KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS - Ducks Unlimited · Kentucky is located in the Mississippi Flyway and provides...
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KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS In This Issue Neil’s Notes 1 Contacts 2 Featured Photo 2 State Facts 3 Conservation Corner 3 KY Photo Gallery 4-5 Cooking with Kenny 5 Upcoming Events 6 2013 State Convention 7 Thanks to Volunteers Major Donor 8-9 KY State Raffle 10-11 The Last Shot 12 Neil’s Notes A publication for Kentucky Ducks Unlimited volunteers January 2013, Vol. 6 - Issue 1 By this time, we have had our fill of festivities and feasting. Maybe even the couch and football are getting old. Would you like to get out and do something with your family? Try the sandhill crane viewing right here in one of our own state parks! The Kentucky Department of Parks says thousands of sandhill cranes stop at Barren River Lake State Resort Park each year, taking advantage of the lake’s exposed mud flats for a place to rest. Plenty of food for the cranes is available in the nearby farmland and wet meadows. This year, the park is offering a couple of weekend sessions to view the cranes. The Nature Watch Weekends are set for Jan. 25-27 and Feb. 8- 10. For more information, contact Jamie Avery at [email protected] or (800) 325-0057. The park is southwest of Glasgow, Kentucky. -Neil Riggs, Kentucky Ducks Unlimited State Chairman Sandhill cranes stand up to 4 feet tall with a wingspan of 6-7 feet.
Transcript of KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS - Ducks Unlimited · Kentucky is located in the Mississippi Flyway and provides...
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KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS
In This Issue
Neil’s Notes 1 Contacts 2
Featured Photo 2 State Facts 3
Conservation Corner 3
KY Photo Gallery 4-5 Cooking with Kenny 5 Upcoming Events 6 2013 State Convention 7 Thanks to Volunteers Major Donor 8-9 KY State Raffle 10-11 The Last Shot 12
Neil’s Notes
A publication for Kentucky Ducks Unlimited volunteers January 2013, Vol. 6 - Issue 1
By this time, we have had our fill
of festivities and feasting. Maybe
even the couch and football are
getting old. Would you like to get
out and do something with your
family? Try the sandhill crane
viewing right here in one
of our own state parks!
The Kentucky Department of Parks says thousands of sandhill
cranes stop at Barren River Lake State Resort Park each year,
taking advantage of the lake’s exposed mud flats for a place to
rest. Plenty of food for the cranes is available in the nearby
farmland and wet meadows. This year, the park is offering a
couple of weekend sessions to view the cranes.
The Nature Watch Weekends are set for Jan. 25-27 and Feb. 8-
10. For more information, contact Jamie Avery at
[email protected] or (800) 325-0057. The park is southwest
of Glasgow, Kentucky.
-Neil Riggs, Kentucky Ducks Unlimited State Chairman
Sandhill
cranes
stand up
to 4 feet
tall with a
wingspan
of 6-7 feet.
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Kentucky State Contacts
State Chairman
Neil Riggs
859-983-3714
Treasurer
Rich Risinger
West Region Chairman
Kenny Vaughn
East Region Chairman
Tom Tate
Greenwing Chairman
Bruce Conely
Major Donor Chairman
Dr. Brian K. Priddle
Volunteer Recruitment Chairman
Jeff Adams
State Raffle Chairman
Richard Fowler
State Youth Hunt Chairman
Paul Burton
FEATURED PHOTO
The Pond River Chapter celebrated Ducks Unlimited’s 75th
anniversary at the committee’s 31st annual dinner banquet on
Nov. 3. Committee members Barbara Chandler and Nicholas
Hope hold the anniversary cake while other members posed
before the cutting began. Thanks to all the members of the Pond
River Chapter for their 31 years of fundraising for Ducks
Unlimited! 75th anniversary cheers!
DID YOU KNOW?
A group of geese on the water is called a plump.
If the geese are airborne, they are called a skein.
And if the geese are on the ground, they are called a gaggle.
