KAMO May 2019 Newsletter

 

Hello KAMO mentors and youth!

This is KAMO President Mark Walters with my monthly part of the KAMO Newsletter.  The weather is near perfect for the first time in what seems like years and it is time to get outside and enjoy it.

Members from four chapters got together on May 18th and performed a work morning at the Tom Madsen property in Columbia County.  I was there and it was a very cool experience as we helped our good friend that helps KAMO in so many ways accomplish some firewood splitting and wrapping trees with mesh to prevent rabbit and deer damage.

June is a great month to introduce a potential KAMO Kid to the outdoors in a very simple way such as bluegill fishing a hike through the woods or just simply by sitting by a campfire.

We are still looking for a KAMO Secretary and I am asking that every chapter talks about this in their upcoming meetings.

As always I would like to thank you for all that you do to help introduce our youth to the great outdoors.

 

 Mark Walters

Webmaster Report

T he site was visited about 220 times in the past month. If you have any activities coming up, even if they are a ways out, please post them to your chapter page. Some chapters mentioned their activities in their newsletter submissions and I cut and pasted that information on their chapter page. I don?t mind taking the time to do this – this is what people are looking for when they visit our site – activity information. Recently, the bicycle outing photo was put back on as the homepage background picture. If you think a child in your chapter would be interested in running your page on the website, it does work and it is easy for me to set them up.

KAMO Promotions

The starter kits we talked about are now in our inventory – banners, magnetics, KAMO wear. The Baraboo Chapter received their starter kit. It has been great to see the enthusiasm of the Yellow River Chapter. After a number of KAMO interest phone calls and emails from Houston County, Mn, Coulee is sponsoring an activity in Hokah,  which is only a ten minute drive from downtown La Crosse. Driving this short distance is like stepping back in time 50 years. Spellbinding scenery and small villages that haven?t got caught up in much change in my lifetime. The steep bluffs are reminiscent of Buffalo County and the river valleys are like something out west. – a sports persons paradise. The Hokah Legend – the 23 point, 265 (dressed) pound whitetail was taken during the 2008 archery season a half mile from our event location on Main Street. Hopefully, our outing there will generate interest in KAMO.

Baraboo Chapter

  Here is our newsletter info. The Baraboo chapter had it’s meeting on May 13 at Rivers Edge Resort. We had our chapter elections for president and treasurer,  Rick Miotke was named as president and Jon Hilmer is the treasurer. We just participated in a multi-chapter work day at Tom Madsen’s property which overlooks Lake Wisconsin. We got to help cage in newly planted trees, split existing wood piles, and clear debris from the property trail system. This is one of the properties we use for the Joe Hunt in December and from the deer sightings around the land during the day, we should have great opportunities for this years hunters. We will be having a meeting/fishing night on June 12 at the north shore of Devil’s Lake from 5-8pm. We will also be having our annual campout weekend June 21-23 at the Juneau County Park on Castle Rock Lake. Looking forward to doing some boating, swimming, and the normal camping activities. Tradition  Forward.

Coulee Chapter

Some mentors took kids out in two locations turkey hunting.No turkeys taken this year, but a good time by all. Mentor Scott took a new kid Damin (Ukranian) out on a trout fishing adventure in a local Coulee. Members of two separate La Crosse School District programs asked us for equipment/ staffing support for fishing outings.

We have heard from some new parents wishing to get their child involved in our activities.

We had a table at two La Crosse School District buildings in May. Randy met with representatives of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and Becoming an Outdoor Woman about having a fall event to introduce area women to the outdoors. Our hope is that we can interest some of these outdoor women in our group since we have a chronic shortage of women mentors.

The late May rain raised the water levels to a point where we decided to cancel our June 1st Kids Fishing Day on Lake Onalaska for the first time ever. We set a date for our public pontoon rides for July 16th, and our 3P event as Tuesday,June 11th. Our Kids Activity Day in Hokah,Mn. will be on Saturday June 22nd. That is is inside/ outside, so will happen. Mike has spent a good deal of time riding around to promote it.. There are some people new to the group involved with planning for this. We have a new event for this outing – an outdoor giveaway/ swap. It will be interesting to see how much of a draw this will be.

We are looking for ideas for a silent sports activity that would be a draw for new people. Someone mentioned tree planting.

 

MIke Brown

Lake Wisconsin

Hi All, Summer is here! Some of our members helped with the Dmap program at the Madsen property. We have a meeting on the 5th, hoping to make some plans for the summer. Pretty slow going as far as recruiting but still working on it every chance we get. Hope everyone has a fun filled summer in the outdoors!

Tradition Forward!!

submitted by Bob Brodeur

Meadow Valley

We had 8 members present with no visitors.  Mentoring activities for the month included Janine, Bob and Aaron taking kids turkey hunting.

Additionally, Bob and Larry Willer participated in the fawn capture study in the Dodgeville area.  They went 2 different times taking Tess and Katrina one day and Keenan and Jason the other. Zero fawns were captured on the1st trip but we caught 3 fawns on the 2nd trip .  All had a great time and enjoyed talking with the DNR Biologists.

We continue to make efforts in promoting our KAMO chapter .  The KAMO logo is now on Jody’s boat and looks great. 22 Kids were given KAMO t-shirts at the recent NWTF Banquet.  Additionally, Bob took the opportunity to say a few words about KAMO at the NWTF Banquet as well. Lastly, we donated $ to the AMS youth bow shoot.  Hopefully, we can interest a few more kids and mentors through these activities.

