Club Chronicles:
Cheshire County Fish and Game Club, Inc.

The Youth Shooting Sports Alliance (YSSA) helps to identify and support the needs of successful and safe youth programs that create measurable improvements in youth participation.  The YSSA also provides leadership in the development and promotion of family-friendly shooting range facilities to increase active involvement in the shooting sports.
   The YSSA believes that an effective tactic to promote development of family-friendly shooting facilities to clubs across the nation would be to chronicle the steps that an established club initiates to progress from its current operational status to that of a true model for other clubs to emulate.
   The YSSA approached the Cheshire County Fish and Game Club, Inc., in Keene, New Hampshire, to enlist its participation in this version of a "reality show" for gun clubs.  The club officers, currently involved in a comprehensive review of their club’s facilities and operations, agreed to serve in the spotlight of this rather unique initiative.
   The YSSA will maintain a running chronicle of the club’s efforts on our website www.youthshootingsa.com, complete with photos, testimonials, and the peaks and valleys of discussions associated with this comprehensive review undertaken by a club with a long, proud tenure.  We hope that this chronicle will motivate other gun clubs to undertake similar reviews of their respective operations, as well as share their experiences in addressing similar issues by writing to shootforthefuture@charter.net.

NEW UPDATE:Club Chronicles:  July, 2008!

A sense of pride and accomplishment filled the club house during a special June meeting of the Board of Directors of the Cheshire County Fish & Game Club, Inc.  The attendees were reflecting on the success of various events which had been sponsored by the club over the previous 100 days.
   The club members supported several major activities including a JAKES event attended by over 70 kids; the first of possibly three Women On Target events planned this year that received very positive feedback from the attendees; and, the Monadnock Region Friends of NRA event which raised a record $19,000 in March.
   In preparation for these club’s events, the members also held a Range Clean-up Day.  “This was the best range clean-up we ever had.” Club President Joe Greathouse told his fellow Board members.
   Over 40 members showed up to work.  They painted the clubhouse; mowed the grounds; poured a concrete pad for new shooting benches; placed new gravel in the pistol range and installed new target backings at the rifle range.  Greathouse had prepared a “laundry list” of jobs to be completed prior to the Range Clean-up Day and was proud to report that 90 percent of the list had been “scratched off.”  Greathouse added “We had a great response from our members.  I brought every tool that I had at my home and they were all in good use before the day’s end.”
   CCF&G Vice President Jim Flanders characterized the club atmosphere as “A very positive spirit.  You can feel it with the Board.  You can feel it with the members.”
   The magic that occurred over the past 100 days at the club was no accident.  It was the result of a well-executed strategy developed in December, 2007 with the formation of a Club Improvement Committee.  The Committee was charged with developing a master plan for the club.
   During a “brainstorming” meeting, the Committee explored a central question – What type of club would we want if we had unlimited resources, unlimited funding, and motivated members?  The Committee applied these criteria to existing operational themes such as club administration, membership, fund raising and training services.  The Committee also solicited input from all shooting disciplines involved in the club – highpower, shotgun sports, pistol, smallbore, archery, cowboy action and the African shoot – and compiled a comprehensive list of the general range upgrades needed in 2008.
   Each topic category was further refined until a “wish list” of individual objectives was developed.  For example, under “Club Administration,” the Committee identified the need to develop a charitable arm within the club under which tax-deductible donations could be solicited to develop an indoor range facility.  The indoor range was needed to support the firearms safety and education training program administered by the club in behalf of the entire community.  New England winter weather is brutal and severely limits the time frame in which the training is currently conducted on outside range facilities.  The proposed indoor range will enable the club to offer education and training services throughout the year.
   The Club Improvement Committee also recognized the need for all established club committees to work in coordination with a PR-Advertising Committee to ensure a continued reputation as a “Good Neighbor” by the community-at-large.  The wisdom of this partnership was confirmed by the dramatic rise in club membership so far this year.
   Dave Swenson, Chairperson of the new Membership Committee, said “Membership is soaring!  We currently have 406 members and have added 70 new members since January!” Swenson added “We’ve done more this year with public events and publicity to bring in more prospective members.”
   The Membership Committee coordinates their efforts with Vicki Flanders, Chairperson of the PR-Advertising Committee.  The club has generated a lot of publicity in their community with press releases, newspaper articles, e-mail notifications and radio announcements of upcoming events.  The club is now listed in the phone book coming out in August and they have even promoted the club on restaurant placemats proudly proclaiming “Cheshire County Fish and Game Club -- A family place to shoot”.
   Once the people start arriving at the events, Swenson and his fellow Committee members take over!  They found that the key to membership growth is to socialize with the event attendees; and promote club membership.  They also contact expired members and encourage them to renew their affiliation with the club. 
   Another new committee was established to look at environmental concerns related to the range complex.  Neil Jeneral, Chairperson of the Environmental Committee, immediately began to compile an Environmental Stewardship Plan  using the guidelines offered by the National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR).  The Plan addresses lead recycling, erosion control, and a host of other topics suggested by NASR.  Upon review of the Plan by the Board of Directors, Neil will submit the Plan to the Environmental Protection Agency via an anonymous submission program orchestrated by the NASR.  Similar to the actions of the Membership Committee, Jeneral will work with the PR-Advertising Committee to promote the club’s implementation of the Environmental Stewardship Plan.
   As part of its comprehensive review, the YSSA requested the club to include the following objectives in their master plan affecting all gun clubs today: 

