Challenge The Outdoors, Inc

 WELCOME TO CHALLENGE THE OUTDOORS, INC.

JULY 2023 NEWSLETTER

www.ctoforme.org

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – Carl Gierke

Like so many events before, the fishing event held on June 3rd on Shawano Lake was another great example of a variety of people at so many levels pitching in to benefit our members and make an event successful. It’s always impressive how our members and volunteers step up to make things work. We had the use of four pontoon boats and a huge tent donated, boat captains donated their time to help those that went out fishing, our wonderful food crew put together another great meal, and after fishing, several volunteers cleaned fish and packed everything up before we left for home. Thanks to everyone who helped make it a great day.

As many levels as there are in a single event, there are even more levels within and outside the organization that help make it work. Our board members, event coordinators, food crew, generous donors and advertisers all deserve a special thank you for contributing to the success of CTO. As we grow, it’s great to see more people networking to spread the word about our mission and expand opportunities for our members. Some are offering to help plan additional events in the future and help develop the Peter’s Pond property at Angelica. Whether you’ve helped in the past or are looking to the future, we thank you for your enthusiasm and involvement.

Remember to check the event calendar to see if there are any events you’d like to be part of this year. If so, please let event coordinators know by the deadlines mentioned so we can make plans for everything to run effectively and efficiently. Hope to see you soon!

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP BANQUET - Sharon LeFevre Our banquet is set for Sunday, July 9th at Stadium View in Green Bay. It starts at 3pm and we will have our annual election for board members with a small meeting to begin with and then dinner will follow at 5pm. If you are interested in helping with the event that day, please let me know. We can always use volunteers. We will also have recognition awards at the banquet for one able-bodied volunteer and one disabled volunteer. If you have signed up and you will no longer be able to attend please let me know ASAP. Thanks and hope to see you all there.

WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS BASEBALL GAME – Carl Gierke On Saturday, August 12th, CTO will host its annual Timber Rattlers game at Fox Cities Stadium, 2400 N. Casaloma Dr. in Appleton. We’ll meet in the parking lot near the southwest corner of the stadium at 4:45 when tickets will be distributed. Gates open at 5:00 and dinner will be served from 5 to 6:30 and the game will start at 6:35. Admission includes your game ticket and an all-you-can-eat dinner (brats and burgers), along with two beverages. This event is open to all members and tickets and dinner are courtesy of CTO, however the $5 parking fee is your responsibility. Guests are welcome, but will be responsible for buying their own tickets. After the game, kids can run the bases and there will also be fireworks. There is limited space, so please reserve your tickets by July 28th by contacting me by phone (920-986-3272) or e-mail cgierke1@outlook.com

SUNDAY/THURSDAY SPORTING CLAY SHOOT- Randy Swille/ Steve Harvey /Roger Urmanski The CTO Sunday/Thursday Sporting Clay Shoots are all scheduled for 2023. We have scheduled six Sporting Clay Shoots this year and CTO will cover the cost of up to four shoots for each member and their mentor. 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 9:30AM with our get-together lunch at around noon. The Sunday date are as follows: August 20th (Shoot of Your Choice) The Thursday Shoots will be July 13th, September 14th and October 12th. If you would like to take part call Randy Swille at 920-373-8081 or Steve Harvey at 920-494-3143 to sign up for Sunday Shoots. Call Roger Urmanski at 920-468-8872 to sign up for Thursday Shoots.

DISABLED DEER HUNT SIGN UP- David Paul Members interested in participating in this year’s deer hunt will need to complete the form included near the end of this newsletter in its entirety and mail or email the form to the address on the bottom of the form. PHONE CALLS WILL NO LONGER BE ACCEPTED AS A FORM OF SIGNING UP. Sign up is currently ongoing. The hunt runs from October 7th through the 15th. The hunt is held throughout Outagamie, Shawano, Manitowoc and Oconto Counties. You should start thinking about who will be assisting you during the hunt. This is not a “first come-first serve” event and with this event gaining in popularity, we will be establishing a waiting list for this hunt if we reach a level beyond our capacity of hunters. First time hunters and hunters who have not harvested a deer in previous years will be given preference if we have more hunters than hunting spots. More information will be in our September Newsletter. The deadline for signing up is September 10th which is later than previous years.

