3rd.

Hope to see you at Millcreek Sportsmen’s Assoc. on Aug 11th. — Mike Spittle, (717)367-2637, spittlefam@paonline.com

 

DISTRICT 12 REPORT

Hello from the Southeast again. I hope this finds everybody well and enjoying what seems to be a wet start to the summer. I was able to attend the meetings up at the convention in early June but could not attend for the whole event. I know that the weather was pretty terrible for the first half but shaped up better on Saturday. It seemed like a good convention, even if the numbers were down a little bit. I ran into several district members while I was there. I was excited to hear that Tim Green’s health has greatly improved and that he is going to be out along the creeks again this year. I was also honored to see long time member Bob Ried receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, well deserving.

The district will be very busy again. I know that we had youth events scheduled in Montgomery County that Lee Rumford attended. We will be holding our trappers training school in September, as well as our fall meeting in October. These dates and info will follow as well as a district flyer to go out. We also have some good fundraising ideas on the table. One of which is to hold our annual pig roast again, which will be the night before the training school. It is always a great time for trappers to socialize.

So keep an eye open for these upcoming events. They are soon to be posted on the State web site calendar of events as well. — Rick Ameisen

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