WELCOME TO CHALLENGE THE OUTDOORS, INC.
JANUARY 2023 NEWSLETTER
www.ctoforme.org
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – Carl Gierke Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Looking back, 2022 has been a year of progress for CTO. We’ve managed to get back on track after dealing with the effects of covid and it’s been great to see everyone at events again. This year has also seen major progress on the construction of our clubhouse at the Peter’s Pond property near Angelica. Our many events will continue, as will work in Angelica, with plans for property improvements and fishing piers. As good as this past year has been, I think 2023 will be even better. The future of CTO looks very bright!
None of this happens by accident. It couldn’t be accomplished without the hard work and generosity of our board members, donors, event coordinators, and the many folks that help at our events. It’s a team effort that results in a lotof opportunity and fun for a lot of people. During this time of year when giving is so important, please know that your gifts of time, effort or financial support are so much appreciated. Those of you who assist in any way should be very proud of the fact that you’re making a positive difference in the lives of others. Thanks for keeping Christmas in your hearts throughout the year!
I hope all of you and your families have a happy and healthy 2023 and you have the chance to get out and enjoy the many recreational opportunities that Wisconsin and CTO have to offer. Looking forward to getting together again in the upcoming year. Happy Holidays!!
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
HOLIDAY PARTY 2023 – Sharon LeFevre This January 28th, CTO will host its Holiday Party at Willow Creek Lanes at 2020 Verlin Road in Bellevue. The festivities will commence at 11AM and run until 3PM. Lunch will be served at noon with bowling starting at 1 PM and continuing until 3PM. When making your reservation with Sharon or Steve, you will be asked if you prefer pizza or chicken tenders. CTO will also provide cake and soda. You are welcome to bring your own shoes and bowling ball. You will need to call or text Sharon LeFevre at 920-6152-2356 or Steve Harvey at 920-494-3143 by January 14th to reserve your spot.
SLED HOCKEY CLINIC Options for Independent Living is offering a free Sled Hockey Clinic for anyone of any age, with or without a disability on February 5th, 2023 (11am) at the Cornerstone Community Center, 1640 Fernando Drive in Ashwaubenon. No experience is necessary and it’s a great opportunity to learn about the sport. The event will be led by Brad Roethlisberger, WAHA Disabled Hockey Director. Contact Calvin Richtig at 920-393-1037 or calvinr@optionsil.org with questions. RSVP is appreciated, but not required.
GREEN BAY GAMBLERS HOCKEY GAME – Steve Harvey On Friday, February 10th, at 7 PM within the beautiful confines of the Resch Center, CTO will once again sponsor an action packed evening of hockey. We will meet in the lobby from 6pm to 6:30pm to receive your tickets and a $10.00 food voucher card. You are responsible for paying for parking, transportation and a mentor if needed. Contact Steve Harvey 920-494-3143 or Sharon LeFevre 920-615-2356 to sign up by January 27th.
2023 FUNDRAISERS As you probably know, CTO hosts or is involved with several fundraisers throughout the year. Raising money through these events, rather than relying strictly on memberships, enables us to keep our membership affordable and helps supplement the cost of our events. We’d like you to know about these events as you may want to volunteer, donate items, or solicit donations for the event(s).
Events for the upcoming year include:
Saturday, February 25th – Whitetails Unlimited Banquet, Romy’s Nitingale (Black Creek) – contact Randy Swille
Saturday, April 1st – CTO Sporting Clays Shoot Fundraiser, J&H Game Farm (Navarino) – contact Barb Kaun
Saturday, April 15th – MWR Foundation Banquet/Fundraiser – Grand Meridian (Appleton) -contact Carl Gierke
SPRING PHEASANT HUNT – Carl Gierke Our spring hunt will take place on March 5th from 8:30 until about noon at J&H Game Farm. We’ve arranged for pheasants to be released, dogs and handlers, machine operators and great food. It’s always a great day to share stories and get to know other CTO members. Each disabled hunter will be allowed two pheasants that will be cleaned and bagged for them. If you don’t have your own gun, there will be guns available at J&H for you to use. Shotgun shells (12 and 20 gauge) will be provided and you will need to wear orange. Each hunter is welcome to bring family members or a friend to assist them, but pheasants are put out only for the disabled CTO members. Lunch is courtesy of CTO and is made by the good folks at J&H. Please contact me no later than March 1st if you are interested in being a part of the hunt.