How many did you know?
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Conservation Corner
Kentucky is located in the Mississippi Flyway and provides important
habitat for waterfowl produced in the Prairie Pothole Region and Great
Lakes states. Kentucky has the potential to winter large numbers of
mallards, black ducks and wood ducks. Since 1988, Ducks Unlimited has
conserved more than 12,700 acres of waterfowl habitat in Kentucky. While
impressive, this represents less than 1 percent of the Commonwealth’s
original wetlands!
In 2011, DU and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
(KDFWR) continued our strong partnership to enhance and restore wetland
habitat on public lands to benefit waterfowl and Kentucky waterfowl
hunters! Public lands projects included installation of new water control
structures at Doug Travis, Lake Cumberland and Ballard wildlife
management areas. These new structures are critical for management of
more than 500 acres of moist-soil impoundments, providing high-quality
foraging habitat for waterfowl and opportunity for Commonwealth duck
hunters!
Regional Staff
North Regional Director
Joe Borders
West Sr. Regional Director
Ben Burnley
South Regional Director
Charlie Lowery
Regional Biologist
Mark Flaspohler
KY State Facts
Total Membership
8,680
Greenwings
780
Legacy Greenwings
116
Sponsor Members 995
Major Sponsors
153
2011 Grassroots Total
$503,926
Total Acres Conserved
11,647
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Neil has held several state leadership positions and is currently serving as the Kentucky
State Chairman.
An SBA easel & print at the Cambridge Mall
in Ontario, Canada. Contact your District
Chairman or RD to see how you can start an
SBA easel program for your committee to
earn extra income and a free gun!
Jerry Finley (left) received a Distinguished Service
Award at the Nov. 3 Pond River banquet from
Chairman Jerry Oates. Jerry organized the first Pond
River DU meeting and has been an active supporter
recruiting Sponsors and other donors for 31 years. In
addition, the committee presented Jerry an “Old
Coot” for his collection!
Dr. Dale Eckert of Versailles, KY, with a limit of
mallards and teal taken at Cache’n-In Duck Club
in Howell, AR, on Dec.7. Dr. Eckert is a DU Life
Sponsor and has been an Area Chairman for the
Woodford County Chapter for many years.
State Representative Brent Yonts (right) and wife, Jan,
received their Life Sponsor plaque from Sr. RD Ben Burnley at
the Pond River dinner on Nov. 3. Brent & Jan are great long-
term supporters of the DU mission!
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Veteran Ballard County committee member Jerry Cooper
(left) received a Conservation Service Award from Chairman
Chuck Bodell on Dec. 1. Jerry has been an active member
since the early days of the 35-year-old chapter. Jerry
routinely sells tickets, recruits Sponsors, assists with advertisements and works the door. A tip of our tail
feathers to Ballard County’s great friend of the ducks!
John Joplin shows
off a banded
green-winged teal
taken on Dec. 10
at Big DeView
Duck Club in
Howell, AR. John
is a longtime DU
volunteer and
serves on the Lake
Cumberland
Committee in
Somerset, KY.
Congratulations
John!
Cookin’ with Kenny Vaughn: Goose Poppers Guest Recipe by Richard Fowler
Ingredients:
2 goose breasts
Several banana or jalapeño peppers (fresh, not canned)
1 package of bacon
Toothpicks
Zesty Italian dressing
Directions:
Slice goose breasts across the grain about the thickness of your finger. Be on the lookout for steel
shot! Marinate the goose pieces in the Italian dressing for several hours or even overnight. Soak the
toothpicks as well. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise, removing all of the seeds. Slice the bacon in
half. Take one piece of goose and place in the middle of a pepper. Wrap one of the half slices of bacon
around the pepper and secure with a toothpick.
Grill over medium heat until the bacon is done, turning several times to keep it from burning. You can
always substitute duck, deer or beef round steak if you are out of geese. Goose poppers are great for
appetizers or just for anytime. Enjoy!
