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Indiana State Ducks Unlimited
September, 2011 edition newsletter
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Cover, Contacts, Facts & Events / 2 Comments From Curt / 3
PRIDE & Social Media / 4 The “OFF” Season / 57 What are we DUing? / 811 Presidential Citations / 12
Special Recognition Awards / 13 Kankakee Dedication / 1415 Special Msg. from the Editor / 16
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Upcoming Indiana Events Cover Photo The Indiana State Newsletter cover will feature photos contributed by DU volunteers from around the state of Indiana whenever possible. Please submit your photo and a few words about the who, what, when, where and why ….. This editions photo comes from Picasa Web Albums but the next issue might just be yours!
Hooded Merganser Nisqually Wildlife Refuge (Washington)
Photographer: Joel Kluger Photos
State Facts
Total DU Membership: 12,895
General Members: 10,817 Greenwings: 1,004
Legacy Greenwings: 244 Sponsor Members: 679 Major Sponsors: 151
Grassroots dollars raised last year: $552,722
Total acres conserved: 23,114
State Contacts
Wa‐Nee Greenwing Fishing Day Saturday, September 10, 2011 Tell City Sportsman’s Night Out Saturday, September 10, 2011 Muscatatuck Dinner Saturday, September 10, 2011 Howard County Sportsman’s Night Out Thursday, September 15, 2011 Big Lake Waterfowl Hunters Party Thursday, September 22, 2011 Big Lake "Dream Come True" 50/50 Raffle Thursday, September 22, 2011 St. Joseph Valley Banquet Friday, September 23, 2011 Wawasee Waterfowl Hunters Party Saturday, September 24, 2011 Lagrange Sportsman’s Night Out Saturday, September 24, 2011 Goshen Harvest Cookout Thursday, September 29, 2011 Demotte Dinner Banquet Saturday, October 01, 2011 Mud Lake Sportsman’s Night Out Banquet Friday, October 7, 2011 Indiana DU Ladies of the Outdoors Event Saturday, October 8, 2011 Lafayette Cabin Fever Gun Bash Saturday, October 8, 2011 Hendricks County Dinner Saturday, October 15, 2011 Bluffton Dinner Banquet Saturday, October 15, 2011 Wa‐Nee Ladies Halloween Event Saturday, October 22, 2011 IPFW University Waterfowl Hunters Party Saturday, November 4, 2011 Purdue University Waterfowl Hunters Party Saturday, November 5, 2011 Adams County Duck Race Saturday, November 19, 2011 "Big 5" Banquet Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Indiana State Chairman
Curt Lee [email protected]
Indiana State Treasurer Pam Harkin [email protected]
Indiana State Chairman Elect
Jim Franz [email protected]
Indiana State Council Chairman Frank Wolka [email protected]
Indiana Regional Director - North
Dave Neal [email protected]
Indiana Regional Director - South Joe Borders [email protected]
Indiana State Webmaster/Newsletter
Randy Armstrong [email protected]
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Comments from State Chairman Curt Lee
What an exciting time of year. It’s two days until dove and early goose season, four days until teal season begins and the fall fundraising event season is beginning to ramp up. As we begin a new fiscal year I am pleased to report that DU Grassroots fundraising was above budget for the first time in several years this past fiscal year. IN DU was a major contributor to that growth by finishing the fiscal year very strong. Our total Event Based Income for the fiscal year was over $600,172, which was a 15.5% increase over last year’s fundraising efforts. I can’t express how proud I am of every volunteer in the state for the great work in raising “Bucks for the Ducks”. We are well on our way to our goal of once again being a million dollar fundraising state. Great Job and keep up the good work!
