January 26th, 2026 Meeting
President Dennis Pratt called the online meeting to order at 6:01 PM.
Officers and Directors: Present – Dennis Pratt, Den Smet, Jeff Stollenwerk, Walt Swanson, Dean Wellman, Mike Zicus, Mike Sierszen and Ken Zivic.
Minutes of the October Meeting: The minutes as written in the November newsletter were approved following a motion by Mike Zicus, second by Jeff Stollenwerk and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Treasurer’s and Financial Secretary’s Reports: Treasurer Jeff Stollenwerk reported that November’s beginning balance was $8,784.67, and December’s ending balance was $11,361.80 with the following expenses: Pro Print (November newsletter) $129.44; Katie Thompson (November newsletter) $200.00; DP reimbursement (Sep 04 to Nov 17 expenses) $510.83; transfer to savings (October donations) $1,720.00; transfer to savings (November donations) $25.00; officer stipends $500.00; transfer to savings (declined stipends to funds) $1,600.00. President Dennis Pratt reported for Financial Secretary Dean Wellman that there were $4,916.00 in total deposits into our checking account since the last meeting and that the Club had 2 new members and 80 renewals. Both reports were approved following a motion by Mike Zicus, second by Ken Zivic and unanimous approval by voice vote.
Committee Reports
Legislative, Audit, Habitat: Nothing to report.
Education: Den Smet – Den was in listen only mode for the meeting, so Dennis Pratt reported the eggs have been delivered to three schools: Superior High School; Northwestern Middle School; and Hayward Elementary. Superior High School and Northwestern Middle School reported that the eggs are doing fine. Hayward Elementary is handled by the Trout Unlimited Wild Rivers group.
Scholarship: Mike Sierszen sent out College Scholarship announcements on January 9th.
Membership: Dennis Pratt reported that a reminder email was sent out early December and membership form/ballot mailed with November print newsletter. Pratt mailed out thank you letters to all who donated in 2025. We presently have 122 paid members out of 450 (27%). Pratt mailed membership cards to all who paid. Another reminder will be sent out near the end of February.
Social Media: Mike Zicus conducted annual website checkup for dead links in December.
Other Business
Paper Newsletter Printing Delay Continues – Paper newsletter took six days to print. They were mailed the next day.
Great Waters Flyfishing Discussion – Bill Gobin in response to a Mike Zicus email accepted the role of supervisor for this year’s booth. Dean Wellman will be contacting past years’ volunteers and Dennis Pratt will send out a Constant Contact email to our membership for volunteers to assist Bill Gobin. Mike will post a request for volunteers on the website.
Next Online Meeting – Scheduled for February 23rd.
Officer Election Results – 101 voted (94 on-line, 7 paper). All Officers were reelected. The election results were approved following a motion by Ken Zivic, second by Mike Zicus and unanimous approval by voice vote.
2026 Raffle Discussion – Nothing new to report.
International Fly-Fishing Film Festival (Clyde Iron – Duluth February 1st – Dennis Pratt will be representing BRSC with our booth material.
Upcoming Events
Great Waters Fly Expo March 13-15 at Hamline University, St. Paul, MN
Douglas County Fish & Game League Show March 27-29 usually at Wessman Arena, Superior
Wisconsin Conservation Congress April 13 in person and April 13-15 on-line voting
Spring Cleanup April 25th (inclement weather date May 9)
Tentative Trout Habitat Volunteer Days July 25 and August 8
Brule Family Fun Day Likely about August 15th
LSSA Spey Day on the Brule September 12th at McNeil’s Landing
Please check our Club Calendar at https://bruleriversportsmensclub.com/category/club-calendar/ for the latest events.
The business meeting adjourned at 6:25 PM.
Recorded by Walt Swanson