New Members

On 1/2/06, by a vote of 13 to 0, the active Club members approved the following:

Change the Bylaws Section IV. Officers (sub-section B) states that the Club President is.

From:

10. Responsible to ensure that votes on Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, or Fiscal Year Budget from active Club members take place and the results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members. An attempt must be made to obtain votes from all active Club members via e-mail and mail or phone proxy (for active members who do not have an e-mail address). All active Club members will be given an opportunity to ponder and discuss a proposed vote for a minimum of one week before the vote is scheduled to be held. Discussions can be held by e-mail, mail, or phone. All active Club members must be given, at a minimum, one week to respond to all votes. Any proposal approved by a majority vote of the active Club members shall constitute as an official action of the Club. If there is not a majority vote a runoff vote must be held using the same procedure as above, except without the discussion period. If there are multiple options in a vote, and a runoff must be held, the options that statistically cannot win will be eliminated from the ballot. The Club officers can, in situations where it is impossible to obtain an immediate response from the members, make Executive Decisions. Examples include, but are not limited, to: canceling or rescheduling an event due to projected lack of game, bad weather, or a scheduling conflict and changing the location of an event for the same reasons. The Club President must attempt to obtain votes from all current Club officers as soon as possible in order to make an Executive Decision. Any Executive Decision can later be overturned by a majority vote of the active Club members (an active Club member would have to propose a full vote on the Executive Decision).

To:

10. Responsible to ensure that votes on the Annual Calendar of Events and Annual Fiscal Year Budget take place, and the results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members. An attempt must be made to obtain votes from all active Club members via e-mail and mail or phone proxy (for active Club members who do not have an e-mail address). All active Club members will be given an opportunity to ponder and discuss a proposed vote for a minimum of one week before the vote is scheduled to be held. Discussions can be held by e-mail, mail, or phone. All active Club members must be given, at a minimum, one week to respond to all votes. Any proposal approved by a majority vote of the active Club members shall constitute as an official action of the Club. If there is not a majority vote a runoff vote must be held using the same procedure as above, except without the discussion period. If there are multiple options in a vote, and a runoff must be held, the options that statistically cannot win will be eliminated from the ballot. The Club officers can, in situations where it is impossible to obtain an immediate response from the members, make Executive Decisions. The Club officers can, in situations where it is impossible, due to time constraints, to hold a minimum one week discussion of the active Club members followed by a one week vote of the active Club members, make Executive Decisions (officer only votes). Examples include, but are not limited, to: canceling or changing the location of an event due to projected lack of game, bad weather, etc. and adding an event to the Annual Calendar of Events. Executive Decisions can also be made to amend the date of an event (without having to get the change approved by the active Club members). The Club President must attempt to obtain votes from all current Club officers as soon as possible in order to make an Executive Decision. Any Executive Decision can later be overturned by a majority vote of the active Club members (an active Club member would have to propose a full vote on the Executive Decision).

11. Responsible to ensure that addition proposals to the Annual Calendar of Events and amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Events, and Annual Fiscal Year Budget from active Club members take place, using the procedure from #10, and the results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members.

In a nutshell what this does is continues active Club member approval of the Annual Calendar of events and additions to the Annual Calendar of events prior to implementation, as we have always done but allows the Club officers to make decisions to change the date of an event without having to go through our usual procedure (one week discussion of the active Club members followed by a one week vote). This will benefit the active Club members by a reduction of e-mail discussions and votes.

For example the 12/17/05 delivery of contributions to Operation Orphans event was rescheduled for 12/26/05. Our Bylaws required a one week discussion of the active Club members followed by a one week vote. Rather then have a discussion to change the date, then a vote, then have to have another discussion and then another vote (since we couldn't get in touch with them until the 27th) it would be administratively easier is such cases to let the officers make these types of decisions (date changes on events that have already been approved). It is not necessary to bother the active Club members over such a small matter.

The number one complaint that I receive from active Club members is that I send out too many e-mails. By allowing the officers to handle changing the dates of events that have been already approved by the active Club members, e-mails will be reduced (with the exception of the officers).

On 1/10/06, by a vote of 8 to 1, the active Club members approved for the October through March Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoots to start at 9:00 AM and the May through August Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoots to start at 7:30 AM (we don't shoot at Capitol City in April or September).

On 1/24/06 the active Club members approved the following changes to the bylaws (additions/changes are in red):

The following change was approved by a vote of 10 - 1.