I recently attended the leadership conference in Memphis, and what a treat that was. Thursday evening was an informal gathering at DU National Headquarters. This is my second visit there and I have to admit I was just as awed by the experience as I was the first time. Among the artifacts on display there is the collection of DU dinner guns from the beginning of the gun program in 1973 to 2009. The dinner gun program has raised an average of two million dollars per year, which have supported conservation of approximately 288,000 acres. Also on display is famed outdoor writer and conservationist Nash Buckingham’s legendary Fox double barrel “Bo Whoop”, as well as the Winchester Model 21 awarded to Mr. Buckingham as the 1962 Outdoorsman of the Year. Add to that displays throughout the building of past DU artwork, and decoys and a “Federal Duck Stamp” display from the first stamp designed by Ding Darling in 1934 to present. Ducks Unlimited National Headquarters is a special place, but the next day and a half was equally as special and inspiring. During that time we learned about the recently developed strategic plan. This plan is DU’s roadmap for the next five years which focuses on the goals of: Landscapes capable of sustaining North American waterfowl populations; a strong and lasting waterfowl hunting tradition and growing public support for the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation; and long term sustainability of DU’s conservation mission delivery. I’m sure you will be hearing more about the Strategic Plan in the months ahead. Sitting in the general meeting and breakout sessions I couldn’t help but be amazed by the dedication of so many volunteers across the country that give so much of themselves to conserve habitat for the Ducks. The real highlight of this year’s leadership conference was the presentations on the 75th anniversary of Ducks Unlimited. That’s right, 2012 marks the Diamond Anniversary of the world’s largest conservation organization dedicated to wetlands conservation. Since our beginnings in 1937 DU has conserved over 12.5 million acres of habitat. During Saturday mornings session we got a sneak preview of the special merchandise available to fundraising events to commemorate DU’s 75th birthday. I won’t spill the beans on specifics of the merchandise, but take my word for it there are some unique and exciting items, some reintroductions of some old favorites and some things that have never been available at DU events before. The most exciting of the Diamond Anniversary events will be the National Convention. The 2012 convention will be held in Nashville, TN. The goal of the convention committee is two thousand attendees. This is the closest convention I can remember in my time as a volunteer and it promises to be one of the biggest parties that DU has ever thrown. I would like to extend a personal invitation to every DU volunteer and supporter in the state to attend this convention. Mark your calendars now for a trip to Nashville, TN May 30th – June 3rd. I promise it will be something very special. As we prepare for another hunting season, and begin another banquet year I wish for you all heavy game straps, great memories with good friends and safe trips – and as always: Thanks for all you do for the Ducks Curt
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Indiana PRIDE INDU Social Media
What is Indiana PRIDE? The Ducks Unlimited Indiana PRIDE (Putting Resources Into Ducks Everywhere) program is securing major sponsors to support habitat conservation and our waterfowling heritage in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with special emphasis on the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River ecosystems. For 70 years, with the support of our volunteers, members and donors, Ducks Unlimited has been successful in turning grassroots dollars into habitat throughout North America. Your gift will leave a legacy on the landscape to be enjoyed by future generations and enhance our rich waterfowling heritage. Ducks Unlimited will use your gift in the most efficient manner, focusing on the highest priority areas in Indiana and North America. At least 80 cents of every donated dollar goes directly into habitat programs. For more details on sponsoring, please contact
Frank Wolka Jr. – (812)‐216‐0131 Or
Tom Quarandillo – (574) 264‐5567
Get connected with Ducks Unlimited today and get exclusive updates, tips and tricks and other insider info online now. You can find DU on
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace and more.
Facebook Check out DU's official Facebook page for the latest updates on conservation, hunting and more. "Like" Ducks Unlimited today and you
can join the conversation on our Facebook wall, upload fan photos and more! While you're there, show your support by joining DU's official Cause. More than 100,000 fans and
growing!
Twitter If you're looking for quick tips on the go, follow DU on Twitter! You'll get updates from DU's national headquarters and across the country about the latest DU news, conservation projects, hunting and migration information and more. You can even subscribe to receive DU tweets on
your mobile phone.
YouTube Ducks Unlimited's official YouTube channel has a great collection of videos to help improve your shooting, set up your decoys, clean your gear, train your dog and much more. Check out
all these videos and subscribe to DU on YouTube today!
