Meeting was called to order by Frank Ferrara.

Officers present:

• President: F. Ferrara

• Vice President: J. Jones

• Secretary L. Collett

• Treasurer H. D. Smolens

• Board Member At Large/TG: L. Collett

• Members present: 9

Discussions:

The proposal to raise dues was discussed, and it was decided that dues can stay at the current yearly cost of $25.00 per individual/$40.00 per family. Members desiring to help out at work days at the range can earn up to five (5) coupons valued as admission for one (1) regular monthly shoot.

A motion was made to adopt this proposal, seconded and was passed by a majority of members present.

The proposal to subsidize the Territorial Governor's expenses to attend the SASS Convention and TG meetings in Las Vegas was discussed. At the Annual Meeting each year it will be determined if the club has funds to send the TG to the TG Meeting in Las Vegas. If it is determined that funds are available, up to $500.00 will be issued to the current TG in September so that they can register for the TG Meetings and Convention. No receipts or other paperwork is required for expenditure of these funds.

A motion was made to adopt this proposal, seconded and was passed by a majority of members present.

The proposal to raise shooting fees for non-members and non-SASS members was tabled.

A proposal to have each member of the Club, qualified to a minimum of Range Officer I, was discussed. It was deemed a good idea for even non-SASS members to receive this training. This is a volunteer training at each members own expense. It was expressed that this training would make each and every shooter knowledgeable of rules not contained in the shooter hand book and a safer shooter.

Motion was made to adopt this proposal, seconded and was passed by a majority of member present.

F. Ferrara called for the current officers to declare if they were running for office again and if there was any nominations for offices by other members present.

All officers stated that they were running again, except the Secretary, L. Collett. Since L. Collett was appointed for a two year term as TG, which is also the 5th member of the Governing Board it was determine that Collett could not hold both offices at the same time.

Starting the nominations for:

• Treasurer - H. D. Smolens declared that he would run again. Smolens accepted the nomination.

• Secretary - S. Pack was nominated in proxy vote, declared that she would accept the office of Secretary.

• Vice President - J. Jones declared that he would run again. Jones accepted the nomination.

• President - F. Ferrara declared that he would run again. Ferrara accepted the nomination.

• A motion was made to vote on the slate as nominated. Motion was seconded, a vote on the slate was taken and all those running for office were elected for FY 05.

D. Smolens, Treasurer, circulated a Profit/Loss statement for the previous fiscal year, and read and reported on the Budget for next fiscal year. A motion was made to accept the Budget as amended to fund the TG Conference, provided funds are available, and to note the funds set aside for a mechanical clay bird thrower

Motion was seconded and passed by a majority of members present.

A proposal was made for the club to supply badges. It was decided that each member will purchase their own badge through the club at whatever the cost to the club. M. Jones was appointed as Chairwoman of this committee to find and bring to the Board, a proposal for a club badge.

Motion was made to accept this proposal, seconded and passed by a majority of members present.

A proposal was made for the club to send a monthly newsletter to all members. A discussion followed. It could not be determined if we had a willing volunteer to perform such a task, or what was the policy and practice at other clubs.

The issue was Tabled for to gather further information.

A discussion was conducted on the subject of a Phone call list to advise members of upcoming work days and emergency or special situations. It was noted by F. Ferrara that all work days are scheduled for the Friday before the monthly shoot. Members are encouraged to participate by joining the work party for the day and/or camping at the range to shoot on Saturday morning. The phone calling procedure will be reviewed as a means of reminding members of special work needs and other emergency notifications. A phone tree will need to be developed and calling requirements be assigned.

The issue will be reviewed and implemented if feasible.

A proposal was made that incoming board members will have their dues waved for the year following their election. This will stand as the Club's gesture of appreciation for the Officers extra effort.

Motion was made to accept this proposal, seconded and passed by a majority of members present.

A motion was made to adjourn the annual meeting. Motion was seconded and passed by a majority of members present.