Proposal 1

Section III Membership, Sub Section L was changed to:

Married male Club member's wives and female relatives and single male Club member's female relatives can participate in all Club outings with their male sponsor. Single male Club member's girl friends (and single female Club member's boy friends) can participate in all Club day events with their male Club member/sponsor. For events that involve overnight camping, stays at motels, sleeping in bunk houses, etc., single male Club member's girl friends must be sponsored by a female Club member, who they will share quarters with and single female Club member's boy friends must be sponsored by a male Club member, who they will share quarters with. In all cases single couples must sleep in separate quarters. Single women who are not related to a male Club member or women who are married but their husband's are not Club member's can participate in FCS day events but cannot participate in events that involve overnight camping, stays at motels, sleeping in bunk houses, etc. Female members and guests must be escorted at FCS events by a male sponsor who they are related to or are friends with.

On 4/12/01, when the original Section III Membership, Sub Section L Bylaw was approved we stated that "Club members wives, girl friends, and female relatives can participate in all Club outings." However, we did not address the issue of sleeping arrangements for "girl friends" at "all Club outings." The above adds the protection of a female sponsor for the girl friends of single male Club member's and a male sponsor for the boy friends of single female Club member's.

The following change was approved by a vote of 11 - 0.

Proposal 2

Section III Membership, Sub Section L, Sentence 2 was changed to:

Single women who are not related to a male Club member or women who are married but their husbands are not Club members can participate in all Club events but cannot participate in events that involve overnight camping, stays at motels, sleeping in bunk houses, etc. unless they have at least a son or daughter with them who is interested in learning how to hunt, shoot, or fish and they are sponsored by a female Club member, who they will share quarters with.

The above replaces the same sentence from Proposal 1.

This addressed the issue of single women who are not related to male members or women who are married but their husband's are not Club members) spending the night at FCS events that involve overnight stays. They can only do this if they meet three criteria. They must have a son or daughter with them who wants to learn how to hunt, shoot, and camp; they must have a female Club member as a sponsor; and they must share quarters with her. Again on 4/12/01 (and since that time) we have not addressed the issue of what to do if a single woman requests to go to a Club event(s) that involved overnight camping. This did not become an issue until 10/22/05 when a single mother made that exact request of us. This allows us to mentor the fatherless (which sometimes means that their mothers want to tag along).

On 1/24/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved changing the February Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoots from 2/4/06 to 2/11/06. Joe Schram and the Shooter's Fellowship will not be able to make the original date. We moved it to accommodate them. This event had already been approved by the active Club members.

On 1/26/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved adding a 2/4/06 CHL Class to the 2006 Calendar. We picked up our second commitment on 1/26/06 and decided to have a class (Troy Cooley had already organized it). We did not have time for a one week discussion followed by a one week vote, as per our Bylaws, therefore, the officers made an Executive Decision.

On 2/10/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved changing the date of the February Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot from 2/11/06 to 2/25/06. Several regulars were not going to be able to attend on 2/11/06. Add that with the cold weather and gusty wind and we would probably have had a poor turnout. This event had already been approved by the active Club members.

On 2/22/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved changing the date of the March FCS Classic (Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot and cook out) from 3/25/06 to 3/18/06. We will have a Hog Hunt on 3/25/06 (thanks to Mr. Charlie Batts). We decided to move the FCS Classic so that the two events don't conflict. This event had already been approved by the active Club members.

On 3/5/06, by a vote of 11 to 0, the active Club members approved adding a 3/10/06 - 3/12/06 Hog Hunt and a 3/24/06 - 3/26/06 Hog Hunt to the 2006 Calendar.

On 3/16/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved changing the date of the FCS Classic (Clay Target Shoot and cook out) from 3/18/06 to 4/1/06 due to the fact that there is a 60% chance of rain on 3/18/06. This event had already been approved by the active Club members.

On 3/23/06, by a vote of 6 to 0, the active Club members approved adding the Annual Llano Crawfish Open to the 2006 Calendar.

On 3/26/06, a poll was taken of dual FCS/Great Hills Baptist Church members to ascertain interest in an FCS/Sportsmen's Sunday School Class. Five members expressed interest in such a class. We are currently looking for a teacher.

On 3/28/06, by a vote of 4 to 0, the Club officers approved adding a 4/7/06 - 4/8/06 24 Hour Sporting Clays Shoot to the 2006 Club Calendar. Some members could not make the 4/21/06 - 4/22/06 24 Hour Sporting Clays Shoot so we decided to offer two shoots. We did not have time for a one week discussion followed by a one week vote, as per our Bylaws, therefore, the officers made an Executive Decision.

Votes and Polls (during the first quarter of 2006)