SFEC – July 2009
President Randy Roash opened our last meeting on June 6, 2009 with the flag salute. Secretary Rosemarie Whelan read the minutes from our meeting in April and Treasurer Dick Shetler gave us the monthly financial report. Motions were made and both reports were accepted.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT– Randy discussed the passing of long time club member Joe Dawson, and informed members that the club made a donation in Joe’s memory to the Strathmere Fire Department, which Joe was a member of for many years.
VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT– Bud Lyon talked about his recent very successful striper fishing outing and we would like to congratulate him on that 54lb bass that was 51½” long. There was a really terrific article and picture of Bud, the fish, and Dave Ferguson (who Bud needed to help him hold it up) in the Atlantic City Press. You can visit the club website at: www.strathmerefishing.org to see the photo and article. Bud and Dave also made the cover of THE FISHERMAN, June 11th issue. Doesn’t that make them “cover boys”?
This brings us to the topic of the importance of catch and release. Bud also caught a 41½” and a 33” striper that day. He kept the 33” fish and put back the other two. Bud has done the SFEC proud and set a great example for surf fishermen everywhere. It is a well know fact that the smaller stripers taste better and it also goes along with recent health advisories that state that the smaller ones are healthier for you. The bigger the fish, the older it is, and has been subjected to toxins for a longer period of time. It was also suggested that you should not eat striper more than once a month. There are warnings for Bluefish as well. The bigger stripers are the breeders that replenish the stock, so the current regulations of 2 fish over 28” doesn’t make a lot of sense and hopefully that will change in time.
So with striper fishing in high gear right now we hope all of you will follow Bud’s lead on this and catch it, unhook it, weigh it, measure the length and have a friend with a camera nearby, take pictures and quickly get it back into the water.
Personnel Officer Debbe Starr talked about the up-coming Jane Shetler’s Women’s Fishing Tournament that will take place on July 11th. There is no entry fee or sign up, just go out and fish. For those of you who are new to the club, this event is in its third year and is held to honor our friend the late Jane Shetler. She gave an enormous amount of her time, working on the SFEC executive board for many years, as well as an active member of the Strathmere Fire Department. She was a great example of someone who was always giving back to her community.
This year we will be honoring Jane and raising money for a non-profit organization called H.O.P.E which is a group of professional grief counselors who help people through the grieving process when losing a spouse. Donations are appreciated, proceeds from the sale of Tournament Shirts will also be going to H.O.P.E and this year we will be having something new and special. There will be tables set up with hand-crafted designer jewelry for sale called a Graceful Expression. Summer resident Grace Walker does beautiful work and since this is a women’s tournament, what a great time to showcase her designs, give our members an opportunity to buy a little something for themselves or a gift for someone special and at the same time helping out the charity. Grace is going to be donating 20% of her proceeds to H.O.P.E.
Awards will be given out to the winners of the tournament at 5pm at the firehouse. The Summer Social dinner will begin at 6pm. There are some tickets still available for the dinner, cost is $20 and you need to contact Debbe Starr if you are interested in attending. Call Debbe at 609-390-4718 or email her at dstarr911@comcast.net Please see enclosed/attached flyer for more details.
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICIER Dick Omrod gave us an update on our 501C3 status. In May a petition was filed with the IRS. When we receive approval, our club dues will be tax deductable and well as donations to charities that we raise money for. We will let you know when this process is completed.
CLUB TRUSTEE Bob Adam is working with our club webmaster Ken Weaver on having a kids’ web page on our club website called Kids’ Korner. Children and Grandchildren of our club members will be able to have pictures and information about the fish that they catch posted there. This will encourage kids to go out and fish, learn things about Strathmere and its valuable resources, as well as spending quality time fishing with their families. My most treasured memories of my childhood were when my grandfather taught me to fish in the back bays of Strathmere. Of course I refuse to tell you how long ago that was, but the point is kids can learn about so many things, including the whole concept of catch and release and make some wonderful memories, while enjoy seeing the fish they catch and their friends fish posted on the website. There will also be a Kids’ Column where the kids can contribute articles such as “Why I like to fish (in Strathmere)”, “Why protecting our environment and fish stocks is important”. More details on the Kids’ page are still in the works and if you have any suggestions please e-mail Ken Weaver at: sfec@comcast.net or Bob Adam at: burrer79@verizon.net
BEACH CLEAN-UP– Dave Ferguson gave a report on the beach clean-up that was held on May 16thand the turnout was disappointing. More participation by members is needed. We will need to address this issue, maybe change the dates to later in the season when summer visitors tend to leave more trash on the beach. We will let you know more about it later.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Herb Hollinger spoke about the success of the recent Herb Hollinger Sr. Opening Day Flounder tournament. There were a lot of kids that fished and did exceptionally well this year. Herbie then went on to make a special announcement; it was his father’s 90th birthday. Herb Sr. looked a bit surprised especially since we suddenly had on party hats, noisemakers going off and a big cake appeared. Mrs. Bess Hollinger had also celebrated her 90th birthday recently and the membership sang happy birthday to both of them. We have so much love and respect for these two special people who add so much to the Strathmere community. Herb Sr. talked about how the ‘62 storm affected them and how they came to live in Strathmere, calling it one of the best things to happen and how special the people of Strathmere are. His secret to a long life is spending it with his best friend. Mr. & Mrs. Hollinger recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary. WOW! It doesn’t get any better than that!