___________________________________ Loren D Collett Acting Secretary Gila Rangers Cowboy Action Club PO Box 663 Silver City, NM 88062

I would like to thank the Membership, especially those who attended our annual meeting after our July 10th shoot, for the vote of confidence on my re-election as the President of the Gila Rangers.

If you have not read the Gila Ranger's Annual Meeting minutes included in this mailing, you should do so now, as many of my comments are in reference or response to the issues mentioned at the annual meeting.

Those who were in attendance got to hear a success story about a small club barely able to pay their annual insurance with money donated by sponsors. From a Club that borrowed and built to today's 5 year old Gila Rangers that, at the time of this meeting, had over $20,000 in assets on the range, and over $1,800 in disposable income.

Our Membership dues and Shooting fees are a very small portion of that success. They pay for our Liability Insurance and Fowler Range Use Fee. The annual shoots, Geronimo Trail, and especially Victorio's Run, are the primary funding sources that allow us to expand and improve our range without raising membership dues and fees.

As you may know, only a handful of local SASS clubs around the country have a permanent place to hold their shoots. And only a few of those can support a large shooting event. The ones that can, mostly do so because their Cowboy Action Club is actually part of a much larger Gun and Shooting sport club that may have hundreds of members supporting their range activities. We are truly fortunate in our blessings.

• I have attached a chart that outlines the ten (10) SASS Clubs in New Mexico that compares some of the membership items across several categories. But the following is how they generally compare to the Gila Rangers:

• Including us, only 4 clubs have permanent facilities. And two are part of much larger Sports clubs.

• Our Annual Dues and shooting fees are average for the State, and less than average for most areas of the country.

• Including us, only three clubs hold more than one Cowboy Action Shoot each month.

• Only three clubs hand out the day's shoot information to each shooter. None with a booklet like ours.

• Most clubs shoot 4 or 5 stages at their regular monthly match. Only we offer 6 stages.

• Two clubs have badges available (some offer a patch) for an additional fee beyond Membership dues.

• Most clubs have one Annual Membership meeting, and some have monthly Board meetings. Some clubs have no official meeting except before, after, or at shoots. Some clubs allow members to attend their monthly Board meetings as needed. Our Board actually holds two informal meetings a month. One is on a 'between shoot' Friday at Arby's in Silver City, the other is after the range work session on the Friday before each monthly shoot. Either on the range, or at the Cattle Guard Restaurant. These meetings are open to all members.

• No other club does regular public relations demonstrations to promote Cowboy Action Shooting.

The last general category was Club newsletter. 3 clubs have none at this time. 3 clubs circulate them monthly. We have a monthly 'Club News/Newsletter' page on our website. It is updated within days of our monthly shoots, and an e-Mail notification is sent out to remind people the news and scores are posted. We do not currently circulate our monthly newsletters. A Quarterly newsletter is generated and circulated by e-Mail to those who are connected, and mailed to those who are not. If a NM club produces a document, e-Mail is how they keep in touch. Regular Mail is used by some, and phone notification is a backup method of emergency notification at some clubs. And, in spite of the fact that we are not a large Multi-Sport club, we have, by any standards, the best Web Site of all the NM clubs. It is more comprehensive and contains more information than our peers. It is free to the club, and is updated on a extremely frequent basis with Shoot scores, general information, links, and photos, thanks to the generosity of our webmaster and TG, 'Precious'.

I would like to thank our past Officers and contributing members for all our successes this past year. And our incoming Officers and excited past and new members that have pledged their support for the events and year at hand. We are truly fortunate in our blessings. We have a Great range site, five permanent ranges to shoot on, targets too numerous to count, lots of props and facades, places to park, camp, picnic, hike, ride, relax and just have lots of fun. When you next think about what you get as a member of the Gila Rangers, I hope you think of our many blessings, and all you have at our Range for a truly great "Bang for the Buck".