THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING, REMEMBER THE DATE: THURSDAY OCTOBER 3RD, 7:30 PM, AT THE CLUB HOUSE, LINCOLN PARK ROAD, IN DERBY TOWNSHIP.

Grant Ferris is trying diligently to line up another interesting speaker, but as usual is having little success in getting confirmation. Plan to attend and see what subject of interest the mystery speaker will have for us.

DATES TO REMEMBER!
 

2003 SSA Membership Fees Set

The Board of Directors of the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association set the membership fees for 2003 at their July meeting. The fees have increased due to ongoing increases in the electricity market, property taxes, property and liability insurance, as well as, increased maintenance costs for the club property. 

A portion of each membership fee is forwarded to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) for individual and family memberships. The OFAH has seen a large increase in its expenses including a sizable increase since September 11th in its club member liability insurance. Please be assured the OFAH Directors are working for you to keep future increases down.

The fees for the (January to December) calendar year 2003 are:

FAMILY (Adult, Spouse, Children) $ 95.00 

STUDENT (Age 13-16 or in full time study; (no magazine) $20.00 (no change from 2002)

JUNIOR (12 and under; no magazine) $15.00 (no change from 2002)

ADULT (Individual) $75.00 

SENIOR CITIZEN (Age 60 & over) $60.00

SPOUSE $20.00 (no change from 2002)

The SSA Board of Directors has and will continue to take every effort to control costs so we can hold the line on future membership fee increases. You can help by volunteering your time to assist with property maintenance and improvements so we don't have to hire outside contractors. Please talk to any of your club directors if you are interested in helping out at the property.

Murray Smart, Treasurer

Possession and Acquisition Courses

Possession and Acquisition Licence (Non-Restricted)

A non-restricted P.A.L. course will be held at the S.S.A. Clubhouse on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday evenings, November 27th, 28th, and 29th, 2002. The exam will be held Saturday morning, November 30th. 

Phone Stu Wallace at 794 4423 to book your place A.S.A.P.

Possession and Acquisition Licence (Restricted)

A restricted P.A.L. course will be held on Sunday December 15th, with the exam on the same day. This course is a six hour upgrade course, open to students who have taken and passed the S.S.A. non-restricted course within the twelve months prior to December 15th, 02. Please phone Stu Wallace at 794 4423 for more information or to book your place in the course.

Stu Wallace

YOUTH ACTIVITIES PROGRAM

The YAP spent the first part of their school year working away . . . But not at school!! The derby went extremely well, as always. Our Kid's Day was better than ever this year, with beautiful weather, lots of rides and games, and tonnes of support from the community and the SSA. Many of the juniors also had fun working the food booth, weigh-in station, or in general just helping around the derby site. The juniors also had crews out at the Owen Sound Fall Fair the weekend after the derby ended for parking. The weekend following, another work crew picked Gord's flowerheads off the black-eyed susans in the front field of the DWMA. The seeds from these will be used to plant the dump site come spring.

Of course, we have more projects and fun activities coming up this fall. There is a load of plywood in the shed down by the .22 range that needs to be stacked for a work day. We will also be hosting a turkey shoot sometime during October, the date is still to be decided. A number of other trips are also in the works, and we will be keeping the juniors posted as to dates and opportunities. 

Laura Stephenson

YAP Co-Chairperson
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Fisheries Advisory Committee

Our hatchery is now holding about 50.000 rainbow fingerlings that are one to two inches long that are a product of eggs collected from the Wiarton club and our own collection. These fish will be clipped this fall. Some 30,000 of these clipped fish win be released into Harrison Park and the remaining 20,0000 held over in the hatchery for the winter.

The M.N.R. is sampling salmon at the fisheries unit that are being caught at the mill dam. Coy Currie, who has been helping with the work, says that it has been somewhat slow for the fish coming in but with the recent rain and change in the weather things should start to pick UP. Coy noted that 5 Skamania in the 12 to 14 pound range were put over the dam along with one 4 to 5 pound brown-trout. About 25% of the fish handled at the dam have been fin clipped at our

hatchery which seems to be in relation to what was observed being brought in as catches during the past derby.

Our club collection of salmon eggs will start towards the end of the month. Three other clubs, Thunder-Bay, Lake Huron { Port Elgin] ,and Blue Water Anglers [Sarnia] are planing to collect eggs at the the mill dam as well.

Mike Prevost Co-Chairperson

Fisheries Advisory Committee