New MI Sportsman Outing Post

[Hunter333]

If you are interested in getting together for an outing, please be sure to send your info to Sarge. I just thought that I would make a new post so that you wouldnt have to weed through the other posts to find out what to do if you are interested.

[Sarge]

Those who have volunteed to help in some way, thanks and you are hired!

Those who haven't shame on you !

I need 2 event leaders. One for adult events and one for children. The children's event leader will need helpers. Please volunteer.

I have created a spreadsheet that shows my perception of how the day should go in a time-line style. I will email it to all who have sent me email. Please if you cannot open microsoft excel formats tell me which spreadsheet, if any, you use. I will try to save-as into that format so you can get the chart. If you have no spreadsheet I am seeking additional ways to get the info out to you. Your snail mail addresses would help.

I will be posting a plea on the other outing post, to look here if you plan to attend.

C ya

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Sarge

[Steve]

Sarge I will attempt to load your spreadsheet on our server tonight.

[Sarge]

OK everybody get out your calendar, august 19 is not good for Curdog, who first suggested the Durand Sportsman's club. Durand is very central for the lower 1/3 of the state. Nothing is central for the UP or Alaska. Please report now if another date in august is also possible.

My next best date is August 5th. Curdog has said he won't hold it against us if we can't move it, but I want to do all I can to get everyone in who wants to come.

I will post this on the New sportsmans breakfast topic in the Outing fourm. and I will be sending it to all of the email respondants.

Lets nail this down so we can get to work. Thanks in advance for your prompt responses.



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Sarge

[toto]

Sounds like it might be fun, I'll try to make it, but you have to understand that it is a long ways from TC to Durand, but again I'll try. Let me know anymore information you have on this event.

[Sarge]

Everyone, I'm very sorry that I missed the campfire tonight. I did not call the club today either. I was distracted all day and into the night. I hope Curdog was able to get with his club pres today and I hope he reported at the campfire. If not I will do my very best to tie down this time and place thing right away.

Again I was not myself today. I had a grunch of holes drilled into my brand new (to me) truck, and then we picked up a new (to us) camper, and spent the evening petting it and talking nice to it. The holes were for the 5th wheel hitch.

Cya

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Sarge

[Hunter333]

Sarge, no problemo, just let us know if you hear anything please. This isnt going to happen overnight.

[Sarge]

Curdog, how did the meet with your club pres come out?? Any word on acceptance and cost??

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Sarge

[Sarge]

I tried to call the club, and didn't get an answer, I'll be trying a bit later on.

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Sarge

[Stalker]

Sarge' I called the Durand Sportman's Club (517-288-4112)and got a answering machine. I had to let it ring about a dozen times. I made reference to your letter and left your name and phone number.

[Sarge]

Thanks Stalker, by the way, stalker has offered to take the overall event coordinator job if no one else signs up for it. I would not like to see him have to do that, because it would mean he would not be able to bring his family. If no one else signs up by the time we have a fixed date and place, I will take that job myself.

I'm hoping my wife will attend and that would make my day hectic also. I'm hoping a guy who doesn't want to bring wife or kids will volunteer. If not, NO SWEAT.

I always say rule #1 don't sweat the small stuff. Rule #2 It's all small stuff.

I swear there's more editing in this post than meat.

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Sarge

[This message has been edited by Sarge (edited 06-01-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Sarge (edited 06-01-2000).]

[Hunter333]

I havent seen any recent posts but I am hoping that things are still in the works. August 5th is quickly closing in. Is that still the date that we are looking at? Has anyone else signed up for anything? Let smake this happen all, it will be a great time for everyone.

[Sarge]

I went to the Durand Sportsman’s Association, on Thursday. I talked with 2 board members and came away with these thoughts.
1. They are not very interested in modifying their Saturday routines, so 10:00 – 2:00 is their normal shooting times and they will remain so.
2. In order to get permission for our event, the issue will need to come before the board and that can be done at the next normal meeting, which is the 25th of June.
3. The President can be contacted and he can request a special board meeting at any time. He has a health problem in the family, and is not very active right now and it looks (to the 2 members I spoke with) like he won’t want to remain president for another year. I only include that to indicate that he might not be excited about calling a special meeting under these circumstances.

