2022 – FCS Meetings Reports

12/13/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), Including a Chicken Dinner and Devotional

Seven participants had a good time at the 12/13/22 FCS Meeting at Raul Pena’s home.  The meeting featured chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, crackers, salami, cheese, fruit spreads, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, popcorn, pecan pie bites, brownies, shortbread cookies, and an assortment of drinks.  Randy Rowley presented his devotional When the Rock Moved.

President’s Report

Membership – since our last meeting on 10/13/22 we had 1 person join the Club, six members renew their memberships, and six first-time guests.  We presently have 364 members, including 105 supporting members (who are current with their dues).

Events – since our last meeting on 10/13/22, we had 16 events with an attendance of 75 people, which is an average of 4.69 people per event.  We have 15 events planned from 10/14/22 until 3/2/23.  See our Calendar for details.

10/13/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), Including a Brisket Dinner and Devotional

10 participants had a good time at the 10/13/22 FCS Meeting at Bruce Crockett’s home.  The meeting featured brisket, sausage, beans, potato salad, chips and queso, and brownies.  Randy Rowley presented his devotional Walking on Water?  The group also watched ‘Takeaways with Kirk Cameron’ (defending Biblical archaeology).

7/21/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), Including a Steak Dinner and Training Presentation

Nine participants had a good time at the 7/21/22 FCS Meeting at Flint DeShazo’s home.  The meeting featured New York Strip steaks, corn-on-the-cob, red potatoes, baked potatoes (courtesy of the DeShazo’s) Texas toast, smoked trout (courtesy of Burl Fulenwider), cheese cubes and raspberry cream cheese with crackers appetizers (courtesy of the DeShazo’s), brownies, sweet and unsweet tea, and soft drinks.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Harden ret. NSWG-2, a Navy Comms specialist (who was required to go through medic training including “live tissue” training – i.e., they had to keep pigs that had been shot alive) made a training presentation on field medicine.  Among his accomplishments, Chris served with a SEAL team.  Chris shared his near-death experience of having his left ankle and foot hit by a 60mm mortar (complete with show and tell) and the experience of saving an operator’s (what SEALS are called) life who had stepped on an IED and sustained severe injuries.  Chris recommended the following for a field medicine kit:

• 2x-chest seals North American Rescue Genuine NAR HyFin Vent Compact Chest Seal Twin Pack.  See https://a.co/d/9GrVBqv
• 2x-zpak gauze Everlit [2 Pack] Z-Folded Compressed Sterile Gauze 4.5″ x 4.1 Yards, 6-Ply White Cotton, Essential First Aid and Stop The Bleed Kit Supply for Home, Medical, and Tactical Emergency Use (2).  See https://a.co/d/4uHvdWK
• 1x-nasopharyngeal airway Nasopharyngeal Airway (28 Fr., 9.3mm) with Surgilube.  See  https://a.co/d/5p3y2um
• 1x-trauma shear Ever Ready Titanium Bonded Bandage Shears 7 1/4″ Bent, Tactical Stealth Black.  See https://a.co/d/3IGPZqL
• 1x-pressure bandage MediTac Emergency High Strength Pressure Bandage Trauma Wound Dressing Hemostatic Control Bandage – 6 Inch.  See https://a.co/d/i5NZbsv
• 1x-tourniquet (sof or cat style)Tactical Medical Solutions SOF Tactical Tourniquet, 1.5” Compression Band for Bleeding Control – Black.  See  https://a.co/d/aHNEA6x
• 1x-combat gauze QuikClot Advanced Clotting Gauze – 3 x 24 in (2 Strips).  See  https://a.co/d/eMhg51W
• 1x-pouch/something to hold it all Orca Tactical MOLLE EMT Medical First Aid Utility Pouch (Bag Only) (Red).  See https://a.co/d/ec9WUeF

{Note that you won’t find the above in a first-aid kit at Academy or Walmart.}

The links are just examples; any brand should work.  If someone buys a kit, buy two so they can open one up and learn how the pieces work, don’t want to be trying to fix a buddy and learn how they work a kit at the same time.

