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ISTA 51st Convention and Rendezvous a Success!
******Check out the pictures in the Photo Gallery*******
The ISTA 51st Convention and Rendezvous was held on Sept. 21 & 22, 2012 at the Tipton County Fairgrounds, Tipton, IN. The weather during the day, Friday and Saturday, was absolutely beautiful. Vendors had begun setting up Thursday and didn’t get finished till Friday afternoon. Booseway Tom Morelock did an absolutely splendid job organizing the Convention and setting up the demonstrations.
Demonstrations began on Friday morning and continued through Saturday afternoon. I have misplaced my list, so to the best of my recollection there were demonstrations on coyote trapping by Charlie Masheck, beaver by Kenny Peregrine, skinning beaver by Tom Morelock, canines by JR, conibear usage by Hal Sullivan, dog proof traps by Jeff Dunham, and many more that I am missing. My apologies to anyone I have missed here, and my great thanks to every one who helped with getting the demonstrations set up and done. All members of the Board pitched in somewhere.
Through the weekend, door prizes were handed out every couple of hours. Tickets for the Bear Trap donated by Sterling Fur Co., and the two gun give-a-way sold briskly. The Bear Trap was won by Deane Brady. Brian Garr won the Henry Lever action and Brian Wilson won the Marlin .22. A voting station was set up where people could use their change to vote for where they would like the next Convention to be. Tipton received 1100 votes while the next closest was Peru with 100.
Friday night saw the ISTA Benefit Auction and a planned members dinner. The Auction went very well with Corbin Bultemeier making the call as long as the rain held off and let him be heard. The Auction had to be paused twice when the rain pounding on the metal roof became just too much to hear anything. The Auction was extremely successful and generated in excess of $2,000 for the ISTA. After the Auction, the Board held a Meeting to take care of house keeping items. Next year the cookout will be before the Auction and on Saturday there will be a silent auction of specific items from 8am - 2pm.
Saturday broke bright and shiney with the ground just a little damp. The Vendor buildings were opened at 8am and the first door prize was given away at 10am. The crowd was modest, but the vendors say that the sales were good. At 10 am the Membership meeting began and it was over by 10:45am. NAFA presented the ISTA with a check for over $1500. Our big thank you to NAFA doesn’t seem to be enough gratitute. President Fred hung around to talk with several members and answer questions for another hour. At 4pm, the Election closed and ballots were counted. All incumbents were re-elected to their positions and changes of their expiration dates have been made on the website, www.indianatrappers.org.
Two awards were then handed out. Avery Setser received the Youth Trapper of the Year Award. Avery has been very active with the ISTA helping with her Dad’s, Tom Setser, Trapper Education Class and even manning the Booth at the Convention. Way to go Avery. Dan Watkins received the Trapper of the Year Award. Dan was instrumental in getting our Trapper Education classes going. It is through these Classes that we will be able to keep the tradition of trapping alive. Dan was unable to attend our Convention due to his health, but Bill assured me that he would get his award.
During the day on Saturday, Lonnie Phillips and Paul Waldman over saw the Kid's activities. The obligatory hay scramble was held inside the North Building across from the Volkmere Wire Cubbie Booth. This kept the kids out of any possible mud. The trap setting contest were run just outside in the sunshine. For the under 12 years old group, Nathanial Boyd took first with a time of 27:44 sec. Victoria Titus took second with a time of 44:03 sec. For the 12 to 16 years old, First went to Ethan Waldman 34:85 sec., Second went to Ean Morelock 37:74 secs., and third went to Nick Garber 38:70 secs. For the Adult Trap Setting contest, Jeff Park took first with a time of 27:46 secs, Tery Boyd took second with a time of 37:13 secs, and Paul Waldman came in third with a time of 42:80 secs. Congratulations to everyone who participated. We hope you had a good time. Maybe next year we will have a set making contest.
I want to thank everyone who helped out, and made this Convention the success it was. I am sorry if I have missed your name at this time. I thank you anyway. However, I have to especially thank Keith Winkler of Sterling Fur, Sterling, OH, for his multiple donations of materials for the Auction and the Bear Trap. Also NAFA for it’s unending support of the ISTA and the fur industry in general. If I missed you, please drop nme a note and I will make corrections as I can. Again, THANK YOU ALL.
Watch your top knot. Keep your eyes along the skyline.
Fred “DR” Philips
Pres. ISTA |