My personal conclusions are:

1. We can have the event anyway, but the opportunity for shooting type competitions and exhibitions are not going to be easy.
2. We can have the event in the campground there by Durand. My wife and I camped there this weekend, (wed – Sat) and enjoyed it very much. There are 2 pavilions, one of which hold over 100. No cooking facilities, but good cooks can do anything with some propane stoves and a grill or 2. There a ponds for fishing and a very small lake with a nice beach for swimming and paddle boating. There a numerous horseshoe pits and a ball field. 2 playgrounds, and the Shiawasee River. No place is farther than 150 yards from a pit toilet, and there are flush toilets and a shower house centrally on the grounds. They do have group rates (nothing special) and the pavilion is free if the group is all staying at the camp ground and costs a fee if outside guests are joining. There can still be competitions of sort without the shooting and archery events ( I know) and we can always all pack up and go to the club for the 10:00 – 2:00 shooting that they have anyway.

Bottom line, this is not as easy as it looks, but if we want to get together for a meet and some eats, we sure can. If it was only for the shooting events, well that’s going to be out or even further delayed by all appearances.

I vote to have the get together, commit to it as a group, reserve our campsites together in one part of the campground. Have a ball game, some horseshoe tournaments, and a Friday and Saturday night live campfire. Breakfast in the pavilion Saturday morning, and a fireside feast of some kind either Friday night or Saturday night leading up to that nights campfire chat. I am posting this in both of the outing topics in the outing forum as well as emailing it to all of those who have emailed me about this so far.

Please respond promptly if you still want to do something this summer, it is possible to start planning now, if you want to wait until next summer and find a more perfect location.

I wrote all of this in my word processor before I got in and read what curdog had said. most of it still stands. If we plan on doing it at the campground, and the club works out ok, everything will be just peachy. If the club doesn't work out, it ok too. The campground is 5 miles away and is probably the best place to bivouac anyway.

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Sarge

[Sarge]

Has anyone heard from Curdog?? The meeting at the Durand club was Sunday, and I haven’t heard anything yet.

I trust it will be on, and here is the Campground website so you can start getting your things in order.
http://www.michcampgrounds.com/walnuthills/ I think my campsite will be # 94 I’m sure they will tell you that when you make your reservations, if you ask. I don’t have that info with me at work, but I think this is right.

I’d say we’re on. If by some chance the club didn’t come through ok we can still have the gathering at the campground itself.

C ya and as soon as I hear from Curdog, I’ll have more info.

I am sure that stalker has accepted the job of overall coordinator for the events at the club. I’ll double check on that though.

Its good to be thinking about this again. I thought for a moment there, that August might get boring.


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Sarge

[Sarge]

Cool! Thanks Trout.

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Sarge

[Curdog]

All right- Things look fine. I talked to the President, Mike Habermihel, and its a go!
We can shoot trap, skeet, ($3 each for non members), Sporting Clays ($5 per non members), rifle and hand gun, plus archery on our own targets- they don't have any.

We will have full use of Kitchen, club house, and picnic facilities.

August 5th is written on their callender, and they are looking forward to our event.

[Hunter333]

SUPER!!! Thanks for all of your hard work everyone! Now, onto tackling the food issue and timetable :)

[Hunter333]

OK, speaking of food.... I volunteered to do some cooking and was wondering if there are any ideas about what to eat, who is bringing what....... Lets get this thing rockin and rollin, I am really looking forward to meeting everyone. Guess I better go get my new rifle so i can practice before then :)

[Sarge]

Awright. Now don't forget that there have already been some volunteers and Alleninalaska offered some King crab. Now lets get those emails rolling again and get some stuff planned. I still like the idea of a live campfire on Friday night at the campgrounds. I'll get that whole package of info back out like tomorrow or so.

I'm excited again.

[Hunter333]

Back on the wagon again, I love it. I am spreading the word to my non member friends also. That and trying to get them to register for the page :)
I look forward to cooking, eating, shooting, and whatever with everyone. Does anyone have grill info such as gas or charcoal? Utensils for the grill? Cold food storage available? Please advise........

