Minutes of the ISTA Board of Directors Meeting on December 11, 2021 held at Scheels, Springfield, IL
ROLL CALL
Southern Zone: Dennis Baker (ex), Bill Duncan, Ned Meyer, John Kravanek
Central Zone: Steve Carver, Mike Dennis, Bill Maiden, Kevin Wunder
Northern Zone: Charlie Bickle, Bill Duncan, Patrick Haskins, Bill Huhn (ex)
Others: Joan Davis, ISTA Secretary, Dan Schocke, Michelle Mueller
SECRETARY’S REPORT – Ned Meyer made a motion to waive the reading of the minutes and accept the minutes as presented by email from the Secretary with one correction – change the name in Roll Call from Larry Hight to Steve Carver. The motion was seconded by Stan Systo. Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Ned Meyer reported on the Edward Jones investment account, cash & money market, etc... Ned also read to the board a letter he received from Thomas Jansen, Attorney for the Gries Trust Fund, indicating he received consent from the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois to transfer all assets in the fund to the ISTA. It has been deposited in the ISTA checking account. Ned also reported the rebate ISTA received from ATA is $10,930.00. Last year the rebate was $11,660. Ned made a motion to keep the added money for the state shoot at $11,660, the same as last year, plus all the money received from other events; Pat Haskins seconded. Stan Systo made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report; Pat Haskins seconded the motion. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Target Cost & Ammo Availability – Mike Dennis indicated he has not heard anything about target costs. He’s assuming it will go up but doesn’t know when and how much. Mike hasn’t seen any shells in a couple of months. He reported Sunset Distributors closed. They might get a shipment or two of shells and if so, we will try and get some. The number of shooters is down at most clubs. Instead of giving shells as trophies we might have to give gift cards. Mike said some big shoots are going right to the shell distributors to get their shells. He said we might have to do the same.
Vendor Fees at State Shoot – Michelle reported that camping spots have been $185 and there has never been a vending fee charged like most everywhere else. On the camping contract for this year, Susie listed the cost would be $250 if you are a vendor selling merchandise and $185 if you are not selling anything. The vendor fee would be less than $10 a day for the shoot. The vendors get prime parking which could be sold to other campers. There was a suggestion to raise all camping fees by $5 for everyone with no separate vendor fee. Michelle indicated she would talk to her mom & Susie and would let us know. It was also suggested looking into getting another gunsmith for the state shoot. Doug Huber & Phillips were suggested. Kevin volunteered to call Doug Huber and Michelle would call Phillips.
Gries Trust Fund Update – reported on during the Treasurer’s Report.
NEW BUSINESS
Bill Duncan – At the beginning of the meeting, Bill Duncan announced to the board he was stepping down as a Director so he can focus more on being the Illinois ATA Delegate. John Kravanek was appointed by the Southern Zone Directors to complete the remainder of Bill’s term. Bill also mentioned since he had been in charge of target setting at the state shoot, he recommended John also take that over.
State Shoot Trophy Quantity – Mike reported after the last meeting he sent everyone an email detailing the amount that could be saved if non-resident runner up trophies were eliminated. Mike will start putting the whole package together to get an idea what will be spent and report back to the board. A lot of out of state shooters have told Mike they like coming to Illinois State Shoot because we give great trophies.
State Shoot Program – Ned went through the events and asked questions about event sponsors, events, dates, Hall of Fame event, etc... It was agreed the start time would change from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM except for the Marathon day on Monday which will start at 10:00 AM. Ned asked if there would be an increase in event costs and it was decided since it was raised $2.00 per event last year, it would remain the same. Michelle decided to raise the cost on Marathon day to $29.00 per event. Last year 2,500 programs were ordered because we mailed to other states. It didn’t seem to attract any more out of state shooters, so it was decided to lower the number of programs to 1,000 and possibly send postcards with our website to the majority of out of state shooters. Ned will talk to Trump Printing regarding the postcards. Joan asked if it would be okay if she sent out letters to the members of the State Teams and All-American Teams to invite them to the Annual Dinner and meeting to make sure they are aware they will be receiving an award. She has heard from some parents they didn’t know they were supposed to attend. She also asked for ideas for other advertisers. Michelle suggested the restaurants in Bunker Hill. Joan will take care of both of these.
Brittany Grounds & Equipment Improvements – Michelle reported the road needs to be redone and they want to add another rocked parking area. They are looking into buying another trap machine. The 27-yard line on the field in front of the shell house is broken and it will be fixed before the state shoot. Their goal for the 5-year plan is to do something about water drainage on the west end – either doing tile work or digging a ditch. In April they will go through all the machines and do any maintenance that is needed.
3S – The developer of 3S sold it to the owner of Pre-Squad. Pre-Squad wants to charge $3.00 per shooter per day for the clubs to use 3S. Just as an example, the fee for Kansas State Shoot would be $6500. Mike gave Michelle a heads up because she does IL, IN and Wisconsin. If you have 3S you might want to back up your program before they stop supporting it.
Unpaid IL Shooters for ATA – Joan asked Charlie if he wanted her to write letters to the clubs who allowed individuals to shoot without paying their ATA dues and include an invoice for the amount charged to ISTA by ATA. Charlie approved.
ATA DELEGATE REPORT – Bill said he didn’t have anything to report since the Executive Committee would be meeting the Monday after our meeting. He said if there was anything that would affect the state shoot, he would send an email out, otherwise, he would wait until the next meeting to report. He did have news for the board regarding AIM. He indicated AIM is not a 501(c)3, as some thought. When Bill became the delegate, Josh Baker had started running AIM and he started looking into whether they were insured and if they were a 501(c)3. He discovered the person who was supposed to file the paperwork for the 501(c)3 did not do it. Bill took Josh to the lawyer he used to set up the 501(c)3 for the HOF. There is a lot of paperwork associated with filing for a 501(c)3 that require signatures which Josh was not comfortable doing, so he stepped down from AIM. He was, however, able to get AIM insured through the National AIM. The paperwork is still sitting at the lawyer’s office, but Bill has not been able to find anyone willing to take it over. Bill talked to Darrell about ATA being the depository for money that is donated for AIM, not only for Illinois but for all states. Darrell said he will look into it.
Next ISTA Meeting – February 12, 2022, at 9:00 AM via Zoom
Adjournment -- Motion to adjourn was made by Stan Systo; Mike Dennis seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by Joan Maiden, ISTA Secretary