LAND NEEDED FOR THE DEER HUNT - David Paul If you know of any land that we could enroll in the deer hunt please contact me. The land doesn’t need to be in or near the traditional area we have hunted in the past, so think of a family member or family friend who might consider putting their land in our program. I can answer most questions you might have regarding this. Contact -David Paul 920-740-2775

SHAWANO LAKE & PONTOON BOAT 2023 -David Paul We are keeping our pontoon boat on Shawano Lake in Cecil (southeast corner of the lake). The boat will be located at slip #7 this year and each slip is marked with a number.

Our pontoon boat has been equipped with a fish finder and a trolling motor as of last year. The boat is available to any CTO member to use through mid-September. All you need to do is call David Paul, (920-740-2775) to reserve the boat for a half or full day. You’ll need to bring your own fishing equipment. The boat has a cooler, fish finder and trolling motor as well as life jackets. As of Tuesday, June 27th all users of the pontoon will need to refill the gas tank after you are done for the day. I am having hip surgery and will not be able to assist with the gas for the next 6 weeks. There will be an empty gas can on the boat for this task. Please save your receipts and leave them on the boat with your name on them in the orange tackle box and we will reimburse you for the gas. Also, if you will be using the trolling motor you will need to let me know as there are a few things I will go over with you. Nothing else has changed regarding the use of the pontoon.

CTO Pontoon Boat Guidelines: Failure to follow these guidelines may terminate your use of the pontoon up to one year from date of infraction per CTO Policy.

A) Keys and signup sheet are at the BP gas station located at HWY 117 &22 in Cecil. Report any issues or damage immediately to David.

B) First time users are REQUIRED to receive training on operation of the pontoon and the lake topography.

C) You must follow the Wisconsin DNR boating regulations and you are responsible for knowing these regulations.

Failure to do so can lead to legal ramifications that you are solely responsible for.

D) Prior to leaving dock:

1) Make sure you have at least one working cell phone on the boat that gets adequate reception.

2) Retrieve personal flotation devices (PFDs or life jackets) from storage and make sure one is

accessible for each person. Individuals under the age of 13 are required to wear them. Make sure

one throwable flotation device is accessible in case of emergency.

3) Tilt motor down into water, but not hitting bottom. Trim down further when in deeper water.

4) Turn on running lights in dark or foggy conditions.

5) Make sure you have untied the pontoon from the dock. Leave the chains used to keep the boat tied up at the dock.

E) When returning to dock.

1) Remove any garbage, worms, fishing gear, food, etc. from the boat.

2) Bimini Top (canopy) should be lowered and please reattach the cover to the Bimini unless it is wet.

3) Make sure all running lights are off.

4) Make sure pontoon boat is secured at all points to the dock and close and latch all doors.

5) Return life jackets and other equipment to storage area it came from.

6) Return keys to BP gas station and call or text David Paul when you are done for the day. 920-740-2775

7) There is no need to refill the gas tank.

CHASING RAINBOWS AT WILDERNESS SPRINGS TROUT POND – Carl Gierke On Saturday, Aug 26th, Chasing Rainbows will be held at Wilderness Springs Trout Farm, which can be reached by going west of New London on HWY 54 and then turn right on Madden Rd. Watch for CTO signs. No fishing license is required and there is no size limit on trout, with a two fish limit. Fishing will start at 9:30 AM. Please bring your fishing poles and secret lures, although CTO will have some fishing equipment available. Food and drinks, cane poles, bait, cleaning and packaging on ice will all be provided. To sign up contact Carl Gierke (920-986-3272) by August 23rd.

CTO END OF SUMMER OUTING AT OUTAGAMIE CONSERVATION CLUB - Barb Kaun

WHAT: CTO End of Summer Outing -- rain or shine

WHEN: Saturday, September 16th, from 10 AM until 2:30 PM

WHERE: OUTAGAMIE CONSERVATION CLUBHOUSE, N3502 Mayflower Rd, Hortonville, WI

WHO: CTO members of all ages and abilities.

CTO will provide lunch and water at 12 o’clock noon, with open bar to purchase beverages.

Experience:

• Trap shooting, with CTO picking up the cost of a round or two for those taking part. OCC has a few shotguns that will be available to borrow. You are welcome to bring your own shells, or purchase some there. CTO will pick up the cost of one box of 12 or 20 gauge shells purchased at OCC for use at the outing with instruction available if needed.

• Pistol range will be available. Bring your pistol and ammunition. Targets will be supplied, or bring your own if you wish.

• Fishing, catch and release, at the stocked pond, unless the fish is deep hooked and won’t survive. Bring your favorite rod and tackle. CTO provides live bait or you may bring your own as well. The pond is stocked with trout, pan fish and largemouth bass.

• New this year Frisbee golf geared to all abilities, and Lawn Yahtzee.