The Madsen property work day went good.  Though we thought we might be short on helpers, we had a great turnout.  Both John (caretaker) and Tom (property owner) were thrilled we took the time to come down and help.  We staked trees, picked up brush and stacked wood. Additionally, we have an opportunity to have another work day later in the summer.

Activities going forward:

Air rifle shoot  June 12

Camping

Woods and Meadows pheasant hunt

Richland Center Sport Show (Feb 2020)

 

Submitted by Bob Nicksic

Northwoods

Northwoods held it’s May 15th meeting with full attendance.

First order of business was to award a $500 scholarship to Sierra Thomas, a Florence senior, who will be attending Stevens Point this fall, seeking a degree in environmental sciences. We told her to keep an eye out for Mark’s daughter, who also will be attending.

A good portion of hour one was spent discussing the March State meeting and reviewing new chapters (Yellow River) and departed chapter (Lady Smith). State officers, state funds balance, what state will be paying for, chapter promotions, the Joe hunt and Mike Brown’s efforts in making our website a professional success were covered. A pleasant surprise was being

informed by Rick Miote, that our entire chapter renewal of background checks passed the test…and no one did any studying…amazing. Also discussed was the chapter funding of Mark’s weekly article in the local paper. Yes Mark, the check is in the mail. You can now afford to buy lunch meat again.

We put four events on the calendar, Hooked on Fishing (July), Kayak outing /social (July), Senior outing (August) and Pheasant shoot (October). Our new treasurer, Natasha Shucha gave her first report and we all decided she is our new money girl. Thanks again Tash for volunteering to fill the post, along with your web master duties. And again, thank you Judy Waite for your many years of keeping us in the black and all the other duties you still fulfill for the organization.

The loons are back and nesting, the hummers have arrived along with the black flies and the last piles of snow are just about history. Enjoy.

Mick Milner

Yellow River

May 13th ? Meeting Minutes

There were 7 people who attended this meeting and continued to be encouraged by this strong, positive core group of mentors. Dana reported that our treasure account is still the same as last month. April?s meeting minutes were approved. We had 4 KAMO kids and others attend the Rich Chronquist day this is was a great event but it was very cold, so the children got tired quickly. Brad and Paul will be taking the 4 boys to help with Madsen property clean up on May 18 th . Randy D stated that he has 4 new children that are joining our chapter. He recently took a girl turkey shooting on two different occasions, sounds like she learned a lot and had fun.

Dana has been talking with the Big Brother Big Sisters group here in town and we are hoping to include both some mentors and kids from this program and include them in our KAMO chapter to give them experiences they may not be getting. Trout Unlimited also are excited to start working with us and including our group in their events. As we grow this chapter there is going to a committee that is going to try and match up the interests of the mentors and children to give them the best experience possible.

Brad talked with AMS Bowfishing and they are willing to put the KAMO magnets on their boats and help promote us. We are hoping to have a small group be able to go fishing with this group as well. Kate and Paul talked about the Horicon Living History Days that is a great outdoor event that happens in May of each year, there is interest in taking a group of kids next year.

Randy talked more about the Whitetail Youth Banquet and getting material together for a booth. Dana stated that there are enough funds to let our KAMO children attend and no cost to them. This is a great investment and a perfect networking opportunity. This event costs $25 per adult and $5 per child and is on June 26 th . Randy also stated that he has property that we can use his boat, kayaks, go fishing, play volleyball and many other fun summer outdoor activities ? our event date for this is June 29 th . Dana picked up trash at McMillan Marsh and is giving our chapter the credit for that. Brad is asking for our chapter to supply a raffle gift for the North Wood County Historical Society Pie and Social event, Bullseye is going to also help with this. Another great place to spread the word about our chapter.

Brad is wanting to get a small group together to work at the Mayor?s Breakfast/Dairyfest Breakfast while wearing KAMO attire, not sure if the children can help, as they are still in school. This event is May 31 st . There are mentors willing to take kids to the Dairyfest days and Hub City Days here in town. Dana stated the DNR are going to burn prairie soon and that we were invited to attend that. There is a lady ? Christine Mountain in Ladysmith WI that does rock climbing looking into that for later in the summer. Our next meeting will be 6/10 at 7pm and Nutz Deep II.

Nationally Recognized Outdoor Event dates

Contribution by Dana – Weed Warrior

It has been suggested to us by a couple people that if we are looking to plan events, it could be prudent to align them with recognized outdoor event days.This increases the chances of partnering with other groups and gaining sponsorships. The list below is for 2019.These dates will change slightly each year, but will be on the corresponding weekend.

National/ State Outdoor Days – 2019

February 15 – 18  – Great Outdoors Bird Count

February 22nd – National Wildlife Day

March 17th-23rd – National Wildlife Week

April 17th – Bat Appreciation Day

April 22nd – Earth Day

May 4th – International Migratory Bird Day

June 1-2 – Wisconsin Free Fishing Days

June – National Camping Month

National Get Outdoors Day – June 8, 2018

June 17th- 23rd – National Pollinator Week

September 24-30 – Take a Child Outside Week

September 28th – National Hunting/ Fishing Day

October 7th – World Habitat Day

November 15th – America Recycles Day

December 4th – Wildlife Conservation Day