I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight, if the meeting runs long, please be patient, we only do this once a year.
The last two years have been an awesome ride, the club has almost tripled in members in that time, the growth is just phenomenal. With such growth comes growing pains, people learning the rules of the range, conflicts on the calendar, rentals, and a few other issues that have mostly been ironed out. Every day is an opportunity to learn here at AFGC, and I’m proud to be one of the students.
Hopefully tonight we’ll see some new faces take positions on the board, I’ve been a member of the club since 1990 and on the board most of the years in between. I’ve never understood why I got on the board honestly, I certainly don’t fit the standard mould for a gun club exec. But that’s one of the things I’ve always loved about this club, we are an eclectic mix, more so than any other club I’ve been to, and I’ve been to hundreds. We have members representing pretty much every aspect of society, from lawyers and doctors to construction and engineering to police and military, athletes and couch potatoes, and we all share a common interest, well mostly. Be it archery, handguns, rifles, competitively or just plinking, we share a passion, and the club enables us to enjoy it, to do it to our hearts content.
You’ll notice I left out fishing though, and that’s because if there is one area we just haven’t had enough representation, it’s fishing, and I’d like to see that change, fishing is an important part of our club and it’s one of the easiest sports for adults and kids to get into. Unlike the shooting sports, be it archery or guns, no expensive equipment is really needed. You can still get out there and fish with a bamboo pole and a string tied to it if you want. I’m hoping someone will step up tonight and take the reigns of the Fishing club and bring it back to the way it used to be, with regular reports and events. Does anyone remember the fishing derby at Mill Lake? I sure do, it’s where I learned of the club.
But it’s not just fishing that needs a person to step up, it’s the entire board. This club operates on volunteers, and some of us have been doing this for a very long time, we really need new blood. But please don’t take the excitement and rush you feel now……… and volunteer. Take a moment and think, can you make it to the meetings, two a month, for the next year or two? We need that from you, and we’ll need you at work bees coordinating the other volunteers, at the open house helping out. Taking the lead of sub club maybe, which will mean weekly attendance at the club possibly, donating a ton of time. But it’s worth it, every second is worth it.
Thanks again to everyone I’ve been on the board with all these years, we’ve accomplished a lot in that time, most especially the last few. I am excited to see what the next ones bring us.
Thanks again,
Robert Engh