SPORTING CLAYS SHOOT / FUNDRAISER – APRIL 1st - Barb Kaun, Carl Gierke Mark your calendar for CTO’s annual sporting clays fundraiser, which will be held April 1st at J&H Game Farm near Navarino. This is a great opportunity for you to pitch in and help fund the events you take part in throughout the year. There are many ways you can help. You can collect donations for raffle prizes, sell raffle tickets, spread the word among your friends and family to come out and shoot, hang up posters in your favorite hang-out or watering hole, or help the day of the event. Planning for the April 1st, 2023 Annual Sporting Clay Fundraiser has already begun as we’ve started to acquire higher-priced prizes that are advertised on the raffle tickets, such as fishing or hunting trips, guns, club memberships, or sporting equipment. If you or someone you know has a prize they’d like to donate, please contact one of the committee members (Barb or Fred Kaun, Chris Savka, Ann Attnip, Debi Delie, Carl Gierke).
Now is the time to think about where you can best volunteer. Volunteer to set-up on Friday, March 31st 2023, or on April 1st to register shooters, serve food to shooters and volunteers, sell bucket raffle tickets, help record raffle prize winners, be a safety monitor on the shooting line, drive a UTV to transport people, or spend some time cleaning up after the event. Every member can sell main raffle tickets prior to the event or obtain prizes for the raffles. Hopefully, we’ll have raffle tickets available for distribution at the Holiday Party on January 28th. The event involves a lot of planning and contacting people, but it’s always a lot of fun too. If you’d like to participate in any way, make a donation, or know any business or individual willing to make a donation, please let us know. Thanks for your help!
SPRING TURKEY HUNT- Tom Narmore This coming May, Challenge the Outdoors is teaming up with Shadows on the Wolf for a spring turkey hunt for our disabled members. We are able to take approximately ten hunters and the hunt will be from May 19th through May 21st. Lodging for the hunt will be provided at the Christus Memorial Camp located just outside of Clintonville. Food will also be provided throughout the hunt; however, we will be doing a potluck dinner on Saturday afternoon. The main course will be provided by Challenge the Outdoors (further food details to come).
Since we are limited on the number of participants, we will be giving preference to those who have never turkey hunted and to those who have never harvested a turkey. Deadline to send in for your turkey tag is December 10th, 2022, but if you forget to apply by that deadline, you can also purchase a tag over the counter sometime near the end of March 2023. When applying for or purchasing your turkey tag, please make sure you obtain one tag for zone 3, period E (5th period.) No matter how many tags you obtain, you will only be able to harvest one bearded turkey. The sign-up for the spring 2023 turkey hunt will begin January 15th and go until March 1st, 2023 (no exceptions). Your cooperation is needed for planning with our mentors and landowners. Please note that sign-up for 2023 is a little earlier than normal and that, per CTO rules, if you sign up and don't show up without contacting me with a reasonable excuse, you may not be able to attend this event the following year. Also, if you think you might need help with any personal care issues, please bring your own assistant. There will be plenty of room and food for your assistant to stay with you for the whole event. To sign up, please contact Tom Narmore (920)410-4436 or narmore1988@yahoo.com.
SUNDAY SPORTING CLAY SHOOT- Randy Swille/ Steve Harvey
The CTO Sunday Sporting Clay Shoots are all scheduled for the 2023 year. We hope to see many new faces along with our friends that have had fun shooting in the past. New hours at J & H will have us starting at 10:00am with our get together lunch at around noon. The dates are as follows: May 7th, June 11th , August 20th ( Shoot of Your Choice)
SEPTEMBER 2023 BEAR HUNT OPPORTUNITY - Carl Gierke Joe Kalmon of Wisconsin Black Bear Guide Service is offering a guided bear hunt this fall near Mellen, Wisconsin (Mellen is about 25 miles southeast of Ashland). The hunt is being offered to a disabled CTO member that does not use a wheelchair, due to the fact that he has only one wheelchair-accessible blind and that has already been awarded to a hunter outside our organization. Basically, baited stands would be provided for the hunter, who would need to acquire his/her own bear tag for Zone A at least 30 days before the season opener. The season runs from Wednesday, September 13th through the 26th, however Joe is recommending a hunt from the 13th through the 17th. A cookout is held on Tuesday evening before the opener with the other hunters in camp, however all other meals and lodging are the responsibility of the hunter.