NEW MEMBERS– Following an interesting voice vote from the membership present, four new guys were accepted into the club. We welcome George Buckland, Lou Cappelli, Wayne Chepress and John Orr. We congratulate Mrs. Chepress on winning the 50/50. It really paid off to let your husband join the club.
Following the meeting we were treated to some terrific food and of course delicious birthday cake thanks to Herbie Jr. and his crew.
SICK & WELFARE-Our deepest sympathy goes out to club member Mike Sheridan. Mike’s wife passed away last month, so please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
COAST GUARD AUXILIARY VESSEL SAFETY EXAMINATIONS-Bob Babezki reports that the boat inspections held in Strathmere on June 13th went very well with 14 boats being examined from 13’ to 30’ in length, and included both members and non-members. Flotilla 81 thanks the Strathmere Fishing Club for their support in sponsoring this event. We would like to send our thanks to them and to Bob Babezki for volunteering their time to help keep our boaters safe.
FLOUNDER TOURNAMENT– The club flounder tournament was held on June 27th. There were 122 fishermen registered, the largest we have had in a long time. We would like to thank Carole and Dave Ferguson for running this event and Frank and Candy Jankowski for hosting everyone and doing the weigh-in. Congratulations to the following winners:
KIDS (12 & under) JUNIORS (13-17) WOMEN
1st Joe Owens 3.9 1st Chris Bell 2.8 1st Serena Mangold 3.7
2nd Sara Krajicek 3.1 2nd Kevin Dillon 2.5 2nd Elaine Krajicek 2.7
3rd Ted Stabolepszy 3rd Matt Shad 2.2 3rd Nancy Freed 2.7
MEN SENIORS 63+
1st Paul Callahan 5.2 1st Sandy Stabolepszy 3.8
2nd Rob Mangold 4.9 2nd Frank Jankowski 3.6
3rd Herb Hollinger Jr. 4.0 3rd Richard Boles 3.3
Overall three fish total – Paul Callahan 11.1 lbs. Biggest Fish by a club member – Paul Callahan received a hand painted flounder box by Carol Ferguson.
NEXT MEETING– We have made a change to the calendar. Our next meeting will be held on August 1st, which will give us a chance to show off the Nightmare in Strathmere 2009 shirts and an opportunity to collect drawing ticket stubs and money. So please mark that date on your calendar.
NIGHTMARE IN STRATHMERE & DRAWING TICKETS– Drawing tickets will be arriving in your mail box very soon and for those of you who are new to the club, we ask that each member sell or buy two books of tickets and return the money and ticket stubs to the club. Our August 1st meeting would be an ideal time to do that. Please make sure the name and phone number on the ticket stub is readable. This year is going to be somewhat different, as we will not be selling shirts and tickets at the Deauville. Only the drawing and awards will be at the Deauville Beach House promptly at 9pm that evening on August 22nd. Due to some issues that occurred last year, we want to do everything we can to make this event go smoothly. Shirts and tickets will be available at different locations on the island prior to Nightmare night. More information about this will be in the August Newsletter.
UP-COMING EVENTS
July 4 The Strathmere 4th of July Parade on Commonwealth Ave. 10:30 am
July 11 Jane Shetler’s Women’s Tournament – Beach or Bay 6am to 3pm
Awards Firehouse 5pm
July 11 Summer Social Dinner – Firehouse 6pm
Looking Ahead
Aug. 1 Next Club meeting – Corson’s Inlet Marina 5pm
Aug. 7 Inshore Tuna Captains meeting – Whale Creek Marina 7pm
Aug 8 Inshore Tuna/Dolphin Tournament
Aug. 22 Nightmare in Strathmere Parade on the Bay 6pm
Drawing & Awards – Deauville Inn Beach House 9pm