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

President?s remarks – Hello KAMO members and friends,
This is Kids And Mentors Outdoors President, Mark Walters with my monthly report. To anyone on the Board of Directors that is reading this we are going to have to hold a teleconference in the very near future. I think it is critical that we have a conversation on “The Joe”. I am hearing from people that we should have it and I am hearing from people that we should not have it.
There are very important reasons why “The Joe” should be held and the main one is that I believe after 1.5 years of Covid this December?s Joe is the glue that is holding us together. On the other hand, after we make all the plans which especially for Rick and Bob is a very large
job, what if we only have six kids due to Covid concerns? Also if we
hold The Joe what would be our Covid protocol? – parents are going to ask.
I think the main thought is that everyone on the BOD has discussions with their chapter members and participates with an open mind. At this point I have not heard from one person that is strongly against our annual hunt but the Delta variant has to be at least discussed.
This year we bypassed chapter dues and my guess is that something in that area will happen again this March.
In ten days it will be the state-wide Youth Deer Hunt, please take a kid hunting.
As always, thank you for doing what you do for KAMO!
Mark

B.O.D. Teleconference – There is a need for a teleconference. It should be held in October when more members are available.Topics could include late season hunts, especially the Joe and dues adjustments for another pandemic year. Also, Mike feels that it is important that other people in the group have contact/ account info details about: our insurance, website (two different companies involved with website), our tax exempt information, things that are written as procedures, and possibly other.

Website – The kamokidsorg website has been viewed 254 times in the past 30 days. 50 of these views were to visit the Dodge County page. Mike requested that the kamokids.org domain be transferred from GoDaddy to QTH in La Crosse. This was done because of QTH?s sterling reputation for security, service,and price. The transfer cost was $25.10. I (Mike) did not seek anyone?s approval to do this because of the short notice involved that our renewal was coming up (October 9th).
Have you looked over your chapter’s web page recently? Apparently, I (Mike) hadn’t.
When I went in to look, I was surprised at the age of some of the comments.

Inter-chapter outings – There is good potential for our chapters to share activities we do during the year. For example, the Baraboo Chapter has a camping trip on Castle Rock Lake each summer that mentors and kids from other chapters can come to.
Woods and Meadows has a very good deal for kids – half price. Coulee could arrange for a combo shooting/ camping/ fishing/ elk viewing (in season) trip sometime.
Fishing tournaments may work well. Chapters could either meet somewhere or communicate amongst each other on a given day from different bodies of water.
Scott and Mike have been working on an overall project that would include promotion of inter chapter events. Please let us know what events your chapter has that may work for multiple chapters. These activities can be recorded by Mike and Scott and then reminders can be sent out that they are coming up.

KAMO wear – The order for more KAMO wear was put on hold for a couple weeks.
This gives you mentors the opportunity to add to the order when it is put in. Mike can be reached at 608-799-5037. Call promptly, a replenishing order goes out soon. If you are reading this and you?re not in our group, we can still send you some of this if you are interested, so you can be a walking ad.
Here?s what we currently have left:
4 hats
T-shirts (neon) – Youth – 5 medium, 1 large
T-shirts (neon) – Adult – XL – 2, Small – 12 – these actually are more for kids
Hoodies – all adult – 2 large, 2 medium, 2 XL – 2, 3XL – 1

If you order kamowear beyond the original starter kit, your chapter is supposed to send a check to the State Treasurer, Tom St. Clair to cover the cost. The goods are made at Advertising Concepts in La Crosse,and the state pays for each order. The material is then stored until someone requests it.. Hats are $10.00, t-shirts – $8.00, and hoodies – $25.00.
If you have questions regarding this, contact Mike at 608-799-5037.

Mentor Recruitment – The Mentoring Connector can be used for free
www.mentoring.org
The response percentage for any volunteer recruitment is low, but still worth doing.
Some of our best mentors have come off this site.

Family/kid Recruitment – Does your chapter have a Gmail account? What does that have to do with recruitment? Everything! Contact Mike for more details.
Do you have any activities scheduled? Families need to hear that your chapter has activities coming up to maintain their interest in KAMO.

Chapter Reports

Baraboo – The Baraboo River group met at Rivers Edge Resort. One of our members had taken some kids on a canoe float and camping trip. Most of our meeting involved discussing this years Joe Hunt which is December 10-12 at the MacKenzie Environmental Center near Poynette. I have contacted all the chapters that would possibly be involved with the hunt to see how many kids we can plan on coming. We are going to figure on 20 kids which has been our yearly average. At this point the center is set for our group to come, but we realize that things could change at any time with this crazy covid. One new challenge we are facing is our camp chef will be out of town during this year?s hunt, but we are already working on a solution. Our chapter will be holding our mandatory training day on October 23 at the North Freedom Rod and Gun Club from 9am-12noon. This is a required class for any child that has not gone through a hunters safety class. We already have someone contacting the area landowners for permission to hunt. All lodging and food will be provided for the kid participants, they will also be given tags from the DNR so no license is required for them, but a valid hunting license is required for all mentors. More details to com

Coulee – One mentor is interested in mentoring for the Joe hunt. We would need to know whether we are having the hunt and what protocols there might be before pursuing this further. Our hunter education group is trying to arrange an internet field day during October at the Onalaska American Legion in October. Our chapter needs to have a meeting soon to discuss activities.
In a period of two months, we have had 16 parents sign in 23 kids to our group using electronic enrollment forms. 13 of these kids and 11 parents are new to the group.
We would like to have a holiday event around Christmas and do some ice fishing in the winter. Mike went on a mission to find and purchase a 40 volt Strikemaster last year for a reason.

Dodge County Conservation – Dodge County Conservation Chapter held its first event Sept 12th. It went Spectacular. 40 kids enjoyed Kayaking, fishing and pontoon rides. What a Great day. Our Chapter also received a fantastic donation of a 24′ pontoon boat. This chapter is very excited about the future. Jim Braker, along with Mike Brown and Tom St. Clair met with the Beaver Dam School District Social workers and Counselors to get our foot in the door to make them aware what KAMO is all about and to help get kids directed towards future KAMO events. Lots going on with us . Looking forward to our next event

Northwoods – The NE chapter has our trap shoot/ pheasant hunt scheduled for October 16th, 25 birds purchased and several inquiries already but always issues with fall school sports. Our ammo situation seems to be under control with a few sportsman’s groups helping out. We are potentially looking to get into the raffle game again with cash prize certificates for our local sport shop. We are also looking forward to get back on the ice this winter. Good things ahead here from Da UP border chapter, Thanks, Johnny Johnson from Florence, Wisconsin!!! Stay safe everyone and good luck hunting!!!