Websites & Social Media for Local Chapters (New)
Check the updated Indiana pages on the Ducks Unlimited website for links to local chapter web sites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts & more.
Click here to get connected!
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The “OFF” Season (Things to do & read … When we’re not hunting) DU Video Library
DU produces a wide variety of videos featuring waterfowl hunting tips, conservation initiatives, field reports, wild game cooking and
various related topics.
Visit our video library today!
DUTV
This season's wide range of hunts is sure to get you fired up as you witness rich waterfowling traditions, cupped wings and
amazing retrieves.
View air dates & times »
Grants announced for 23 Lake & River projects
New grants for the care of Indiana's water bodies this year totaling more than $890,000 have been awarded through the Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) program, part of the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife. The projects involve 15 counties and were submitted by local sponsors who commit to sharing a portion of the total cost. DNR's portion comes from the Lake Enhancement fee paid annually by boat owners to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The grants allow for the completion of projects that would have been difficult for local organizations to fund on their own. Water body (County) Project Type Grant Award Ball Lake (DeKalb, Steuben) Watershed Land Treatment $15,000 Bean Blossom Creek (Brown, Monroe) Watershed Land Treatment $20,000
Big and Little Turkey Lakes (LaGrange, Noble, DeKalb, Steuben) Watershed Land Treatment $20,000
Big Long Lake (LaGrange) Sediment Removal $40,400 Clear Lake (Steuben) Construction $60,000 Fox Lake (Steuben) Lake Diagnostic Study $8,640 Hamilton Lake (Steuben) Sediment Removal $100,000 Juday Creek (St. Joseph) Design $38,400 Lake Galbraith (Marshall) Engineering Feasibility/Design $24,000 Lake James (Steuben) Engineering Feasibility $36,650 Lake James‐Croxton Ditch Wetland (Steuben) Construction $78,346 Lake Wawasee‐Dillon Creek (Kosciusko) Construction $45,000 Loefler & Scott Creeks (Gibson) Watershed Land Treatment $13,500 Oliver, Olin, & Martin Lakes (LaGrange) Engineering Feasibility/Design $34,400 Pigeon Creek (Steuben) Watershed Land Treatment $25,000 Snow Lake (Steuben) Sediment Removal Plan $7,000 Sugar Creek (Boone, Clinton) Watershed Diagnostic Study $44,000 Sullivan Lake ‐ Morrison Creek (Sullivan) Design/Build $24,000 Tri Lakes (Whitley) Sediment Removal $112,000 Veale & Aikman Creeks (Daviess) Watershed Diagnostic Study $40,000 Village Lake (Kosciusko) Construction $20,000 West Lakes (Noble) Sediment Removal $52,835 Yellow Creek Lakes (Kosciusko) Engineering Feasibility $32,000 Total $891,171
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Conservation Funding Cuts
(The following is a contribution of the Izaak Walton League of America)
Conservation Funding Takes Significant Hit in House There is widespread agreement within the hunting and angling community that conservation
funding and programs will be trimmed to contribute to a comprehensive effort to cut federal spending and reduce the deficit. There is equally strong agreement that this funding and core programs should not bear a disproportionate share of the burden. Dramatic cuts in conservation will not solve the budget problem, but will undermine effective initiatives that directly benefit hunters and anglers, state fish and wildlife agencies, the American people, and our natural resources.
Deep Cuts Threaten Conservation, Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Protection
As the U.S. House develops and passes annual appropriations bills funding public land
management agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and environmental protection, there is cause for serious concern. In June, the House approved the Agriculture Appropriations bill, which includes damaging cuts to core conservation programs, including the Wetlands and Grassland Reserve Programs, and eliminates all funding for Open Fields, which supports state efforts to expand access to private land for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation
In July, the House Appropriations Committee made additional cuts in the Interior and
Environment Appropriations bill. This legislation, which funds the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, other land management agencies, and EPA, cuts annual discretionary spending by more than $2 billion compared to funding provided for the current fiscal year. The full House began voting on this bill on July 25.
