President — Craig Sweet, 1825 Kirkwood St., Saint Charles, IA 50240; phone: 641-764-2758
Vice President — Randy Mitchell, Iowa Fall, IA; phone: 641-648-6787
Secretary — Patty Kempf, 3371 130th St., Jamaica, IA 50128; e-mail: itasecretary@iowatelecom.net
Treasurer — Chris Grillot, 2769 110th Ave., Wheatland, IA 52777; phone: 563-374-1074; e-mail: itatreasurer@fbcom.net
FTA Director — Gene Purdy, 521 Edwin Place, Fontanelle, IA 50846; phone: 641-745-8841
NTA Director — George Scalf, 123 N. Madison Ave., Ottumwa, IA 52501; phone: 641-682-3937; e-mail: iantadtr@mchsi.com
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $15
• Lifetime membership with subscription — $250
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
ITA Secretary
Patty Kempf
3371-130th St.
Jamaica, IA 50129
http://www.iowatrappers.com
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Greetings all,
As you read this, the 50th ITA Convention will be history by just a few days. Hope everyone got to attend. I will have convention reports for you in next month’s issue. Hope everyone is high and dry these past few weeks, as some parts of Eastern and Southeastern Iowa received 8 inches or more of rain in a couple of days. Hope that you weathered the situation with little or no financial loss. Got to attend the NTA 50th Convention and the ECI Chapter 16 Fur Takers Rendezvous.
Both events had very good attendance for their respective events. I am also planning to attend the Nebraska Fur Harvesters Convention the last weekend in September, had a good time last year and need to say hello to some new friends while there. The weather this last part of August makes a person think more about trapping again. The lows have been in the mid 30s to mid 40s at night around the state.
It won’t be long before hunting and trapping seasons are upon us again. Get your gear in shape and tuned-up — time always seems to sneak up on you so quickly these days. Better go for now. Til next time, be safe and take a youngster along on those outdoor adventures or scouting trips.
— Craig Sweet
NTA DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The 50th Anniversary Convention of the National Trappers Association was a resounding success with overall figure of 5,842 through the gate.
The Ohio State Trappers Association did a fantastic job as hosts, and the Allen County Fairgrounds were a great site for the convention. Numerous buildings were full of dealers, there were more tailgaters than you could count, and the campgrounds were packed. Anyone who didn’t go to Ohio missed a great convention.
Since I’m not on the NTA Executive Council, we didn’t head over to Ohio until Monday, July 27, arriving at our motel about 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Our motel was located right next door to the host hotel and the fairgrounds was approximately one mile away.
The Board of Directors met on Tuesday, July 28, and Wednesday morning, July 29, with Wednesday afternoon being dedicated to a presentation by Joel Freeman of the Freeman Institute.
We attended the President’s reception on Wednesday evening with President Kaatz being subjected to a humorous “roast.” The Lima Convention and Visitors Bureau provided a dinner of shrimp cocktail, celery stalks w/herb cheese, bruschetta pomodora, marinara meatballs, cocktail franks, baked Louisiana crawfish and tortilla chips and salsa.
Thursday night was dedicated to the FBU Awards Banquet featuring a buffet of apple and walnut stuffed pork chops, rosemary chicken, glazed carrots, mixed California blend, whipped potatoes and gravy, mixed salad, rolls and dessert.
A live and silent auction were held and the following awards presented:
CONSERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR: Herb Berquist, Massachusetts, for outstanding efforts promoting sound wildlife management
CONGRESSIONAL MERIT AWARD: Norman “Skip” Trask, Maine
AFFILIATE OF THE YEAR: Utah Trappers Association
BENEFACTOR AWARD: North American Fur Auction
LEADERSHIP AWARD: Mike Sievering, Alabama
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: Jackie Malone, Alabama
PIONEER AWARD: Mike and Virgie Fischer, Arkansas
TRAPPER OF THE YEAR – EAST: Randel Watkins, Maryland
TRAPPER OF THE YEAR – WEST: Kevin Whitworth, Missouri
PRESIDENT’S AWARDS went to Paul Dobbins and Trapperman.com; Alaska Trappers Association; and Nevada Trappers Association
There were two inductees into the NTA HALL OF FAME: Joseph Raymond Alcorn of California (deceased) and Cynthia Ann “Cindy” Seff of Arizona.
Cindy serves as the banquet chairman for the FBU and works tirelessly for the NTA. She certainly is a very deserving individual.
The following Regional Directors were elected:
Midwest – John Irwin of Wisconsin
Northeast – David Shuttleworth of Pennsylvania
Southeast – Sam Smith of Louisiana
Southwest – Mark Davis of Texas
Returned to the Executive Council as the Board Representative was Chris McAllister of South Dakota.
Stan Berkbuegler of Missouri and Don Aycock of Louisiana were re-elected as Directors-at-Large.
In the NTA election, Elections Chairman Russ Voelker of Kansas reported that a total of 1,751 ballots were cast, with incumbent President Kraig Kaatz of Illinois receiving 1,326 and challenger Bruce Hutton of Iowa receiving 400 votes. Todd Roggenkamp of Minnesota was unopposed as General Organizer and received 1,601 votes. However, during the Board meeting, a DVD was viewed with Todd sending his regrets at being unable to attend, and also tendering his resignation effective Oct. 1, 2009. The Executive Council will name a replacement.
Nominations are now open for Vice President and Conservation Director. These positions will be elected at the 2010 convention in Marshfield, Wisc.
The Regional Directors selected Columbia, Miss. as the site of the 2011 NTA Convention, pending successful negotiations.
For a number of years now, Gail Clouse of Albia, Iowa has donated a sawblade painted with the convention logo as an auction item. This year, with two different logos, she painted two sawblades. The 50th Anniversary logo sawblade was purchased by OSTA for $350. The sawblade with the raccoon logo brought $625. The traveling sawblade, also painted by Gail Clouse, sold for $500. Ryan Moyle, of Moyle Mink and Tannery, again stirred up some excitement by purchasing a bottle of vodka for $4,000. A quilt made of NTA convention t-shirts by NTA office assistant, Aimee Carlisle, was purchased by Anna Marie Scalf of Ottumwa, IA for $400.
All in all, the 50th Anniversary NTA Convention was a great event.
Till next month.
— George E. Scalf
