KAMO – December, 2022 Newsletter
For comments related to this document, contact Mike

Mark Walters Remarks –
Hello to everyone in KAMO and friends that may be reading this,
This is one of the KAMO originals with a few words to say for this month’s Newsletter. As many of you may know I was our President since 2007 and I gave that position up on June 15th when my soulmate, Michelle Chiaro, passed away unexpectedly then.
It has been almost seven months and simply put, KAMO has not found a President even
though we have tried in several formats. The deep depression that I was in has subsided to simply missing the woman that I loved and was enjoying a life with. At the same time I have witnessed one of the best periods of Kids And Mentors Outdoors history to have realistic
growth and simply put KAMO needs someone to lead us through this period
of time.
Many people like Mike Brown, Bob Nicsic and Rick Miotke have filled the void, but they all have other jobs in this fantastic organization. At The Joe which was held in December, I witnessed a comradery as well as new energy in all chapters that attended and to be perfectly honest,
someone has to take the torch and try to manage this period of growth to keep this going. If everyone is in agreement I am willing to do my best to bring KAMO to the next level.
On January 21st there is a fishing event on Lake Tomah with a group from the Meadow Valley Chapter. The Coulee Chapter is also working to get some participants. I am looking forward
to being a big help with this outing and was at the last meeting for Meadow Valley which has some really positive new growth.
The Dodge County Chapter of KAMO was very strong at The Joe and these folks are ready to take on the world and I want to congratulate Jim Braker for his success.
Bob Brodeur, the long time President of Lake Wisconsin, and the man behind the Joe along with Rick Miotke witnessed a surge of new energy at the Joe in the form of young energetic members and had me publish his meeting times and place in my column “An Outdoorsman’s Journal” and I think we are going to see big things with the many new members in the
age bracket of 21 to 35 for Lake Wisconsin.
Anyways I can see that I have taken plenty of space. If everyone is
agreement I would put my name back on the website and lets take care of
business.

Thanks for getting kids outside! Mark

Interchapter Outing –
Meadow Valley has an ice fishing event on Lake Tomah on Saturday, January 21st (weather dependent). Quite a bit of planning has gone into the event. Any chapter can come and fish on the lake, which has developed a reputation as an action oriented kid spot.. This is not a competition, but an ice fishing exposure for youth with a range of skills from introductory to more seasoned fishing club members. There will be a heated tent on the lake and an enclosed shelter with heat and toilets at the east entrance to the park is ours for the day as well – free to us courtesy of Tomah Parks and Recreation. That should make it inviting for parents to bring their kids and have the option to stay warm indoors.

Hunter Education – A room at the Omni Center in Onalaska has been reserved for training new hunter ed instructors on Saturday, February 4th, 2023 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. It is free and lunch will be provided.. Any interested adult from anywhere can come to it. Registration is through GoWild. The rationale for the class is that there aren?t enough active instructors and this has created hunter education certification class access issues, particularly on the western side of the state.
Having at least one hunter education instructor in your chapter opens up numerous possibilities, especially with mentee recruitment and Learn to Hunt capacity..
State Convention – March 25th is the date set aside for the state convention. That date is not that far out anymore – about 10 and a half weeks.
It would be a good idea for your chapter to bring in a laptop computer that you typically use for your chapter?s tasks. That way, we can have someone there to help you more fully understand how to utilize the gmail account you should be using. It will not work to rely on someone else?s unit because of the security codes involved.
Possible convention topics:
Next year?s Joe Hunt – Who will work to get this set up? How?
How to get more people involved with your chapter generally. How can more women become enthused about joining your chapter?
Why is it so important to have upcoming activities and what are some good non labor intensive activities you can run?
.Does someone in your chapter read the monthly newsletter? Are the contents ever discussed at a chapter meeting?
Questionnaires – We are trying to gather data for the state convention via your input. Please complete one of these forms if you haven’t already. They may have appeared in your mailbox already, either as an individual or for a group meeting. The questionnaire feedback is meant to be a source of discussion at the state convention.
Directory – The KAMO Directory is a valuable source of information – the names and contact information of all our members. It is used to develop our group mailing list. When someone new comes into your chapter or someone leaves it, I (Mike) need to know that soon after, not years later. I need to know when a member changes their email/and/ or phone number. My crystal ball is on backorder, so I have to rely on you to hear about any changes.
The chapters that attended the Joe Hunt have updated their information. Because of those updates, the overall finding was that our chapters have generally grown in mentor strength. More members than ever will now be in on group mailings.
Lake – link.com – Why does this keep coming up? Because it rocks.
Since 2017, KAMO has had a blog on Lakelink’s discussion forum. It has been viewed over 389,000 times – that’s over 1500 times per week. The Lakelink marketing team is apparently impressed enough with our viewer volume that they are selling ad space on our blog pages – Chevrolet Silverado, VRBO, Kalesafe Apparel, Sephore Fragrances, ice fishing tackle company this and that, etc.
Did you know that you can get your chapter?s doings and pictures put there? A free advertising tool that reaches thousands of viewers right inside your pc. For real? How do I get in on this you may be asking??
Go to your free Lakelink account, log in, click on “forums”, “General Outdoor Discussion” and you’ll find KAMO. As long as you are logged in you can add those outing pictures you took off your cell phone along with any narrative. Make sure you have photo waivers for each person that is pictured.
It would be interesting to see how much the views would pick up if more chapters were posting to the blog.