Chris also recommended that people take a  STOP THE BLEED online course.

Several meeting attendees also shared near-death experiences.  If you’d like to read about Randy Rowley’s five near-death experiences, see Jehovah-Magan (God is our Shield), which is the last devotional in his new book Pursuing God’s Way: Meeting God In His Creation.  Randy also talked about the FCS Shooting, Hunting, and Fishing Rules (see Rules of Conduct) and why we have so many of them (many were added after hunters and fishermen did unwise things during FCS events).

6/7/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), including a Shrimp Boil and Devotional

Seven participants had a good time at the 6/7/22 FCS Meeting at Wayne Weilnau’s home.  The meeting featured an appetizer of sourdough bread, deer summer sausage, an assortment of cheeses, a shrimp boil (jumbo shrimp, sausage, corn-on-the-cob, red potatoes, and jalapeños), a cream-filled chocolate dessert, and sweet and unsweet tea.  Thanks to Wayne Weilnau for buying all the food and doing all the cooking.  Randy Rowley presented his devotional Sharing His Harvest.

President’s Report

Shrimp Boil Recipe by Randy Rowley

Usually, I buy the following (per person; and in order of popularity):

• 12 oz. jumbo or large (if you can’t get jumbo) shrimp
• 6 oz. beef sausage
• 2 mini-corn-on-the cob
• 2 – 4 red potatoes (depending on size)
• 2 jalapenos (some won’t eat them and others will want more than 2, but it should average out)

For the group (per cooker/pot):

• 8 lemons (cut in half and squeezed)
• 4 shrimp boil packages (Zatarain’s or Louisiana Fish Products)
• 2 large disposable aluminum foil pans
• 2 squeezable margarines (Parkay)
• 2 regular cocktail (red) sauces
• 2 spicy cocktail sauces

One thing I’ve noticed over the years, as the group has aged and our metabolisms have slowed down, is we don’t eat as much as we used to.  We often have leftovers at shrimp boils (that guys happily take home with them).  Still, I’d rather have too much than not enough.  Also, potatoes don’t seem to be as popular as they once were.  I’ve seen guys put mushrooms, onions, and okra in shrimp boils, but I’m not a fan of them.  It’s easy to overcook them and too many veggies distract from the star of the show.  If you get a shrimp boil at a restaurant they usually keep it simple and don’t put anything more than what I listed above.

I always cook the potatoes first, then the corn, then the sausage and jalapenos, and lastly the shrimp.  It doesn’t take shrimp long to cook if the water has a good boil – two minutes at most.  Many guys overcook it.  The secret is that it will keep cooking while it’s bunched up in the aluminum foil pans, so if it’s cooked until it’s well done, it will become tough and lose a lot of its taste.  I’ll pull a shrimp out of the cooking pot after around one minute.  If it peels easily and has a white color, it’s done.

4/7/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), including a Fajita Dinner and Training Presentation

Eight participants had a good time at the 4/7/22 FCS Meeting at Monalisa Almanza’s home.  The meeting featured steak fajitas, adobo chicken, grilled onions and peppers, homemade rice, refried beans, and brownies.  Thanks to Monalisa for donating the chicken and making the rice.  Randy Rowley, along with several members of the audience, made a training presentation on Great Hunting Gizmo’s.

President’s Report

Membership – since our last meeting on 2/10/22, we had one man join the Club and three first-time guests.  We presently have 89 supporting members.

Events – since our last meeting on 2/10/22, we had nine events with an attendance of 46 people, which is an average of 5.11 people per event.  We have seven events planned from 4/8/22 until our next meeting on 6/7/22.  See our Calendar for details.

