The annual meeting was called to order by the Club President, Jim Jones at 7:05 PM.

Officers present were:
          President - Jim Jones
          Vice President - Frank Ferrara
          Secretary - Loren Collett
          Treasurer - H. Dana Smolens
          Board Member at Large - William Wilken

Members Present:
     Skip Thacker
     Dick Conroy
     Proxy Votes as issued to the President and on file with this report.

The President called for a Treasurer's report which was presented by Dana Smolens. The club has a year ending balance of $1,554.74. See attached report. Dana also reported that the club had approximately $22,000.00 worth of targets and stage sets and that insurance was being purchased to protect them.

The Board Member at Large, Bill Wilken gave a grounds report for the range. Parking lots have been cleared and others are in the planning stage. A camp ground is being developed just down from the range for RV and tent camping. Trees need to be cleared/raised or groomed at this location. A new fence is up and will be finished by the Geronimo Trail Team Shoot and the old fence needs to be removed. Last year three (3) new stages, the Prairie House, Range C, the Fort, Range D and the Saw Mill, Range D were completed and targets placed. Now there is a need for some general maintenance to be preformed prior to the annual shoots.

The Vice President, Frank Ferrara had no old business to discuss and give an update on the Billy the Kid cabin that the Gila Rangers are working on at the Visitor's Center in Silver City.

The Secretary, Loren Collett discussed the web site and what in going on with the annual shoot web sites. The Gila Rangers website is averaging 9 hits a day, with a weekly average of 66 and a monthly average of 275. The Victorio's Run State shoot was 60% filled from online applications. The website is paying for its self and is a benefit to the club.

This ended the old business and the current President called for nomination of officers for the upcoming year.

The following members were nominated for indicated positions: Board Member at Large - W. Wilken Secretary - L. Collett Treasurer - H. D. Smolens Vice President - J. Jones President - F. Ferrara

A motion to except nominations as read was made and seconded and approved by all members present.

The newly elected President, Frank Ferrara, thanked the out going President, J. Jones for all the worked that he had done as the president and opened the meeting up for discussion of new business.

A motion was made to appoint Margaret Jones as the Chairperson of the Mounted Shooting portion of the Gila Rangers. A motion was made to appoint her as an officer in this position and to appoint another Board Member at Large. After a discussion this was dropped and it was decided that this would be a chairpersons job. A motion was made to appoint Margaret as the Chairperson. This motion was seconded and approved by all members present.

W. Wilken was asked if he would accept appointment for another term as the Territorial Governor. Mr. Wilken accepted this appointment and was approved by all members present.

A motion was made to affiliate the mounted portion of the club with the ground portion. This motion was seconded and approved. Mr. Smolen, the Treasurer, was tasked with funding this affiliation and Mrs. Jones was tasked with getting the paperwork to SASS headquarters for approval.

A motion was made to task Jack Warner as the Publication Chairperson. This motion was seconded and approved.

A discuss was opened concerning annual dues and monthly shoot fees for the club. Mr. Ferrara, the newly elected president, after review of the financial statement, opened the floor for comment. All members present decided that annual dues and monthly shoot fees did not need to be raised due to the Gila Rangers hosting of the annual shoot, Victorio's Run, which brought in enough money to pay the non-discretionary payments, IE., insurance. A motion was made to leave the annual dues and monthly shoot fees at the present amounts. A motion was made to leave the annual dues and monthly shoot fees at the present amounts, $5.00 for members and $10.00 for non-members and the annual dues at $25.00 per individual, and $40.00 per family with children under 17 years of age. This motion was seconded and passed by all members present.

Mr. Wilken wants to complete the following tasks this year:
     1. Finish new campgrounds.
     2. Target replacement - All shotgun targets will be knock down for annual shoots and reactive for monthly shoots. Two new poppers are needed and the cowboy knock downs need to be fixed.
     3. Entrance to ranges need to be upgraded with a better sign and the walk ways from range to range need to be graded and some of the rocks removed.
     4. The fourth Saturday shoot is a fun shoot, no awards will be given and a one gun (pistol) class Tenderfoot will be established for those that don't have all the necessary equipment or for those that only want to shoot one pistol.

A discussion was opened concerning Junior/Miss shoots. The club has started to attract junior/miss shooters. After much discussion a motion was made that junior/miss shooters will be required to have a parent/guardian present anytime that they are shooting. The club will not become a baby sitting facility. A motion was made to accept this provision. It as seconded and passed.

A discussion on membership fees for family and junior/miss shooters was opened. After a discussion it was determined that families with shooters younger than 17 years old would only be charged the sponsor and spouse rate and that junior/miss shooters would be give free membership until they reach 17 years old. The family fee was set at $40.00 and junior/miss shooters will be charge a range fee of $3.00. A motion was made, seconded and passed by all members.

It was further discussed that junior/miss shooters would all be placed in the same posse so as to not hold up those more experienced shooters who are coming in from out of town. A posse of volunteer adults will accompany the junior/miss shooters for safety and training of our younger shooters.

A discussion was opened concerning obtaining a semi-permanent building for the range for storage and a scoring house. Several members were tasked to look in to this and were given a price range of between $1,300.00 and $2,000.00. It can either be a office type trailer or a site built building. It was decided that we would try to obtain and have in place by March of 2004 in time for the state shoot. A motion was made to approve this discussion and time frame and was seconded and approved.

Mr. Jones opened a discussion on public performances performed by members of the Gila Rangers. The following is a list of the public performance:
     a. Rodeo Parade, Gough Park - May
     b. 4th of July, Gough Park - July 4th Weekend
     c. Hillsboro Apple Feasible Labor Day Weekend - September
     d. Ft Bayard Days - September
     e. Grant County Fair, Cliff - End of September
     f. Pinos Altos Octoberfest - October

Anyone interested in helping or performing please let us know and exact dates will be given. Dates and places will also be on the website members news page. This discussion was for information only.

The upcoming Christmas Party was discussed as to date/time and place. To get the most members to attended it was discussed that the X-mas party should be held after a shoot. December 13th date was choosen and a location is yet to be determined. A motion was made to accept this date, seconded and passed with a location to be determined at a later date.

Mr. Ferrara opened a discussion concerning the yearly club meeting as required by the by-laws of the Gila Rangers. In order to get more members involved and present at the meeting it was suggested that yearly club meetings be held after a monthly shoot and before the start of the next Fiscal Year. It was determined that the year meeting could be held after the fourth Saturday shoot in the month of June to elect new officers and discuss other club business. It was further discussed that dues for the coming year will have to be paid no later than June 20th for those wanting to vote and have a say in club business. A motion was made to accept this discussion and was seconded and passed by all members present.

A discussion was started about the annual shoots. It was decided that the Geronimo Trail Team Shoot would always be held on the third (3d) weekend of October and that Victorio's Run NM State Championship would always be on the last weekend in March. This is being done so that we may obtain has much club participation as possible in hosting these shoots. A motion was made to accept these dates. Motion was seconded and passed by all members present.

Mr. Ferrara tasked all the newly elected officers with coming up with a budget for this Fiscal Year and presenting it to the Treasurer no later than September 10th, 2004.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm. This motion was seconded and passed. Meeting adjourned.

These minutes have been read and approved by all the club officers.
               President - Frank Ferrara
               Vice-President - Jim Jones
               Secretary - Loren Collett
               Treasurer - H. Dana Smolens
               Board Member at Large - Bill Wilken