Chapter Reports
Baraboo – The Baraboo chapter did not have a monthly meeting as it would have been right after the busy Joe Hunt weekend. I feel that this year’s hunt went very well, but there is always room for improvement, so if you have any constructive ideas please let me know. We do need to settle the whole CWD issue for future events in regards to processing and testing. As I look back over the past year it was nice to get back to some sort of normalcy with mentoring and KAMO events. Things will look different for the Baraboo chapter as a new president will have to be decided on and a new lead person for future Joe hunts will also need to be figured out. For the good of groups and people, change must come, and that change will be coming soon. I look forward to seeing people taking on new roles and group growth with new perspective and vision. Have a Happy New Year.
Rick

Coulee – There were four mentors involved with the MacKenzie Hunt, two parents, and four kids. Two kids got 2 deer each and a ?never hunted before? parent even got to hunt and got his first deer. It was a terrific experience for all.
The chapter met in December to discuss activities we could develop over the upcoming winter months. We held a Big Brothers/ Big Sisters – KAMO event at the Jump Start Adventure Park in La Crosse on the 27th. The idea was to have an event over the kids Christmas break and to provide a spark for KAMO/ BBBS interaction. We run activities that we would like more people to come to and the Bigs are often looking for things to do with their Littles, especially outdoors.
Mike is going to meet with the BBBS staff in January to see how we can work together on activities like we did pre pandemic and before there was complete staff turnover in their offices.

Dodge County Conservation – DCC KAMO chapter participated in the Joe hunt with 4 Mentors and 4 first time mentee’s all having the time of their lives. Our ?Get to know KAMO? bowling event is coming up on Jan. 14th 2023 at Tower Lanes in Beaver Dam. The event is 10am to 1.00 pm with pizza and snacks available .
We are also trying ro put together a First aid class with the Red Cross to help young outdoor individuals learn what to do in case of an emergency. Hunter safety courses are also on the books for March. Check Go-Wild for all the information. We are also looking for more women to get involved in our Chapter mentoring, volunteering, etc, so we can get young girls outdoors just like young men. I know I’m forgetting something, so keep your eyes on our Facebook Page and our Chapter page on the website.

Lake Wisconsin – Hello All,
It?s been awhile since we?ve had any news for the newsletter due to Covid and people losing interest. Since the Joe Hunt we?ve seen a renewed interest in KAMO, we have some new members and some of our old mentors turned out too. We also have people calling about next year’s Joe Hunt and checking our chapter out.
November and December were busy months for the Lake Wisconsin and Baraboo chapters, contacting landowners for hunting sites, taking kids out target shooting , setting up blinds and stands, hunter safety class and much more to help the Baraboo chapter get ready for the annual Joe Hunt. It was a great success with over half the kids getting a deer.
Our Lake Wisconsin chapter will be having a meeting Wednesday January 11th, 2023, 7:00 PM at the American Legion, 131 W. Washington st. Poynette, WI. 53955. We?re planning some Ice fishing in January if we can get some safe ice to fish.

Tradition Forward!!
Bob Brodeur

Meadow Valley – We had 9 members present at our December meeting along with 2 youth
from the New Lisbon Schools fishing club.

A recap on the Joe Hunt was given: This year’s event was a huge success and many thanks go out to Rick Miotke and Bob Broduer. Both did an outstanding job and dedicated a lot of time into this year’s event. A suggestion around forming a committee for the event so as to
spread the workload to multiple individuals rather than just a couple of people was discussed. We believe the “Joe Hunt” should be a topic at the Annual Meeting in March.

We have scheduled a “fishing day” on Lake Tomah for January 21st from 9:00am – 2:00 pm. and have invited the Coulee chapter to join in with us. The high school fishing club will be participating in this activity . Current plans are to have a warming tent, provide lunch
and provide a new rod/reel to all KAMO Kids. This will not be a competitive event (largest/most fish etc) but rather an event focused on participation and education. Let’s hope for good weather. If any other Chapters want to participate, please let me know so we can plan accordingly.

Bob

Northwoods – Hello from the Northwoods,
We will be having our winter meeting and pizza next Tuesday the 10th to discuss our upcoming winter Hooked On Fishing event scheduled for February 18th. We are looking to upgrade our jig poles and potentially buying an 8×8 hub fishing shack.. So far the ice conditions and snow level is favorable for our event.
We have a new member interested in becoming a mentor also, we have been stable in this department. Good luck and enjoy the outdoors, thanks,

Johnny Johnson from Florence, Wi….

Yellow River – No activity to report from December.

Keith