April 27th, 2026 Meeting
President Dennis Pratt called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM at the Kro Bar in Brule.
Officers and Directors: Present – Ed Chaplinski, Paul Helbach, Glen Hill, Courtney Johnson, Mick Killoren, Ken Lundberg, Dennis Pratt, Mike Sierszen, Den Smet, Jim Waletzko, Dean Wellman, Mike Zicus and Ken Zivic.
Minutes of the March Meeting: The minutes as written in the April newsletter were approved following a motion by Dean Wellman, second by Den Smet and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Treasurer’s and Financial Secretary’s Reports: Dennis Pratt reported for Treasurer Jeff Stollenwerk that March’s beginning balance was $11,492.94, and the ending balance was $11,815.84 with the following expenses: Katie Thompson (March Newsletter) $200.00; WI Dept. of Gambling (Raffle License) $26.00; ProPrint (March Newsletter) $145.83; DP Reimbursement (Postage) $300.37; The First Impression (400 LR Maps + paper stock) $959.07. The Treasurer’s report was approved following a motion by Ken Zivic, second by Mike Zicus and unanimous approval by voice vote. Financial Secretary Dean Wellman reported that there were $1,080.00 in total deposits into the general fund since the last meeting and that the Club had 11 new members and 37 renewals. The Financial Secretary’s report was approved following a motion by Ken Lundberg and a second by Dean Wellman.
Committee Reports
Legislative: Ken Lundberg – Nothing to report.
Audit: Dennis Pratt presented the committee’s Audit report for the Boards approval. The Audit committee report was approved following a motion by Jim Waletzko and a second by Mike Sierszen.
Education: Den Smet – Both Dennis Pratt and Den Smet visited the Superior Senior High School on March 25th. They gave presentations to five of John Kedroski’s and Don Polkinghorne’s classes. They spoke to 129 students in total. We voted to purchase a new batch of stickers for next year’s 6th grade classes.
Habitat: Dennis Pratt – Club will be assisting Paul Piszczek with a tree planting project May 16th on the Little Brule. Volunteers will need waders (preferred) or hip boots. We’ll meet at the end of Dennis Rd. at 9AM. The Club will provide a Subway sandwich lunch with chips and soda. We’ll be planting: 100 black spruce, 100 tamarack, 100 yellow birch, 100 hackberry, 100 sugar maple (no red maple) and 200 swamp white oak trees. We’ve also tentatively set July 25th as a possible habitat workday.
Scholarship: Mike Sierszen/Paul Helbach – Mike reported that we’ve received 4 applications thus far. Den Smet has resigned from the committee and was replaced by Club member Tim Spangenberg after board approval. We thanked Den for his many years of serving on the committee. Mike reported that the committee will review all applications and get together to choose this year’s recipient. That individual will be presented for board approval at our May meeting. Paul reported that the Northwestern scholarship recipient would be chosen by the school soon.
Membership: Jim Waletzko/Ed Chaplinski – Jim and Ed received all the left-over newsletters and will be distributing them to many sport shops. They reported that shops in River Falls, Hayward, Ashland and Superior would receive them.
Social Media: Mike Zicus/Dennis Pratt – We have feature articles submitted by Ken Lundberg and Bill Gobin for our next two newsletters.
Other Business
Clean-up Wrap-up: Den Smet reported that we had 31 volunteers with 22 staying for lunch. Expenditures included $32.85 for donuts and cookies, $20 for coffee, cups, napkins and trash bags and $352 for the Twin Gable lunch.
Brule Hatchery Status: Ken Lundberg reported that he was volunteering to serve as our representative on a committee of Lake Superior Clubs regarding the reduction of Seeforellen brown trout in Lake Superior next year because of the fisheries budget deficit. That group has three objectives/concerns: 1. Closure of the Brule Fish Hatchery in June, 2. restoration of brown stocking, and 3. restoring a fair balance of the stocking reduction between Lakes Michigan and Superior.
Family Fun Day: Brule Hatchery Manager, Angelica Kerchefski, reported that the Family Fun Day event likely won’t be held due to the hatcheries closure. We have received a $250 grant from the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation for this event recently and those funds will be returned if the event is not held.
Next In-person Meeting: Scheduled for May 25th.
May Fly of the Month: Wellman – Will be “The Olive.”
Raffle Status: We have our 2026 raffle license. The three prizes are:
Grand Prize: Dave Norling custom bamboo 7’0” 4 wt. fly rod
Second Prize: Dean Wellman’s custom fly-tying kit. Includes Brule River Fly of the Month series booklet, Regal vise, tools, materials, and hooks to tie 50 fly patterns and over 250 flies. It will include basic instruction for each pattern.
Third Prize: Six-inch heirloom stainless hunting knife with sheath. Donated by the Weber family.
Upcoming Events – Please check our Club Calendar at https://bruleriversportsmensclub.com/category/club-calendar/ for the latest events.
The business meeting adjourned at 6:59 PM.
Recorded by Dennis Pratt