THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING: THURSDAY MAY 2ND, 7:30 PM, AT THE CLUB HOUSE, LINCOLN PARK ROAD, IN DERBY TOWNSHIP.

Note the following agendas for April and May General Meeting programs:
 

May Meeting:	The Research Director of the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund at Port Rowan, Dr. Scott Petrie has agreed to come to the SSA clubhouse to talk about his fascinating work with wild bird research on Lake Erie. He is presently teaching Wildlife Ecology and Management at Western University as well as continuing his research. This will be the second year in a row that Dr. Petrie has agreed to be our guest speaker.
IMPORTANT NOTE	All SSA members can, and should!, sign up for the different work sessions for the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular at the May 2002 meeting
Newsletter by e-mail	If you have internet access and would like to get your newsletter by e-mail, please send Bill Thompson your e-mail address. The more members receiving their newsletter by e-mail, the larger the savings for the club, since the cost of printing and mailing the newsletter is rapidly approaching $1.00 per copy. Bill's e-mail address is "wils@bmts.com".

The S.S.A. welcomes the following new members!!! 

Youth Activities Program
April had a few projects in motion for the juniors. A small crew went out to the Houston property to help Doug Murdoch relocate an electric fence line to help protect a farmer's stream, with a larger crew in the afternoon fixing the northern fence of the Demonstration Wildlife Management Area and separating seed heads for planting the flower plots. The Home Show was also attended by the SSA youth, where many bird boxes were built, despite the cold temperatures and winds.

Coming up for the YAP is pitch-in day on May 11, which is taking place in partnership with the Communities in Bloom effort. We have also been invited to help out with the retriever trials at Bognor Marsh this year, which will be happening on May 18 and 19. Anyone interested in the YAP or these activities is welcome to contact either Laura or Sarah Stephenson at 363-2893.

Laura Stephenson  YAP Co-Chair

Fisheries Advisory Committee

Our big job of the year, overhauling our hatchery ,is progressing forward. All of the water tests have been completed by Henderson Paddon and once all of the reports have come back we can finalize our plans with M.O.E.

Fin clipping should start around April 23 with a crew of experienced girls coming over from completing work at the Port Elgin hatchery. Like any contract this work has to be carefully monitored. Fortunately we have members like Coy and Fred to handle this.

This past warm spell had us concerned about our Rainbow egg collection and hopefully at the time of reading this our harvested eggs will be secure within the hatchery trays. A crew of volunteers worked the waters of Maxwell creek on the evening of Monday April 22.

We are looking at a stream project proposal for a section of Pringle Creek on Mr Pete Hood's property. Completing this section of the creek would connect existing fencing and provide protection from the creek source all the way to where it joins the Sydenham River.

On Sunday ,April 21st, members volunteered their time to host a visitation from fellow conservationists of the Twin Lakes Conservation Club with a guided tour of our facilities. I am sure they were duly impressed with our layout, the direction and vision of our club and more importantly how are goals are backed up by the commitment of our working membership.

Remember that you do not have to be a member of a committee to get involved. Some of our projects happen before you get your newsletter so if you want to know what's going on, to help when you can, please feel free to call me at 371-3827 or talk to any other executive member.

As a side note, if any of you early bird stream fisherpersons are out and hear any tom turkeys gobbling and hunting is not your main concern please pass on the location to someone that is- like me. After all membership has its privileges. Enjoy your spring fishing !

Mike Prevost, CoChairperson  Fisheries Advisory Committee

Hand Gun Committee

April 20 and 21, Stewart Wallace, Ray Hoffer and myself provided the Authorization To Transport course for fifteen members. Both Saturday and Sunday's class room instruction was followed by hands on shooting and range officer practice. This is the largest group ever and the instructors were very pleased with the participation of all the members, who also indicated that it was fun for them too. All students passed the exam and are now working on the required range time with the supervision of the instructors prior to actually receiving their A.T.T.s. Congratulations to all!!

There will be a pistol match Sunday, May 26 at the Sydenham Club. This event is open to all club pistol shooters and invitations (challenges) have been sent to the other area clubs. There are a variety of events and you can shoot one, two or better yet, all four! The starting time is 10:00 AM. for the air pistol and 1:00 PM for the two .22 and one centre fire events. There will be an I.S.U. standard pistol 300 point event, a two person event which requires the team to cut off a 1"X2" piece of spruce strapping in the shortest time and the same with the centre fire pistols working on a piece of 2"X4". It would be my suggestion to bring LOTS OF AMMO! All Juniors are invited to participate in the air pistol event.
There will be lunch available and the entry fees are as follows, $7.00 for one match or $20.00 for all four. Bring a friend, bring some lawn chairs, shoot some ammo, tell some lies and have some fun!!

Please call Garry 376-5347 of Dave at 986-2731 to reserve a spot or get more details. There will be a prize table.

Dave Tebbutt, Chairperson  Hand Gun Committee

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