NCBF Membership Meeting

September 2, 2007  

Location: Training Academy , Rockville , MD.

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at 11:40 AM .

 Roll Call:  Members present were Mickey McCleary, Chuck Hartzman, Arvelt Cook, Mike Dodd, John Celada, Wayne Ball, Gerald Brooks, Jim Borum, Nathan Routzahn, Chuck Walker, Shawn Ezerski, Nancy Martell-Stevenson, Bo Curry, and Bill Kramer.

Treasurer’s Report: Report on the status of the treasury was not available.

Old Business:

Plaques: The plaques for this year’s tournaments have been purchased and delivered. The plaques for the 2006 and 2007 Anglers of the Year will be ordered.

The 2006 State Team: The team for 2006 is as follows: The Boater Angler-of the-Year is Mickey McCleary with 2nd, Pete O’Donnell, Sr., 3rd. Bill Kramer. The other three boaters are John Celada, Tim Cameron and Danny Shanz.

The Co-Angler of the-Year is Nate Routzahn with 2nd, Anthony Shanz and 3rd, Seth Brohawn. The other co-anglers are Cedric Simon, Mike Dodd and Wayne Ball. This team will represent us at the Mid-Atlantic Divisional in September, 2007. Chuck Hartzman, the Alternate will replace Seth Brohawn on the team due to a restrictive work schedule. The Divisional will be held on the Naticoke River in Delaware September 26th, 27th and 28th, 2007.

New Business:

Montgomery County Fair Trout Pond: The Fair started on August 10th through the 18th. We were invited to place our trout pond at the Fair for 9 days as a Federation fund raising event. All members were asked to staff the pond during Fair hours from 9 AM to10 PM.

Wayne Ball developed a cooling system for the pond and 150 fish were delivered on the 9th. At the scheduled opening on the 10th, we found all of the fish had died due to the Fair’s electrical power system failing during the night. Negotiations are under way with the Fair to compensate the NCBF for the loss.

State Team Finances: The 2007 fund raising effort was dependant on the Montgomery County Fair. That effort was cancelled as stated above. A full discussion took place to determine how best to cover all expenses in the future. There will not be enough funds to cover all expenses to fish the Naticoke. The hotel costs will cover most of the funds in the treasury..

Items Discussed:

  1. Membership project status 2007 and 2008. Several changes will be made in 2008 to assure all members have a chance to participate so their project points will be covered. Each project will have the time slots available identified so that we are not overloaded with members at one event or time slot.
  2. Timonium Expo and Montgomery County Fair. These two projects will be our top fund raising projects and will be required participation from the membership. Nate recommended the time slots be posted well in advance so that we can better arrange our family time and work schedules.
  3. Current financial picture for the State Team, i.e. hotel, gas, shirts, practice. All members have been told the status of the budget. We will not be able to buy shirts or pay expenses for the team. The hotel will be taken care of. It was decided to cut the final night from the hotel (Friday) so that the team can return home after the final weigh in.
  4. Team Winnings from Divisional. The question was how is the payback spent since the Federation cannot afford to pay team expenses? The Bylaws of the Federation, Article 11, Miscellaneous, Section 6, states in part “funds for support and maintenance of the NCBF will be derived from annual Federation state qualifying tournaments, etc.” This means, the divisional payback will go into the NCBF Treasury.
  5. Standing for the 2008 State Team. The initial posting of the 2008 team named Larry Riner as the twelfth member and Wayne Ball as the Alternate. After a final review of the standings, please reverse that order.
  6. Message Board. Chuck will investigate what it would take to install a message board on our web page. The board will allow members to note when they need fishing partners during practice, calls for volunteers for NCBF events, etc.
  7. Status of the Federation and whether we continue. The Board and the membership voiced strong support to continue as we have. All in attendance and many that could not attend called in their support for our unity and have expressed their desire to work as a unit to improve the organization. The President strongly recommended a change at his level to get new leadership and ideas moving within the current Board. The elections are coming up soon and each member will have a say.

Tournaments: The remaining 2007 tournament Open Tournament – October 7th. – Leesylvania. $100 per Boat, 5 fish limit.

Miscellaneous: Shirts, stitching, patches and NCBF/FLW/TBF Logos are provided by Becky Sisson @ 301-774-4503 or stitchnstuff@aol.com .  NCBF hats are available from Chuck Walker.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chuck Walker, President

Nations Capitol Bass Federation