KAMO – June, 2021 Newsletter
For comments related to this document, contact Mike

President?s remarks – Hello to all KAMO members and friends, This is Kids And Mentors Outdoors President, Mark Walters with my monthly report. June has been the most active period of time for our KAMO Chapters in well over a year and July is shaping up to be very much the same.
The last weekend in June I camped at Juneau Counties “Castle Rock Park” with the Baraboo River Chapter for their annual event and as always I was impressed by the efforts of Rick Miotke, Gregg Wagner and Jon Hilmer. This weekend The Meadow Valley Chapter will be in the Wa da Shuda Days parade in New Lisbon and that will get them a lot of very positive exposure. I have been in that parade with these folks twice in the past and it really is an enjoyable experience.
The reason that I will not be in the Wa da Shuda Days parade is because I am heading up to the Northwoods Chapters event on Lake Emily, its called “Hooked on Fishing” and these folks have a lot to be proud of as they also built a lot of the fish cribs that are on Lake Emily. On Saturday what they will be doing is taking kids fishing, having a picnic and giving the young fishermen rods and reels.
I frequently speak with Mike Brown and the Coulee Chapter is becoming more active and planning events and I know that Mike has been regularly taking kids fishing on the fishing floats on the Mississippi river. I know its a bit early to say that Covid is behind us but I believe that we made all the right moves and are presently ready to strengthen our existing chapters and maybe create some new ones.
As always, thank you for all that you do for KAMO!
Mark
Website – About 84% of the kamokid.org site?s visitors each month are looking it over for the first time. Viewers have been visiting the newsletter section which is something new. Their first impression is important. Please make sure someone in your chapter keeps your chapter?s page updated. Donation instructions and address clear and easy to find? Do you express an interest in equipment donations on your page? Need changes to your page? Don?t be afraid to ask for them.

Hunter?s Education – In late June, there were 21 regular and 17 internet field day classes offered statewide. Most of these postings are for classes that will be run in August or September. The internet only certification for all ages expired on June 30th.
There is no substitute for having a hunters ed instructor in a chapter – it opens up some doors in terms of recruiting new people to your chapter and makes it easy to have Learn To Hunt events. A certification can be obtained by going through a brief internship – helping with a couple classes, filling out some paperwork, studying a manual online. After certification, the instructor has to participate in running or helping a class or attending a workshop within three years of their most recent certification.

KAMO ID Template – If you are in the company of someone else?s kid – a minor, is it prudent to have verification that you are in a youth mentoring group? If you are talking to someone about a discount,getting into an event, etc. would it be helpful to have some kind of ID? That?s why the KAMO ID Template was developed.
This ID template is available to your chapter if you would like. They can be shown as identification and proof of affiliation with a mentoring group for youth. They are green with the KAMO logo and a place to put a photo. They are best if laminated afterwards. If interested, a copy can be forwarded electronically.

KAMO Wear – There is a solid inventory of neon t-shirts in kids sizes that can be delivered promptly to your chapter. All you have to do is ask and upon receipt, send a check to the state treasurer. They are $8.00 each.

Chapter Reports –

Baraboo – The Baraboo River Chapter had its meeting on June 14. We had a young lady attend our meeting who is interested in mentoring. We did her background check and now we have to get her involved. We just had our annual camping event at Castle Rock County Park. We had 5 kids and 6 adults attend throughout the weekend. We had a great meal and campfire time on Friday, but Saturday was a different story with a full day of rain showers. We did make the best of it with Greg Wagner making homemade ice cream and getting Cozy’s pizza for takeout that evening. It was a great time no matter what the weather was. A reminder to all chapters that we are still planning on the Joe Hunt in December. At this point the DNR is saying everything should be a go, but things could still change. Start looking for kids and mentors for this years event, so we are not scrambling at the last minute. Our goal is to have everyone and everything finalized in November. Tradition Forward
Rick

Coulee – We are planning an outdoor art class at Goose Island this weekend and July 20th pontoon outing on Clinton Street which has been popular in past years – a view of town from the river. We are trying to arrange for a trap shoot at the Holmen Rod and Gun Club for kids who have little/ no experience. We?d like to go to Woods and Meadows afterwards to shoot on their multi-situation trap stations..
Mentors took two trips to the Best Dam Fishing Float in the month of June with small groups. The fish viewing and catching there has been great..You know the pool is low and clear when you can see multiple species of fish cruise by. If you are a Coulee mentor reading this, the rate was recently adjusted.
The heat wave and lack of rain we had continues to impact the Mississippi River?s low and clear state we have been seeing on and off beginning in the summer 2020. We have been below ?5? – this is the normal level we had most years before high water became the new norm. The difference is that sedimentation has filled in areas outside the navigational channel, so there’s less water and more bottom there. Fishing conditions can be prime – fish seem to see and smell everything better in clear, warm water.
We have been hearing from more new families. When asked how they heard about KAMO, it?s usually one of the following – someone forwarded them an activity emailing we send out to parents/agencies every several weeks. They came across a brochure somewhere. They saw an upcoming event advertised somewhere. A friend with previous exposure to the group suggested checking it out..

Dodge County Conservation – Having a kick – off brat fry at the Piggly Wiggly Pig Shack on July 24th to get the KAMO name out there. Getting information from the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boy and Girl Scouts,and working some other leads..

Jim Braker

Meadow Valley –
Our first face to face meeting in 14 months. We had 7 members in attendance.
We discussed activities and plans for the upcoming months but mainly discussion was centered around how we get “new” kids into KAMO.
We decided to participate in the local 4th of July parade handing leaflets and local phone numbers to folks who may be interested in KAMO. Hopefully this generates some local interest.
Future events include a youth hunt on the Bigalke property and participation in the annual Joe hunt.
Stay safe

Bob

Northwoods – NE Chapter will be holding our Hooked on Fishing event Saturday July 10th at Lake Emily on Cty D just south of Florence from 9-12, lunch provided. We usually have 20-30 kids with 4-7 volunteer boats, and will send pictures for next month. JJ