Some of the reductions are dramatic. For example, the bill cuts funding for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF), which supports land acquisition, habitat protection, and outdoor recreation, by 80% compared to the current year. This cut bars agencies from acquiring any land, including in‐holdings within the boundaries of existing national parks or wildlife refuges. This dramatic reduction stands in stake contrast to League policy that supports fully funding the LWCF at $900 million annually.
The bill makes other cuts that will only exacerbate existing problems. For example, it reduces
funding to operate and maintain national wildlife refuges to $455 million, which is nearly $38 million less than this year and $47 million less than the Fish and Wildlife Service requested. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Service would be forced to close as many as 140 wildlife refuges nationwide if the final refuge budget is cut by this deeply. This reduction will make it more challenging for refuges to manage and improve habitat, combat invasive plants and animals, and provide visitor services and law enforcement. These cuts are even more counterproductive when one considers that the refuge system currently has a $3.5 billion backlog of operations and maintenance projects. The system has already deferred essential maintenance and habitat restoration projects, and additional funding cuts will only add to this problem and make it more expensive to address in the future.
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Conservation Funding Cuts – Cont.
Some of the other reductions are far from ideal, but frankly, could have been worse. For example, the legislation provides $250 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Although this is $100 million less than the administration requested, it represents an on‐going commitment to the Great Lakes and builds on about $300 million provided for the current fiscal year, as well as approximately $700 million in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. In the current budget climate, the continued investment of significant resources in this area is better than the alternative.
Policy Provisions Block Action on Pressing Problems, Undermine Key Laws
In addition to significant funding cuts, the legislation contains more than 35 policy provisions, or “riders,” that have nothing to do with dollars and cents and, taken together, would negatively impact broad array of public land, conservation, and environmental laws and policies. The following are only a few examples:
• The Fish and Wildlife Service is barred from listing any new plant or animal as threatened or endangered under
the Endangered Species Act or from designating habitat that is essential for the recovery of species that are already listed. This substitutes politics for science. Moreover, it could undermine efforts to recover and, ultimately delist, species if habitat critical to their survival can not be protected.
• EPA is blocked from issuing, revising, or implementing any guidance or regulation to restore Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. One of the League’s top priorities is restoring these protections, including by supporting EPA and Army Corps guidance and rulemaking.
• EPA can not develop rules to improve the storage and disposal of hundreds of millions of tons of toxic ash that is stored on‐site at coal power plants nationwide. The League has been working for decades to reduce air and other pollution from these plants, and supports the more protective coal ash standards that the bill would block.
• EPA is also barred from issuing new rules that could dramatically reduce the number of fish and other aquatic life that are killed annually by antiquated power plant cooling systems. The League and other angling groups support addressing this problem by transitioning plants to cooling systems that draw significantly less fresh water from rivers, the Great Lakes, and other sources. In fact, the League and others are encouraging EPA to take even stronger steps than it has proposed to date.
• The Secretary of the Interior would be prohibited from withdrawing public land near Grand Canyon National Park from mineral leasing. Several companies have proposed large new uranium mines on public lands in this area. In late June, the Secretary used existing statutory authority to temporarily withdraw some of those lands from mineral leasing while the Bureau of Land Management, which has jurisdiction over most of the land at issue, conducts an environmental impact study to evaluate the benefits of withdrawing these lands from leasing for at least 20 years.
• Great Lakes states would be barred from receiving any EPA funding if they adopt ballast water standards stronger than current U.S. Coast Guard rules require. In spite of the devastating impacts caused by aquatic invasive species introduced into the U.S. through ballast water discharges, federal efforts to develop comprehensive and protective standards have lagged. States, especially across the Great Lakes region, have stepped forward to develop their own standards to safeguard state and regional waters. This amendment would punish these states by withholding ANY funds from EPA, including for Great Lakes restoration, sewage and drinking water treatment plant upgrades, or brownfields remediation.
These are only a few examples of nearly 40 damaging provisions. Based on these provisions and deep funding cuts, this legislation should be rejected by the House of Representatives. The Obama administration has sent a strong veto message to the House citing funding cuts and the policy provisions as grounds for opposing the measure.