3/7/22 FCS Officers Meeting

Seven officers attended the 3/7/22 Officers Meeting at Dos Salsas restaurant in Cedar Park.  The following items were discussed:

1.  2021 Past Events, Membership, and Finances Report (most include a comparison with the previous three – five years), and 2022 Upcoming Events Report

Randy Rowley presented the following:

PAST EVENTS

• Our attendance was 300 people, 38 more people (14.5%) than in 2020, and our 18th best.
• We had 52 events, eight fewer events (13.3%) than in 2020, tying our 11th best.
• We averaged 5.77 participants/event, 1.4 participants/event (32%) better than 2020, and our 32nd best. This is not a significant concern.  I took people on 18 events in my boat (12 Self-chartered Freshwater Fishing Trips, five Self-guided Inland Duck Hunts, and a Self-guided Inland Teal hunt).  As I can only fit four people in my boat, counting me, those trips (which amounted to 35% of our events) contributed to making our overall average low (averaging 2.89 people per event).  As did the four sporting clays tournaments we had, which averaged 2.75 people event.
• We had record attendance at a Guided Duck and Goose Hunt (3 participants on 1/22/20).
• Our Bay (Chartered and Self-chartered) Fishing Trip category attendance set a new record with 28 participants, and our Guided Duck and Goose Hunt category set the record with 3 participants.

Events Comparison

MEMBERSHIP

New Members Summary

Year               Number

2021              20

2020              9

2019              10

Membership Renewal Summary

Year               Number

2021              28

2020              25

2019              30

Supporting Members Summary

First Time Guests/Members Summary

FINANCES

This is for the Fiscal Year ending 8/31/21.  It includes the balances per category.  The prepaid trip was for lodging  for a Blast and Cast and was reimbursed.  We now require lodging and guide fees be paid in full.  Fees for lodging and most guides will be paid to the FCS account.   The lodges and guides will then be paid from the FCS PayPal account, which is linked to our checking account.

2.  2022 Events Calendar Report

We have 57 events planned for this year, including:

3.  Brainstorming session on our Annual Ministry Event.  What are the current local government’s restrictions on group gatherings?  How can we draw more members to get involved and give back and serve different demographic groups with different needs, such as partnering with other non-profit organizations and donating our time and resources to introduce more young kids to the outdoors, and help them develop skills and have a good time.  Should we serve a group something other than wild game, that they will enjoy and appreciate?

Randy presented the following:

From my research on governmental restrictions, I couldn’t find any current governmental restrictions on gatherings.  The current RESOLUTION AND ORDER OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT MANDATING CONTINUED COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITY ORDERS AND ADOPTING CRITERIA FOR DECLARING A PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE doesn’t mention any.  In addition, on 3/2/21, Governor Abbott issued Executive Order GA-34, lifting the mask mandate in Texas and increasing capacity of all businesses and facilities in the state to 100%.  The Order, which went into effect on 3/10/21, rescinded most of the Governor’s earlier executive orders related to COVID-19.  Businesses may still limit capacity or implement additional safety protocols at their own discretion.  See https://www.huschblackwell.com/texas-state-by-state-covid-19-guidance.

Regarding getting more people involved, we promote these events well, plea for volunteers, and state exactly what we need volunteers to do.  Two newbies at last year’s Ministry Event – Jim Miller and Tim Zyla were the grill masters.

Regarding trying to partner with other non-profit organizations and donating our time and resources to introduce more young kids to the outdoors, and help them develop skills and have a good time, we’ve done four sporting clays shoots with youth groups from Great Hills Baptist Church (27 participants), KOZ (Kids Outdoor Zone; 24 participants), First Baptist Church of Pflugerville (15 participants), and Great Hills Christian School (approximately 25 participants).  We paid for a round of sporting clays or two rounds of skeet for each kid and provided two boxes of shells, which made it one of our more expensive devourers of our ministry fund.  Also, the last time I sent out a plea, on 10/2/15, to the FSC members and guests for ideas on other groups to serve via a Youth Sporting Clays Shoot, we didn’t have any fruit born.  One member proposed his church’s youth group, but his church’s leadership wasn’t interested in sending their kids to participate (probably because we don’t have their name in our name – e.g., the AAA Church Hunting Club or similar).  Another member proposed two church youth groups, but when he took it to their respective leaderships it met obstacles (he didn’t specify, but it was probably the same obstacle we encountered at the first church I mentioned).  A guest proposed his kids’ boy scout troop, but I never could pin him down on a date and eventually gave up.