[Sarge]

When I was there I did not notice a grill. I would recommend that everyone who's bringing grillable food, bring their favorite type of grill with them. Personally, I'd like to see the breakfast cooked and consumed in the clubhouse, the picnic lunch brought in from home and consumed in little groups of like interest people, and the evening meal held at the clubhouse but prepared outside on grills (except the crab) and served on a long buffet table like at food fairs etc. where we can pick and choose from everyone's proudest offering. If we have a pig roast that will do away with the food fair. The picnic lunch will probably be dropped by most or at least reduced to a very small meal due to all the other eating being planned. I am certainly still open to suggestions.

There is a normal home sized refrigerator, so be sure to bring coolers. Lots of bags of ice will be needed also. August is a hot month and we'll be out all day. A lot of cold liquids will need to be consumed. I recommend bottled water.
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Sarge

[This message has been edited by Sarge (edited 06-30-2000).]

[Hunter333]

Roger that Sarge. I will be bringing my grill and utensils as well as our lunch type foods and meat for the grill. Who will be in charge of bringing the breakfast food? I dont bringing my own or getting enough for all as long as I am reimbursed. Please advise............ We will need some large pots for the crab as well as an oven for taters if anyone wants them. I like the idea of pick your favorite buffet style serving, as long as there is room for everyone to heat their food if necessary. If anyone has a list of food that is going to be consumed by everyone ( garlic bread, taters, salad, dressing, etc) please advise so that we, I, can get it. I would also need a headcount if at all possible.
One more thing....... a comitment by those attending concerning archery targets and water coolers (its a lot cheaper to fill up at the site than to buy bottled water)..

[Stalker]

I am looking forward to meeting you guys. I had almost given up hope for this year. I'll be coming alone this trip. Maybe the wife and kids will be able to make it next year. Sarge, what other postions need to be filled? What is the cut off date to register so we will know how many are coming, so we can plan the events and the meals?

[Hunter333]

Reservation made, right accross from Sarge :) Do we have a cutoff date and if so, what is it? Lets see if we can get a list of who is doing what, who will be there, etc. I look forward to meeting you all. I will bring the firewood for Friday night :)

[Sarge]

I wouldn’t think a cutoff date would be necessary. I would say, though, that anyone who hasn’t committed by July 22, 2000 would surely be overlooked for things that require pre planning.

So far, I have volunteers for cooking the breakfast and for adult and children’s event coordinators. I will collect the fees, and purchase the provided foods and supplies. Over the next week or so, I am hoping to get some excitement stirred up and will start getting more emails. The email address that I am using for this is, (nixonra@mi.freei.net)

Please sign up, send your money, and come along for a really good time.

Lets get the Fees in. Remember, that's $10 per attending adult, 10 years and older. $5.
for youth under 10 who will be participating in adult events under the supervision of their
own parents. Children under 10 who are not in adult events are free. Additional
charges for skeet shooting will be required by the club.



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Sarge

[Sarge]

OK if I'm going to rag you about the fees I guess I'll have to tell you where to send them.

Al Nixon
11735 US 27
DeWitt, MI 48820

Payable to: Al Nixon

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Sarge

[Joe Archer]

I read through all these again last night. You all are setting up what seems to be an incredible event. If I can not make it, I know I am missing a special time. Have fun and be safe. <----<<,

[Sarge]

Its been a while, (if I’ve slept since, I’ve probably forgotten) Who was it again that was willing to handle children’s events and show them a good time???

Who all are bringing children?

Actually, who all are planning to attend?

Send me email At nixonra@mi.freei.net and let me know all the details. If you and I have already been conversing on that site, just send a quick reminder, if not please start so we can do the necessary prior planning. I do want to have this event for more than 3 or 4 of us. These forums are over 400 strong in membership, I find it hard to believe that they all know about this and that we still have so few interested.

Anyway, LET US KNOW , if you want to attend the Michigan-Sportsman Breakfast and Shootout gathering. On Aug 5th 2000

Fee Adult $10
Teen $5
Under 10 free

Plus additional fee for Trap/Skeet shooting.


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Sarge