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What are we DUing?
This section of the Indiana State newsletter will be reserved for highlighting what local chapters are DUing around the state. How are you representing DU and furthering our success as stewards of our natural resources. Did you throw a 100th birthday party for your oldest chapter member or take 1st place in a DU golf outing? Let everyone know what’s going on in your neck of the marsh.
Cabela’s & Northwoods Restaurant Holds Outdoor Show
Leave it to Cabela’s ace Events Coordinator to put something like this together. Jillian Stasiak‐Gill, Retail Events Coordinator for the Cabelas store in Hammond Indiana, gathered up the forces and brought the kids outdoors. Jillian and the management of Northwoods restaurant put together an event filled with waterfowl calling seminars for youths and adults, archery and BB gun ranges, hunting outfitters, outdoor equipment and fishing for the kids on Nothwoods’ pond.
This year was the first shot at an event like this and, with the
exception of a little rain as we were packing up, everything went off without a hitch. Crown Point DU chapter members helped with the BB gun range and South Suburban DU chapter (Illinois) members took care of the waterfowl calling seminars. The Griffith chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America operated an archery range while Deer Creek Hunt Club
offered information on their hunting and clay target opportunities. Bad Boy Buggies and Lowe Boats also had equipment on site. Keep yours eyes and ears open for next years Outdoor Show!
A special thanks goes out to Northwoods restaurant in St. John, IN. for all their cooperation and the
use of their amazing property and facilities. If you are ever in the “Northwest woods” of Indiana and crave a meal in a 15,000 square foot log cabin by the lake (with a waterfall) head to Northwoods!
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Kankakee River Hunting Retriever Club ‐ Fall Hunt Test
What has more tails than you can shake a stick at, comes in many colors and runs on land and water? You guessed it, a hunting retriever test. The Kankakee River Hunting Retriever Club held it’s Fall Hunt Test, August 13th & 14th at the Grand Kankakee Marsh county park in Hebron, Indiana and what a site to see. Waterfowl hunters and retriever enthusiasts were impressed with the exceptional dog work at this years test. A good dog can be worth its weight in gold when it comes to conservation. Efficiently recovering wounded and downed game is a vital step in ethical hunting practices and a good retriever will do just that. Your 4 legged friend can also make you look like a better shot by picking up your “crips”, however, they are no replacement for marksmanship so be sure practice your shooting skills ☺.
The handlers and spectators where also surprised by the presence of a film crew from the
upcoming “Everglades of the North” documentary being filmed by For Goodness Sake Productions out of Valparaiso Indiana. Patty Wisniewski (production company owner) and Jeff Manes (Writer/Director) felt this event might be a good opportunity to capture some footage of people using and enjoying “Hog Marsh”, a 255‐acre wetland restoration made possible by the cooperative efforts between Ducks Unlimited and the US Fish and Wildlife Services. The Everglades of the North documentary will be an educational/historical documentary focusing on the history of the Kankakee River and its destructive dredging while highlighting the importance of conserving what we have left as well as the hopes of restorations in the future. (The Everglades of the North documentary is fiscally sponsored by the Diana Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.)
Take a look at the young man pictured below (Boykin Spaniel handler, 11 yr old, Hunter
Cunningham) and tell me that what we are doing is a waste of time …. I dare ya! The Ducks Unlimited mission is to preserve places like this for ALL our children to grow and we should be proud!
For more information “click” Kankakee River Hunting Retriever Club
Indiana Everglades ‐ For Goodness Sake Productions Izaak Walton League of America – Diana Chapter
Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park Everglades of the North Video Promo
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Cabelas & DU Chapters Team Up To Call Ducks
What do Cabelas,
Northwoods restaurant, Ducks Unlimited and 10,000 screaming duck calls have in common? The Cabelas annual Duck & Goose calling contest, that’s what.