If you have enough points for a tag, this is a great opportunity. If you don’t, CTO may be able to help with a tag transfer. If you or someone you know is able to transfer a tag for this hunt, please let me know. The lucky hunter will be selected by drawing if there is more than one applicant. If you’d like to be considered for this hunt, please contact me asap, but no later than June 1st.
RECAP OF RECENT EVENTS
GAMBLER HOCKEY GAME RECAP- Steve Harvey and Sharon LeFevre On December 9th, CTO had its annual Gambler Game Night. We had 25 members signed up for the event. We had a great weather night for all of our members to get out and enjoy a good game which the Gamblers won. Each member received their ticket and a $10.00 food card to use at the game. The mascot came by and took pictures with all attending. Everyone had a great time socializing and watching some good hockey. Thanks to all that attended and we hope to see you all next year.
NON-EVENT INFORMATION
NEW MEMBERS - Please welcome the following new members to CTO: Kathleen Weber, Mike VandeVyver, Craig Akey
PERMITS FOR DISABLED HUNTERS Qualified disabled persons may obtain a permit to hunt from a stationary vehicle. Visually handicapped persons may be able to obtain a permit to use a laser sighting device while hunting with a firearm, bow or crossbow. An authorized health care provider must complete and sign the Hunting or Trolling Disability Permit Authorizations Application form 9400-604 [PDF]. To obtain a form, visit dnr.wi.gov and search using the key words “disabled hunter permit” or contact the DNR Call Center at 888-936- 7463 for further information. Allow six weeks for the permit application to be processed.
DISABLED VETERAN RECREATION CARD Resident disabled veterans who are receiving disability compensation benefits due to a disability rating of at least 50% or greater for a service-related disability, or who are individually unemployable are eligible to receive the annual Disabled Veteran Recreation Card. Privileges include fishing, small game, state park admission and trail pass.
CTO CLOTHING AVAILABLE- Fred Kaun A variety of Challenge the Outdoors clothing is available for you to show your support for the organization. Some of the more popular t-shirt colors and sizes have been sold out, but we still have a good selection of sizes and colors immediately available, and many baseball and stocking hats (check out our web site for pictures ctoforme.org/donation). Three vendors are being looked at to resupply our stock. We are asking our members that might be looking for items not normally stocked to send your request to Fred Kaun so current pricing and availability can be determined. Some options would be short or long sleeve men’s or women’s t-shirts, sweat shirts (hooded or not), denim or sport jackets. Please let me know the type of clothing you might like, including size and color. The tentative order will be placed early in 2023. Phone 920-720-9689 , Email fkaun@me.com
NEWSLETTER - David Paul The Challenge the Outdoors Newsletter is published every two months at the beginning of January, March, May, July, September and November. Questions, please contact David Paul at dcp7576@gmail.com.
CTO ONGOING PROGRAMS - CTO has several programs designed to supplement the cost of outdoor activities and encourage disabled members to get out and have some fun. To be eligible for these programs, you must be a member for at least one year (except awards). See the website for further additional information and application forms. Otherwise, please contact the chairperson if you have questions.
These include:
1) Shooting Policy – Designed to encourage participation in shooting sports, allows up to $50.00 per year toward membership in sporting/gun club(s). Original receipts must be submitted for reimbursement. Contact – Carl Gierke
2) Adaptive Equipment – Supplements the cost of disability-related equipment necessary for a disabled member to take part in a hunting or fishing activity. Original receipts must be submitted for reimbursement, which is half the cost of the item up to a maximum of $100 annually. Contact – Carl Gierke
3) Field Grants – Supplements the cost of guided or otherwise expensive hunting or fishing trips up to a maximum of $200 per year, with a maximum of three in a lifetime. Applications should be submitted two months before the event and receipts for reimbursement are required. Contact – Carl Gierke