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Springfield Crappie Club Meeting Minutes
Sunday January 21, 2024, 1:00 PM
KC Lake Club
141 N. Lakewood Dr.
Chatham, IL 62629
President Brian Cuffle called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm.
Brian Cuffle thanked outgoing board President Kenny Barlow; Vice President Ken Kuchar; Tournament Director Rick Montooth; Treasure Rosetta Shinn and Secretary Steve Mozley for their service to our Club and the difference they made.
Brian Cuffle invited Kenny Barlow to have the previous board give their reports covering the end of their term.
Kenny Barlow welcomed the members and encouraged members to get along, work together, support each other and make it a good year.
Immediate past and newly re-elected Secretary Steve Mozley provided copies of the minutes from the August 6,
2023, club meeting.
Moved by Brian Cuffle to approve the August 6, 2023, meeting minutes. Seconded by Rick Montooth. Motion
passed.
Immediate past Vice-President Ken Kuchar was not available for the meeting.
Immediate past Tournament Director Rick Montooth reported the following:
Rick Montooth provided a handout titled: Stats for Angler of the Year: Best Four Club Tournaments.
Brian Cleland was congratulated as Big Fish winner for the year with a crappie weighing 1.68 lbs. from Lake Decatur.
Arick Clark was congratulated as club Angler of the Year with a total crappie weight of 23.67 lbs. based on his best four club tournaments. Brian Bently was a close second with 23.02 lbs.
Rick Montooth said there was a glitch in the Angler of the Year jacket order, but Arick Clark should be presented
with his jacket soon.
Rick Montooth reported our club still owes O’Reilly’s for club plaques made in 2023. Rick has tried to reach our
point of contact several times.
Immediate past Treasurer Rosetta Shinn reported club account balances as of January 14, 2024, as follows:
Heartland Credit Union Checking: $1,120.46
Heartland Credit Union Savings: $3,600.49
Total Checking and Savings: $4,720.95
President Brian Cuffle thanked the immediate past board for their work and the difference they made.
Tournament Director Arick Clark reported the following:
Our club was able to reserve all the members’ first choice lakes and none of the backup dates were needed. The
availability of all the first-choice dates was likely due to switching the tournament dates to Sunday while other
clubs often have their tournaments on Saturday.
For the two-day Mark Twain tournament, we’re planning a fish fry like the old days instead of having South Fork
Resort (Stoutsville, MO.) prepare a meal for us. Kenny Barlow said he’s willing to pull the club trailer there and
back and host the fry at his home. Jeff Cowell said he’s willing to donate propane and has a fish cooker we can
borrow.
Arick Clark said the Bash is scheduled for Lake Decatur and if we don’t get a good turnout, we’ll recommend
returning the Bash to Lake Shelbyville. Rick Montooth asked if the Bash winner will receive $1000 like last year.
Kenny Barlow added that if we receive a minimum of 20 boats then $1000 to the winner.
Moved by Brian Cuffle that the entry fee for the Bash be $100 per boat with $1000 to the winner. Kenny Barlow
amended the motion to add $20 per boat for the Big Fish pot, bringing the total to $120 per boat to enter.
Seconded by Carlo Catalano. Motion passed.
Kenny Barlow moved to raise the Youth Fishing Initiative age limit from 12 years of age to 15. Amendments
followed to exclude the Youth Fishing Initiative from the Classic. Nonmember youths can win big fish for the
tournament being fished, but not Big Fish or Angler of the Year for the year. Seconded by Andrea Smith. Motion
passed.
Other details of the Youth Fishing Initiative were reviewed as follows:
A non-member youth’s catch can count towards the boat’s best 7 fish.
A non-member youth can win big fish of the tournament, but not Big Fish of the Year.
A non-member youth can’t win Angler of the Year.
Number of poles in the water is limited to the amount allowed by the lake regulations for two anglers.
