Valley Springs Sportsmans Club

65 Valley Road

​North Grosvenordale , CT 06255                               860-923-2121

Presidents Page

                                                                                                                                                    December 28, 2018

Hello,

            I wanted to take a moment to let you know how excited I am to be this year’s president at Valley Springs Sportsman’s Club.  I have been spending my first days assembling members to lead our various committees and ensuring that they all have several people to assist them. I’m looking forward to a great year.

            First, I’d like to thank the outgoing leadership for all of their hard work.  Our facilities are top notch.  The newly completed range is a much needed addition.  Trap shooting and horseshoes continue to thrive.  There are birds for hunting and the pond is stocked and hopefully we’ll have some ice for the February 3rd derby. Archery is impatiently waiting for spring and the 3D shoots which will include some new target additions.

                        We’ve gotten several great suggestions for events this year.  The first one will be Snowball’s Famous Meat Raffle on Sunday, January 27.  I hope you’ll come down and share in the fun and maybe win some prizes.  As always, help for this and all events is always needed and appreciated. Ticket sellers and kitchen help will be needed. Please feel free to reach out if you are available or have any ideas for future events. 

            Our members’ meeting is the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm. We had an amazing turnout for the December meeting and I’d like to see the attendance continue to be high as we move into 2019. This is your club and I’d like to see and hear from you.  If you are on Facebook, please feel free to join the Valley Springs Members Only Page. Lots of information can be found posted there.  Catriona Shalvey is handling the e-mail.  If you do not currently receive club e-mail and would like to please contact her at shalveyc@gmail.com to update your information or be added to the list.

 
I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year,

 
Dean Demers

November 28, 2018

Dear Fellow Members: I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting me, my fellow officers, the House Committee, our Board of Directors, and our club during the last 2 years of my presidency. As your president, my only goal has been to support the many incredible projects and activities that take place at our club. I hope that you have felt that support and that I achieved my goal. I noted in my opening letter 2 years ago I have no doubt that together - our commitment, involvement, and support for the club will produce a year of enjoyment for all. I believe we have accomplished that the last 2 years!

My sincere appreciation goes out to our 2018 Elected Officers: Vice President: Dave Annese, Treasurer: Ryan Lajoie, Secretary: Mark Sweet, Financial Secretary: Kelly Genest. House Committee: Lenny Genest, Jean Grenier, Ryan Casavant, George O’Neil and Nancy Angell. Board of Directors: Legal and Bylaws: Ray Faucher, Jr., Fish and Game: Chad Messier, Grounds: Dean Demers, Kitchen: Brian Maynard, Special Events: Maggie Kane, Trap: Vinnie Benoit, Rifle and Pistol: Dick Majercik, Archery: Chris Milios, Softball: Laura Hackett, Horseshoes: Ron Duquette, E-mail correspondence: Jeff Skaradowski, Social Media: Catriona Shalvey, Historical: Louise Pugh. Without your dedication to your role and the club we simply would not be as successful as we have been.

Upcoming meetings: Our next House Committee and Board of Directors meetings will take place on Monday, December 10th with the House Committee meeting at 6:30pm followed by the Board of Directors meeting at 7:30pm. The general membership monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, December 13th at 7:30pm. All members should make every effort to attend this general membership meeting. As a reminder, any member in attendance has the opportunity to nominate other individuals off the floor to serve in the role of elected officers or on the House Committee. This is your opportunity to be heard as you will be charged with electing your next slate of officers, House Committee and voting on potential By-law changes.

At last month’s general membership meeting held on Thursday, November 8th, the nominating committee presented the following names for election for 2019: President: Dean Demers, Vice President: Brian Maynard, Treasurer: Ryan Lajoie, Secretary: Kathy Demers, Financial Secretary: Kelly Genest. House Committee: Lenny Genest, Jean Grenier, Ryan Casavant, Dick Majercik and Nancy Angell. A special thank you to the following members on this year’s nominating committee: Donnie Cimochowski, Chris Milios, Louise Pugh, Brian Maynard, Chris Pare, Laura Hackett, and Jeff Skaradowski.

Highlights of 2018 - Valley Springs celebrated many successful events including, but not limited to, several meat roll bingo evenings, a game dinner with many fantastic raffle prizes, the continuation of a concert series featuring great music and our homemade pizza, our annual children’s fishing derby and Christmas party! Some key purchases and updates made throughout the year include a new generator with a dedicated 1,000 gallon propane tank, a new rifle and pistol range with newly built benches, the building of a new pheasant pen and leveling the mound of the old pen that will create additional parking space, the clearance of trees to create space for the Ray Faucier Memorial gazebo, and updates to the horseshoe barn and parking lot lights!

In closing, I want to thank you all once again for an enjoyable and successful 2 years! I appreciate the support and tremendous effort put forth by so many to make our club one of the premier clubs in the area. Your dedication to the club does not go unnoticed. On behalf of the Valley Springs Sportsman’s Club, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.


Sincerely,


Tony Kaczynski

President

VSSC