Regarding serving a group something other than wild game, that they will enjoy and appreciate, at last years Ministry Event we served the Northgate folks hamburgers and hot dogs in addition to wild game, as a large number of the 32 people who we served were kids.  The adults weren’t used to eating wild game either.  Many of the birds we cooked weren’t eaten.  However, the St. George’s Court folks have always gobbled up wild game.  Although, they probably won’t allow group events until Covid is no longer considered a pandemic, if then.  Also buying hamburger meat, hot dogs, etc. is expensive.  We spent in excess of $300 doing that last year.

Binh Chu proposed the following:

1. Look for opportunities to promote and implement additional ministry events/activities.

Wayne Weilnau proposed the following:

1. Give an incentive to those who participate in ministry events, such as first in line for Self-chartered Bay Fishing Trips.  

The officers agreed with these proposals and, for the purpose of this incentive, “participate” involves working before or at an event(s) and donating to the event (e.g., wild game and monetary).

Randy will begin highlighting other ministry opportunities in his weekly ENews.

4. Brainstorming session on our Annual FCS Family Banquet

One officer has graciously volunteered to fund the awards.  The awards will continue with possibly minor modifications.  The officer will also add up to two door prizes.

There was a proposal to begin having the Annual FCS Family Banquets earlier in the year.  The officers agreed with this proposal.

5.  Follow-up from last year’s meeting: 1. Implement an FCS Deer Lease and 2. Implement training classes using local gun trainers, fishing guides, boating trainers, and field medical trainers.

Randy presented the following:

Regarding implementing an FCS Deer Lease, 17 people expressed interest/responded to Steve Fusco’s poll.  Out of those, no one I’m aware of made any effort to find a Club lease – I was the only one who sent out group emails about leases I found on Facebook.  As I surmised last year, the leases I found were looking for eight or fewer spots to be filled.  I supplied a list of Facebook groups for people to join and websites for folks to look for leases.  Steve asked for volunteers to monitor those Facebook groups and websites and got none, the last time we dialogued about it.

Regarding implementing training classes, since last year’s (3/10/21) Officers Meeting we have had six training classes, including:

• 4/6/21 FCS Meeting and Training Presentation on Bass Lure Basics, by Randy Rowley
• 6/17/21 FCS Meeting and Training Presentation on Bay Lure Basics, by Kevin McConnell, Randy Rowley, Daryl Shipper, and Wayne Weilnau
• 8/5/21 FCS Meeting and Training Presentation on Deer/Hog Hunting Backpack Basics, by Darrel Barnette, Flint DeShazo, Ken Miller, and Randy Rowley
• 10/14/21 FCS Meeting and Deer Shot Placement Training Presentation, by Troy Fowler of Kifrau International
• 12/2/21 FCS Meeting and Duck Blind Bag Training Presentation, by Randy Rowley
• 2/10/22 FCS Meeting and Training Presentation on Choosing a Shotgun for Bird Hunting and Clay Shooting, by Randy Rowley

Also, on 7/16/21, Randy sent the following email as a follow-up to this agenda item on the 3/10/21 officers meeting:

BOAT SAFETY/NAVIGATIONAL TRIPS

Have a house and boat down in the Seadrift/Port O’Connor, and Rockport areas, and aren’t sure about how to run the bays and back marsh safely, or just want to learn more water and new areas?  Let us show you how to enjoy a safe day on the water with your friends and family, by taking your boat and showing you how to navigate the waters to and from your fishing hole.

2/10/22 FCS Meeting (Social Activity), including a Wild Game Dinner and Training Presentation