   Initiation into the shooting sports almost always occurs within the context of family.  Hunters and shooters come from hunting and shooting families.  The presence of other family members who shoot or hunt, the exposure to the shooting sports, and the presence of a supportive shooting and hunting culture are of utmost importance in recruiting and retaining new shooters and hunters.
   Many noteworthy efforts and programs have been developed over the years to encourage participation in the shooting sports.  Programs have been specifically designed for youth, women, people with physical disabilities and a host of other special interest factions.  The majority of these efforts to recruit new shooters and hunters appear to have a common theme – they tend to segregate the family unit into peer groups as soon as they enter the range.  In order to maximize the retention of these new shooters and hunters, we must design future programs with families in mind.  Programs that emphasize the importance of the familial shooting culture and the opportunities that shooting and hunting provide for enjoying shared experiences with family members will be most successful in recruiting and retaining participants.
   The Youth Shooting Sports Alliance offered a pilot “Family Introductory Shooting Sports Program” outline for the Cheshire County Fish and Game Club, Inc. to consider implementing in late 2008 to achieve the objectives outlined earlier.  After discussing the outline with the Board of Directors, the club was encouraged to offer the proposed “Family Introductory Shooting Sports Program” one evening each week for 4 weeks.  The Youth Shooting Sports Alliance agreed to work with shooting sports industry leaders to obtain loaner firearms and the additional equipment and supplies needed in support of this pilot effort.
   During their July meeting, the Board of Directors held a marathon session and still did not address all of the new business topics including the proposed “Family Introductory Shooting Sports Program.”  However, Joe Greathouse did discuss the proposal with a number of Board members and regular members during the preceding weeks.  The general consensus was that everyone was in favor of hosting the pilot program, but all of their available training time is booked thru September.  There was no realistic way that the club could pull anything else off before the snow flies again.  April was suggested as a better time of year to conduct this program.  Once again, the New England weather becomes a limiting factor to the club’s ability to reach all of its goals.
   As discussed earlier, the club leaders recognize the need to develop an indoor classroom and range facility to accommodate the firearm safety training needs of their community throughout the year.  The Club Improvement Committee also recognized the need to develop a charitable arm of the club under which tax-deductible donations could be solicited to construct and operate this facility.  Stay tuned to the Club Chronicles to see how the club addresses this major issue in future club operations.