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Jim King [email protected]
Upcoming Kentucky Events
KY Greenwing Event – Camp Currie
Ballard County – January 4 & 5, 2013
Contact: Bruce Conely, 502-445-4994
McCracken County Sponsor – Paducah
January 17, 2013
Calloway County Misc. Event – Murray
January 18, 2013
Cave Run SNO – Morehead
February 2, 2013
Lake Cumberland Banquet – Somerset
February 9, 2013
Union County Banquet – Morganfield
February 16, 2013
Grayson County Banquet – Leitchfield
Audubon Sponsor Dinner – Henderson
February 23, 2013
South Licking Banquet – Cynthiana
Green River Banquet – Beaver Dam
Lake Barkley Banquet – LBSRP-Cadiz
March 2, 2013
Barren River Banquet – Bowling Green
March 7, 2013
McLean County Banquet – Calhoun
March 9, 2013
Bourbon Chapter Banquet – Bardstown
March 16, 2013
Kentucky State Convention - Frankfort
March 22-24, 2013
Bullitt County Banquet – Shepherdsville
March 30, 2013
For more information, go to
http://www.ducks.org/kentucky/events/
Caveland Banquet – Barren River SRP
May 3, 2013
Kentucky Ducks Unlimited still has a few areas without local chapters. If you know anyone in these areas who would be interested in participating in a local DU chapter, contact the regional director for that area or the state chairman.
For Ashland, Florence, Maysville,
Versailles, Winchester & Carrolton:
Contact Joe Borders
317-696-8726
For Williamsburg, Barbourville,
Middlesboro & Hazard
Contact Charlie Lowery
423-506-3407
For Scottsville & Hardinsburg
Contact Ben Burnley
270-823-3157
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Mark Your Calendars!
2013 Kentucky Ducks Unlimited State Convention
Capital Plaza Hotel, Frankfort, KY
March 22-24, 2013
The KYDU State Convention is coming to Frankfort, and this year’s convention will be sure to
please! We don’t want to give too much away, but there will be signature Kentucky items on
the auction block, plenty of bourbon, barbecue, horse racing and southern hospitality. Look for
convention details and registration information February edition of Kentucky Ducks Calls!
Thanks to our Volunteers!
Ducks Unlimited had a great fundraising year in FY12 (ended June 30, 2012) and made great strides in
the protection of vital habitat across North America (an additional 186,000 in the U.S. alone). In
addition to the increase in total revenue, we were able to operate at better than 83% efficiency,
which means your support went even further in FY12. DU’s external auditors, KPMG, wrapped up our
year-end audit last month and below are some of the official highlights:
Operating surplus of $5 million
Non-operating surplus of $7.2 million
Grassroots event support of $34.4 million reflected a 9% increase over budget and an 8%
increase over last year
Over $68 million in U.S. conservation support from public sources and over $29 million
from private sources (Major Gifts)
Over $119 million in conservation expenditures, conserving over 186,000 acres in the
United States alone
Program service efficiency ratio of 83.4%, including conservation easements
Adult and youth members over 610,000
Over 50 diamond events reflecting the successful 75th anniversary campaign.
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MAJOR DONOR ACTION PLAN 2012-13 By Dr. Brian K. Priddle
Kentucky Major Donor Chairman
GOALS FOR 2012-2013 = 10-4-2
Ten new Life Sponsors, four Major Sponsor upgrades and two
new Feather Society commitments.
EVENINGS OF CONSERVATION
The purpose of these events is to provide an opportunity to
gather Major Donor prospects and educate them on the Ducks Unlimited conservation
mission and opportunities for support. The focus is on DU’s international conservation plan,
regional and local focus areas, prior accomplishments and the importance of private
support. Emphasis is put on DU’s on-the-ground work to conserve critical wetland habitat.
The goals are to identify and cultivate new major gift prospects and to steward current
Major Donor prospects. Evenings of Conservation are designed as a first-contact cultivation
event separate from our traditional event system and there is no fundraising done at the
event (no auctions or raffles). The program is informational in nature and a means to engage
potential major gift supporters.