Moved by Rosetta Shinn to set up a committee to develop a youth crappie fishing tournament. Seconded by Arick Clark. Motion Passed
Moved by Kenny Barlow to pay webmaster Bob Hayes $50.00 for time spent on our web and Facebook pages that exceeded the time allocated in the contract. Rosetta Shinn seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Discussion followed that the web and FB pages are current and up to date with officers and tournament dates and look good. Arick Clark said he and the Board are going to take over the FB page so we can post more content.
Moved by Kenny Barlow to pay Webmaster Bob Hayes $350 to maintain our web page for 2024. Carlo Catalano
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Steve Mozley reviewed the 23 potential 2024 sponsors the club is reaching out to and asked if anyone else had any sponsor suggestions. Carlo Catalano suggested Academy Sports and offered to follow-up with them. Steve also reported we have already received 2024 sponsors endorsements from B&B Electric and Hank’s Marine thanks to the relationships Brian Bently and Carlo Catalano have with them respectively.
Brian Cuffle asked if anyone has a location where we can park the club utility trailer. Brian said his son in law at
MBC Collision (Center Inc). has offered their location in exchange for club advertising. Brian said the trailer would be readily accessible at that location. Brian asked that anyone taking the trailer first go into the office and give them a courtesy heads up that the trailer is being removed.
Moved by Kenny Barlow to give the KC Hall a gift of $50 for allowing us to use their facility. Rosetta Shinn seconded the motion. Motion passed.
A round of applause followed thanking the KC Hall volunteers for frying the fish and allowing us to use their facility.
Brian Cuffle asked the membership for a preauthorized spending limit so the Board can make reasonable purchases without prior approval.
Moved by Carlo Catalano to approve the Board for a $300 preauthorized limit. Jim Tintori seconded the motion.
Motion passed.
Steve Mozley distributed information outlining the status of Pro Tournament Scales (PTS) servicing of our (2017) H-2 series professional tournament scale. PTS determined that our scale needs a new logic board and battery, and our digital display needs a new battery too. Steve discussed the random irregular weight readings at the last two tournaments and the digital display going blank immediately after a weigh in even though the battery in the display had been fully charged the night before. Members discussed the three options PTS’ offered. Option 1: discount the serving of our H 2 series scale from $782.99 to $435.00 for a new scale logic board and new battery and new battery in the digital display. PTS’ offer to discount the cost was due to the repairs being completed without our prior knowledge or authorization. Parts for our H-2 series scale are still readily available. Option 2: A new CS-19 professional tournament scale and case with legacy board so the scale will wirelessly sink to our digital display. The CS-19 is the next generation of pro tournament scales with the H-2 series being discontinued. A new battery and case (possibly used) for our digital display. Cost $659.00 plus trade in our H2 series scale and case for a $900 trade in allowance. Option 3: Receive our H 2 series scale back in the same condition it was in when we sent it in for
servicing.
Brian Cuffle asked the club to vote on the 3 options beginning with option 3. No votes were received to get our H 2 series scale back in the same condition as when it was sent in for repairs. Brian then asked the club to vote on the two remaining options. Members voted: Option 1 purchase the new CS 19 scale (10 votes) or option 2 complete the service and repairs of our H 2 series scale (6 votes). The club will purchase the new CS 19 scale as described in option 1.
Steve Mozley reviewed the “Protests” portion of club rules and regulations for open tournaments. Currently the
rules state: Protests must be filed in writing with the tournament committee within 30 minutes of the conclusion
of the weigh-in. Steve explained that 30 minutes after weigh-in is too long and that by that time fish may no longer be available and checks may have already been written and distributed. Members agreed that a protest must be filed in writing before the scale closes.
Moved by David Amerson to adjourn the meeting. Carlo Catalano second the motion. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted Sunday August 25, 2024, by Secretary Steve Mozley
Minutes Approved by Springfield Crappie Club Membership Vote at August 25, 2024 Meeting