The Crown Point, South Suburban and Yellow River Chapters of Ducks Unlimited put forth some major efforts this year at the Cabelas Duck & Goose calling contest. This event may look like a piece of cake on the outside but pull back the curtain and you will find a team of DU chapters working together in cooperation with Cabelas in Hammond Indiana to put fear in ducks and geese for miles around! Porter County Chapter also showed up to lend a hand and the Demotte Chapter pitched in selling Remington 870 raffle tickets to boost up the purse for the contest winners. Big Lake Chapter set up their loaded trailer (event presale raffle) packed with decoys to draw out some extra bucks for the ducks and everyone did what they could to stay dry in Saturday’s downpour. This year’s event had a little extra bonus in the prize department thanks to Adam Klopp from the South Suburban Chapter in Illinois who donated a Remington 870 to raffle adding to the cash payouts for the winners. Northwoods restaurant in ST. John goes above and beyond once again for Ducks Unlimited. For the last two Cabelas calling events Northwoods has manned a BBQ pulled pork and hotdog stand donating all the proceeds to Ducks Unlimited! That’s a pretty impressive effort in my opinion especially since they set up next to the calling tent and get bombarded by highballs and comeback calls all day … Two thumbs up to Northwoods!
All in all 6 DU
chapters, a top notch local restaurant and the worlds foremost outfitter has done it again … Next years
event should prove to be something special. Mark your calendar!
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Crow Point DU – Stewards of the Kankakee River
Members of the Crown Point DU Chapter wade in to protect the Kankakee River. CPDU members alongside Boy Scout Troop 48 (Crown Point) and the Griffith chapter of the IWLA get muddy during an IWLA Diana Chapter Hoosier Riverwatch testing/monitoring session on registered site 828 (Kankakee River, Marble Powers Ditch). Hoosier Riverwatch is a nationally recognized watershed quality‐monitoring program that includes physical, chemical, biological and macroinvertibrate testing and monitoring.
Each monitoring session includes chemical testing such as
Nitrates, Nitrites, PH and Orthophosphates as well as biological testing that includes growing colonies of Coliforms with a particular interest in E. Coli, a fecal Coliform that can be harmful in elevated concentrations. Some other testing and monitoring that are performed include; Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, 5 day Biochemical Oxygen Demand, and macroinvertibrate surveys. Physical measurements are also taken as part of the CQHEI such as width, depth, discharge, benthic conditions and riparian surveys.
One DU members boat lost a prop and had to revert to the
time old tradition of “Poling” the river … The identity will be withheld to protect the innocent but a picture is worth a thousand words ☺.
All in all, the Kankakee River is as healthy or healthier than the average monitored waterway in the state of Indiana. During the early 1920’s man did all they could to destroy the Kankakee River by straightening and dredging her down to a series of ditches. In all actuality, legally speaking, there is no Kankakee River in the state of Indiana, only a series of “ditches”. Site 828 is more accurately described as the “Marble Powers Ditch”.
For more information concerning the Hoosier Riverwatch
program ….
