March 24th, 2025 Meeting
President Dennis Pratt called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM at Kro Bar.
Officers and Directors: Present – Ed Chaplinski, Glen Hill, Courtney Johnson, Ken Lundberg, Dennis Pratt, Mike Sierszen, Den Smet, Walt Swanson, Jim Waletzko, Mike Zicus and Ken Zivic.
Minutes of the February Meeting: The minutes as written in the March newsletter were approved following a motion by Walt Swanson, second by Mike Zicus and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Treasurer’s and Financial Secretary’s Reports: President Dennis Pratt reported for Treasurer Jeff Stollenwerk that February’s beginning balance was $18,631.56, and the ending balance was $20,374.92 with the following expenses: Transfer to Savings (January donations) $715.00; Katie Thompson (February Newsletter) $200.00; Pro Print (February Newsletter) $43.61. The Treasurer’s report was approved following a motion by Mike Zicus, second by Ken Lundberg and unanimous approval by voice vote. President Dennis Pratt reported for Financial Secretary Dean Wellman that there were $1,741.00 in total deposits into the general fund since the last meeting and that the Club had 29 renewals. The Financial Secretary’s report was approved following a motion by Jim Waletzko and a second by Courtney Johnson and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Committee Reports
Legislative: Ken Lundberg – Things are just starting for the year.
Audit: Jeff Stollenwerk – Committee report will be presented in April.
Education: Den Smet/Dennis Pratt – made presentations to Superior Senior classes on Friday February 28th and to the Northwestern 6th graders on Tuesday March 4th. A total of 224 students were contacted. We presented a short summary in the March newsletter.
Habitat: Dennis Pratt – We will be assisting DNR with streambank brushing on the Little Brule (same area we last brushed in 2017). Dates set are July 26th and August 2nd. We’ll present details in our upcoming newsletters. This month we purchased two dozen work gloves for the projects.
Scholarship: Mike Sierszen/Paul Helbach – College Scholarship applications are due at the end of April. We have received two so far. Mike Zicus made a motion to require recipients of the Northwestern High School Scholarship to provide a brief bio and picture to the Club before awarding the scholarship. This was followed by a second from Mike Sierszen and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Membership: Ed Chaplinski/Jim Waletzko – Ed has been distributing excess paper newsletters to sports stores; however, most of the paper copies are going to members.
Social Media: Mike Zicus/Dennis Pratt – Mike and Dennis recreated the habitat project maps. Mike consolidated information we had on the website into a new webpage highlighting fishing etiquette. The page is located under our main “About” tab and is called Responsible Angling (https://bruleriversportsmensclub.com/responsible-angling/). Ken Lundberg mentioned some ideas for newsletter items. A discussion about getting additional folks to help with habitat work by offering non-members a trial membership for the remaining portion of the calendar year. This was approved with a motion from Ken Lundberg followed by a second from Mike Zicus and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Other Business
Spring Clean-up Dates – April 26th with a backup of May 10th. We purchased 20 high visibility safety vests for those who remove trash from the road ditches. Den Smet mentioned that we’ll meet at 9 AM at the pavilion in Brule for coffee and donuts spread out and collect trash and return at noon where the Club will provide lunch at Twin Gables. A motion to approve meal expenditure was made by Walt Swanson with a second by Mike Zicus and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Membership Drive – Dennis Pratt – A membership renewal reminder was sent out once again at the end of February to all members with email addresses who had not paid their dues. Membership renewals have been coming in very slowly this year.
Fly of the Month – April fly of the month is the Hellgrammite by Paul Gausman.
Wild River’s Trout Expo – Pratt will man a table representing the Club at this year’s event to be held on April 5th in Hayward at the Flat Creek Lodge.
Raffle 2025 discussion – Potential raffle prizes are handmade quilt donated by Lew Boyko, our Fly of the Month booklet with matching set of flies tied by Dean, and a prototype 7-inch J. Marttiini filet knife with sheath donated by Craig Weber. This discussion will continue next month.
Family Fun Day discussion – The event date is set for August 16th and is still in need of volunteers.
County Congress Spring Hearings – April 14th 6PM. Two local questions: More restrictive walleye regulation on western Lake Superior and its tributaries; Earlier Inland general trout opener.
Upcoming Events – Please check our Club Calendar at https://bruleriversportsmensclub.com/category/club-calendar/ for the latest events.
The business meeting adjourned at 6:48 PM.
Recorded by Walt Swanson