Flat terrain around the pond and the entire OCC grounds, make getting around fairly easy, but you may want to bring a power scooter as the activities are spread out. For meal planning purposes, please contact Barb Kaun at 920-720-9689 to sign up. Check out OCC on their website: http://www.wiocc.com

RECAP OF RECENT EVENTS

SHAWANO LAKE FISHING – Carl Gierke On June 3rd, CTO hosted its annual fishing event on Shawano Lake, which is held the first Saturday in June to coincide with Wisconsin’s free fishing weekend. We had a beautiful day of weather and about 40 people showed up to fish or help out. Fishermen headed out about 9am on five pontoon boats and fishing continued to noon when we took a break for lunch. Fish were caught on every boat and several boats had nice catches of panfish. After a fantastic lunch by our food crew, our talented fish cleaners filleted fish for the anglers to take home. Most fishermen were happy just fishing in the morning, but several went back out and kept fishing through the afternoon. Shawano Lake is always a fun event and is a great example of CTO folks working together to make it happen. Many thanks to Bill Mayville for lining up the pontoon boats, which were graciously provided by Mike Shulze, Chouse Hartlaben, Doug Hoppe and Bill Mayville. Thanks to Keith Pennings who again donated the use of a tent, and to Dave Paul, Chouse Hartlaben and Mike Shulze for setting up the tent on Friday. Chris Savka and our expert food crew did their usual great job of providing and preparing food. In addition to the core CTO folks we also had many new attendees, young and old, so thanks to everyone that showed up to help out and make it a fun day!

CHASING RAINBOWS- Carl Gierke The weather was great on June 17th for Chasing Rainbows at Wilderness Springs near New London. We had a great turnout, including several new members and helpers. New member Jacob Landis, who attended with his parents Julie and Brian, received the trophy for the biggest fish, a rainbow trout over 18 inches long! Chris Savka and her food crew did their usual fantastic job of providing lunch after everyone was done fishing. A great time was had by all! Many thanks to all who attended, helped set up, baited hooks, unhooked fish, and told fish stories. Special thanks to our hosts, Mike and Kathy Foster at Wilderness Springs, who always help make sure everything runs smoothly!

SPRING TURKEY HUNT- Tommy Narmore From May 19th-21st, Challenge the Outdoors along with Shadows on the Wolf, hosted a spring turkey hunt for eight disabled members of Challenge the Outdoors. The hunters consisted of Tom Narmore, Keith Hartjes, Randy and Darwin Swille, Dave Laplant, Russ Longrie, Deb Deli and Rob Pennifill. What an epic hunt we had this year. Everyone saw turkeys. The weather was great and seven of our eight hunters were able to harvest a Tom turkey. Congratulations to Tom, Keith, Randy, Darwin, Russ, Dave, and Rob on their harvest. On behalf of all participants, I would like to thank Tom and Ashley Lehman for organizing all the mentors and land. On behalf of everyone who attended this year’s event, I would like to send a big thank you to Dan Kritz for cooking the main meals.

Food was fantastic. If interested in participating next year, registration will start on January 15th, 2024 and end March 1st, 2024. Contact Tom Narmore by phone 920-410-4436 or email narmore1988@yahoo.com.

NON-EVENT INFORMATION

MEMBER PARTICIPATION/CANCELLATION POLICY (implemented JUNE 2011) An event chairperson(s) may bar a CTO member for one (1) year from participating in the same event, if the member signs up for an event and fails to attend the event without giving prior notice given to the event chairperson(s) that she/he will not be attending. There shall be exceptions given for sickness, injury, equipment failure, or a death. The event chairperson(s) will have final authority to say if a one (1) year ban from the following year’s event is warranted depending on the circumstances surrounding the absence and impact on the event. This policy was implemented because occasionally, people unable to attend events did not notify CTO or event chairpersons, causing spaces to go unfilled. Please notify the chairperson as far in advance as possible if you can’t attend an event you’ve signed up for. We just want to ensure that as many people as possible can attend events. Thanks!

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 – Randy Swille

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 – Randy Swille

3) Field Grants – Supplements the cost of 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 – Debi Delie

NEWSLETTER - David Paul The Challenge the Outdoors Newsletter is published every two months at the beginning of January, March, May, July, September and November. We strongly encourage recipients of the newsletter to get it by email, as it saves considerable time and expense. If you currently receive a hard copy of the newsletter, but are able to receive it by email at home or through a friend or family member, please contact me with an email address - David Paul at dcp7576@gmail.com or 920-740-2775.