http://www.hoosierriverwatch.com/
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Presidential Citation Awards
IN DU, I would like to send out a special congratulations to the following 2010 (calendar year) Presidential Citation winning chapters. The Presidential Citation Award program is a goal that each and every chapter should set in their sights and strive to achieve. Each winning chapter will receive a large Presidential Citation wall banner to proudly display the night of their event(s) in front of their fellow supporters (example below). Nationwide (out of 3,000+ chapters), there were 221 Bronze Citation Winners, 17 Silver Citation Winners and 8 Gold Citation Winners – Indiana’s winners are as follows: Bronze Citation Gold Citation St. Joseph Valley Decatur County Purdue University Noble County Fort Wayne Sponsor That means that Purdue DU have been Presidential Citation winners for 3 consecutive years ‐ Bronze 2008, Silver 2009 and Gold 2010 – a special thanks and congratulations goes out to Purdue DU for this great accomplishment!!! Lets urge our Bronze Citation winners to strive/plan to achieve the Silver Citation in 2011 and for Purdue University to continue to hold on to their Elite Ranking Gold Citation. And of course we urge each and every one of you and your chapters to strive/plan for Bronze in 2011‐2012. Once again, please join me in congratulating your fellow IN DU teammates on a job well done! We look forward to having you and your chapter join the Presidential Citation Ranks – Ask us how!!! DAVE NEAL Ducks Unlimited Regional Director, Northern Indiana
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Special Recognition Awards
Indiana Leaders, I wanted to share some news with you from our recent staff meeting in Memphis. Joe Borders and Dave Neal were honored with a “Special Recognition Award” for their tireless service and dedication to overcome the obstacles faced daily in holding events that comply with the IN gaming laws. As we all know this has taken a great deal of time this past year to navigate the paperwork needed to get an event qualified and ready to license. Dave, Joe and the IN volunteers are all to be commended for going the extra mile to ensure events are able to be held successfully. Without that commitment dollars needed for habitat restoration would be in jeopardy. Hopefully some changes are on the horizon that will make this process much easier. Dave Neal was also recognized during this meeting as the 2011 Top Regional Director for Region 5! This is based on overall performance in a variety of categories all of which Dave’s region excelled. Dave and North IN volunteers had an exceptional year and deserve a big thank you for a job well done. I was honored to present this award to Dave. Thanks for your leadership and I know more great things are in store for events this fall! Troy LaRue Director of Fundraising & Volunteer Relations IA, IL, IN, KY, MO
Your headlines should be here!
Volunteering takes special efforts from special people and Ducks Unlimited is full of both! Highlight what your chapter is doing and be proud of the difference you make every day.
What we have today wouldn’t be much without what you’ve
done yesterday.
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Special message from the Editor
First, let me introduce myself, my name is Randy Armstrong. As you may already be aware, Jean Prough has handed down the INDU newsletter responsibilities to me after a very commendable run as Editor to focus her energy on other projects. I would like to take this time to thank Jean for all her work and ask that everyone continue his or her efforts in participating with our newsletter as we move forward.
The Indiana newsletter belongs to all of us! I would hope that everyone can realize the value in
chapter participation and consider asking a committee member to volunteer as a newsletter chairman, so to speak, to send in material to be included in future issues. The more we get to know each other the more we (and the ducks) will benefit. In order to make this happen I will need your help. I encourage ANYONE & EVERYONE on your chapters to submit news, stories, photos, accomplishments and recognitions no matter how big/small to share with the rest of your DU family. I promise to make every effort to include everything you send me and space is not an issue ... I guarantee you can't send too much (that is a direct challenge).
I am also the webmaster for Indiana Ducks Unlimited so there is a possibility that your
submissions may make the website! Actually, in all honesty, I am counting on your input for the newsletter as a source for website content as well so please feel free to load me up. As the INDU webmaster, I would love to help create more traffic/participation for your individual chapters through the INDU pages. If you have a Facebook page, Twitter account or chapter website please give me the address to be included on the INDU site. If you do not have a chapter website I would encourage you to identify a computer savvy committee member to put one together for you. Cost is no excuse ... a descent website can be put together absolutely free! All you need is a Gmail account (free) and a couple hours. If you are interested in building a website and need a little help please drop me a note and I will try my best to help you through it. I would love to have a website listed for every chapter!
For an example of what a free website can look like please visit the Crown Point Ducks Unlimited
chapter website by clicking HERE or the Diana Chapter of the Izaak Walton League's website HERE. Facebook and Twitter are also a good ways (free) to get your chapter out to the public.
If you have any questions or concerns with the INDU newsletter, the INDU state website or the
creation of your own chapter website please feel free to contact me at:
[email protected] (devoted email for INDU newsletter submissions) or
[email protected] (CPDU administrative account) I usually keep pretty busy but I will make every effort to reply to your questions/concerns as
expediently as possible.
Thanks, Randy Armstrong INDU Newsletter Editor/Webmaster CPDU Secretary/Webmaster
![Nature Ducks[1]](https://img.pdfslide.net/doc/110x75/55948e691a28abf15b8b46ac/nature-ducks1.jpg)
