Save the New Berlin Fish and Game Club project
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147 Posts
After talking to the last surviving original member. The Club became disorganized back in the 70s and mismanagement was evident and they stopped promoting new membership. Over the years the original founders passed away and the property became overgrown and all but forgotten.
Now a small group of people are trying to rebuild the property so it can be used as a community range and also can be used for hunter education courses.
Edited:
Just to add a bit more background info here...
I was approached by one of the oldest surviving members of the club a few months ago, who joined the club as a teenager with his father in the late 40s. Knowing that I have a background in the firearms industry and some formal training and experience in range development, he was practically pleading with me to try to do something with the old club property. He was worried that at some point the property would be lost due to taxes, the club disbanded and would be lost to history. The club also owns another small piece of property which for years has been reserved for use by the Boy Scouts.
After hundreds of hours of work and rallying local help... This is what has been done so far... At this point the property taxes are now current, general clean up of the range property is underway (no easy task, it was real bad! The photos and video were taken after MUCH cleanup work was done) and a reorganizational meeting is scheduled to vote in new officers so the club can conduct business. It has taken a considerable amount of resources just to get this far but considering the precarious position that the club was in just a few months ago, I think much has been accomplished.
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891 Posts
Looks like someone has been mowing. Snow removal in the winter and mowing in the summer are some of the recurring chores every club must endure. We have some expensive mowing machines and a long time volunteer has recently retired from the mowing chores and luckily we have a couple of guys that have stepped up to fill his shoes. Also, you will hear this same story from just about every club: Inconsiderate people leaving a mess behind and not picking up after themselves. My wish is to try a new "carry in, carry out" policy, Perhaps provide a supply of small bags. The large containers of garbage, in my opinion, become too heavy and too much trouble for a volunteer person to manage. Next time you are at our club I can point out the burn barrels and show you other equipment and features we have.
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891 Posts
I doubt you will find ANY club bursting at the seams on work party day. UVAC is a guy with a vision to see a club rise from the ashes (or in this case, the cobwebs). This is a big challenge and anyone in this position could use some encouragement. If you have some positive helpful info from your own experience of volunteering your time and effort at a club, then let's hear it.
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3,282 Posts
Our club celebrated 50 years last year. We are 6 people away from our full capacity. It wasn't like that a few years ago. We started to hold some fun shoots, both rifle and pistol, we started a steel falling plate shoot for the winter months shooting indoors with .22 pistols, and we are now running some defensive pistol shoots during the summer. Membership has grown to the state it has because people were shooting these events and they went out and told their shooting friends and they came and joined. We are gradually getting some younger people involved in running the club. Our officers are aged from their late 70s to early 20s. We do two work days a year and get several members to come and help do the chores.
We have gone to a "if you bring it in/you take it out with you" policy. The trash was a problem as the can would get to overflowing and no one would take it to get rid of. The new policy works pretty well, occasionally someone will leave a few targets behind but not often. We changed our outdoor target holders from permanent installations to PVC pipes set in the ground. The stands have 2x2 firring strips for legs that drop down into the pipe. The stands are kept inside the clubhouse so non members can't just appear on the range and shoot as there are no target stands left outside. This has helped and the stands are rebuildable for under $10.
Our biggest problem we have had in the past couple years is that a member removed 4 buckets (5 gal.) of spent brass that was earmarked for the scrap yard. We generate a lot of empty .22 with the plate shooting and we cash in the brass to raise cash that is then spent on range repairs. Our solution is that we bought an 8 camera surveillance system and installed it. We have cameras inside the club and outside on the parking area and the range.
Hope this might help you get your club back up and running smoothly. Getting your membership involved is the key and it's hard to do if you don't have any events. Good luck with your venture.
We have gone to a "if you bring it in/you take it out with you" policy. The trash was a problem as the can would get to overflowing and no one would take it to get rid of. The new policy works pretty well, occasionally someone will leave a few targets behind but not often. We changed our outdoor target holders from permanent installations to PVC pipes set in the ground. The stands have 2x2 firring strips for legs that drop down into the pipe. The stands are kept inside the clubhouse so non members can't just appear on the range and shoot as there are no target stands left outside. This has helped and the stands are rebuildable for under $10.
Our biggest problem we have had in the past couple years is that a member removed 4 buckets (5 gal.) of spent brass that was earmarked for the scrap yard. We generate a lot of empty .22 with the plate shooting and we cash in the brass to raise cash that is then spent on range repairs. Our solution is that we bought an 8 camera surveillance system and installed it. We have cameras inside the club and outside on the parking area and the range.
Hope this might help you get your club back up and running smoothly. Getting your membership involved is the key and it's hard to do if you don't have any events. Good luck with your venture.
Joined
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147 Posts
Right now, we have one volunteer that has been mowing the rifle range, and one that has offered to brush hog the rest once a year just so that it does not become over grown again (which has helped greatly). We will need a long term plan for mowing once the other parts of the range come online and are used.
We have decided to enforce a "carry in, carry out" policy for garbage. This is something I strongly believe in, and encourage. No one should be responsible for someone else's garbage, whether at a range, a park, or anywhere else.
Immediate needs are building a new drive for better access to the property. I'll be working on that for the rest of the summer. I hope to at least get the new road, entrance and the new rifle range built before the weather gets real bad.
Real big thanks for your support!
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147 Posts
Just sent you a PM...
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5,168 Posts
Man I wish I was closer. I hunted in New Berlin once. Beautiful little town. We drove in at night during a snowstorm. It was like a movie! I now hunt in the Sidney area, but never get up that way anymore.
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147 Posts
Airbornguy, Next time you are in Sindey and want to shoot some pistol, PM me. I may be available to meet you at the Rockdale Club (just north of Sidney). They have an indoor range and you can shoot there as my guest.
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5,168 Posts
Thanks for the offer! I'm hoping to go up one more time before hunting season for some shooting.
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891 Posts
Keith,
Look in your clubhouse to see if you find a certificate of incorporation from the NYS Dept of State. See if it has a 5 digit number, 71337.
Here is a link to NYS web site for New Berlin fish and game club inc.
Entity Information
Look in your clubhouse to see if you find a certificate of incorporation from the NYS Dept of State. See if it has a 5 digit number, 71337.
Here is a link to NYS web site for New Berlin fish and game club inc.
Entity Information
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147 Posts
I do have the original Certificate of Incorporation and a bunch of other items that the last surviving original member gave to me in trust that I would resurrect the Club and protect its history.
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5,116 Posts
I have 23 acres in Madison county, town of Brookfield. Welcome to hunt it.
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147 Posts
Long day at the club working on the trap house today. When we first opened it up we found that is was full of snakes (see photo), some of the concrete blocks had broke and it was in need of repair. We got the concrete building patched and pointed up, then started working on the 50+ year old Winchester turret trap that was inside. To my surprise I think we got it working pretty good, but I may need to order some regular maintenance parts for it, if I can find them. Plus, I think I found a trap director...
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