Make your commitment to SAVE THE BEST for Kentucky ducks. Contact Dr. Brian K. Priddle at
[email protected] to invest in the future of Kentucky ducks and save the prairie breeding
areas. It is a conservation fact that more money in the ground means more birds in the skies!
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Kentucky’s Top Four Ducks
Kentucky DU’s Major Donor goal for 2012-13 is 10 new Life Sponsors, 4 upgrades and 2 Feather Society members. Year to date we have had 7 new Life Sponsors, 3 upgrades and no new Feather Society members. Our goals are very much obtainable with your help. Please contact Dr. Brian Priddle at 606-271-1015 if you have any inquiries or need support with Major Donor activities in your area.
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Kentucky 2013 Statewide Gun Drawing
Hello fellow DU’ers. It’s almost time again for our Statewide Gun Drawing. We will
draw for prizes during the 2013 KYDU State Convention on March 23, 2013.
The State Convention will be held in Frankfort at the Capitol Plaza Hotel on March 22-24.
You do not have to be present to win, but come to the convention and have a great
weekend anyway! More information about the state convention will follow in the
February edition of Kentucky Duck Calls.
Tickets are $10 each and will be sold by individual chapters and their committee
members. Each ticket drawn will win a great prize, including a gun safe with a mystery
gift inside, plus eight special guns. Sounds like a great drawing to me! Any chapter that
sells 100 tickets or more will win an AR-style Tac. .22 cal. This rifle is to be used at their
event the following year.
To make sure each chapter gets proper credit for the tickets they have sold, the ticket
stubs need to have their chapter # written on the back of the stub. Mail all tickets to the
address below. As soon as you get a handful sold, just mail them to me. Please don’t
wait till the night of the dinner to give them all to me at once!
Good luck selling and buying the winning tickets. By the way, if your ticket is drawn, it
will be placed back in the hopper to give you another chance of winning! All prizes will
be awarded in order of their $ value. Call or email me with any questions you may have.
Thanks for everything you do to support Ducks Unlimited.
Richard Fowler
1812 Goggin Lane
Danville, KY 40422
859-516-1424
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The Last Shot
I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to the 400+ Ducks Unlimited volunteers here in the
state of Kentucky. As a fellow volunteer, I understand the effort it takes to put on a dinner
banquet or to try to pull off that second event to meet your goals for a state award. Each year
we seem to do whatever it takes to meet our fundraising goals to support the organization and
the cause we all love. We do it for many reasons; for me, it is about the opportunity to serve
the greatest conservation organization in the world and to make friends all across the
commonwealth while doing so.
Over my years as a volunteer, I’ve had the opportunity to support events from Ashland to
Paducah and Alexandria to London. It has truly been a life-changing experience as I’ve made so
many great friends all across our great state. There are many opportunities for volunteer
service here in Kentucky for DU volunteers. If you have an interest in doing more, I would ask
you to consider contacting your District Chairman, Regional Chairman or State Chairman and
vocalizing your interest. I’m sure it will be a positive and rewarding experience for you. In
closing, I would like to provide you a quote from past DU president John Tomke: “I came for the
cause, but I stayed for the people.”
Till next time…
Kevin Wright, Editor, Kentucky Duck Calls
Do you have an article, event summary or photo(s) you would like to see
in the Kentucky Duck Calls newsletter?
Whether you are a longtime DU volunteer or a first-time member, Kentucky Duck Calls
is YOUR Kentucky DU newsletter. For any aspiring writers and photographers, what
make Kentucky Duck Calls truly ours are stories and photos by Kentucky DU members.
Please take the time to send me a story or photos of your events, members,
conservation projects, Greenwing activities, trips or whatever you feel is important to
share.
It is my goal to provide articles relating to national and local conservation news,
events, outdoor adventures, hunting, regulations and much more. With your help, we
can make Kentucky Duck Calls a publication we all look forward to reading. Please
submit your items for publication to [email protected].
