Buena Vista Sportsman’s Club Monthly Meeting Minutes – October 1st, 2025

Officers’ Present: Jim DePetro (President), Art Grover (Vice President), Kristin Huston (Treasurer), Rex Roberson (Secretary) 
Officers Absent: Doug Dreier (Exec Officer)

Members Present: Mark Bennett, Jake Farber, Mitch Williams, Greg Newton, Preston Ellis, Joe Devenney, Paul Cox, Patrick Quigley

New Members & Visitors Present: Ted Osowski (new member), Jeremy Ward (new member), John Wilson & Paul Majewski (guests from Leadville Rod & Gun Club)

Meeting Called to Order: 7:00
Pledge of Allegiance
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Minutes approved

Treasurer’s Report: Approved

  • Total Cash Assets: $52,644.22

  • Total Inventory: $8,321.00

  • Sept Income: $4,889.82

  • Sept Expenses: $6125.53

  • Sept Net Income: -$1,235.71

  • YTD Income: $64,282.07

  • YTD Expenses: $61,622.57

  • YTD   Net Income: $2,659.50

Membership Report

  • Total Members: 236

  • New Members Reviewed and Approved: Craig Kinder, Jeremy & Kate Ward, Rebecca Hinds, Raymond Penhall, Ted Osowski

  • Introduction of the 2026 Member Information Insert – Draft of insert that will be included with the 2026 membership cards.

  • Membership Definition – Quick discussion on what it means to be a member of the club. Do we want members to just pay a fee to have access to the ranges or are we looking to build more of a community. The board will be meeting in November to discuss this and other issues further.

Trap Report

  • Upcoming Trap Shoots

    • October 4th – Clearview church would like to host a trap shoot with 10 shooters. Preston will be hosting.

    • October 11th – Private trap shoot with 5 shooters and shotgun rentals. Jake Farber will be the host.

      • This will be our first NSSF First Shots event.

  • New Patterning Board at Trap Range

    • We have a new patterning board at the trap range. It is located to the East of trap 4. Directions are forthcoming on its use.

  •  Weekly Trap shoot start time – Will be changed to an 11am start time in November.

 Youth Trap Report

  • Season has started. Prelims were last week. Team is already doing very well.

 Rifle Report

  • New steel targets have been installed on the rifle range.

    • Centerfire targets (painted red or orange) - 4” @ 100 yards, 5” @ 150 & 185 yards, 6” @ 200 yards, 8” @ 210 yards, and 10” @ 230 yards.

      • Please don’t shoot these targets with anything larger than a .30 caliber or 7.62 rounds

    • Rimfire targets (painted green) – 1” & 2” @ 50 yards, 1”, 2” & 3” @ 75 & 100 yards

      • These are located on the right edge of the range

      • Only shoot these with 22LR or 17HMR

  •  Range Closed / People Downrange Signage – We will be getting a sign made on a sandwich board that will be placed on the rifle range when people are downrange.

 Rimfire Report

  • Recent shoot attendance: September 7th – 6 shooters, September 21st –  6 shooters

  • Next shoot is Sunday, Oct 5th. Sight in at 8am, and the match starts at 9am.

  • Interested shooters can join email list by emailing Mitch Williams at: bvrimfire@yahoo.com

Pistol Report

  • New steel targets have been installed on the pistol range. These targets are painted blue and green.

    • 6 plate dueling tree – is setup for both 22LR and centerfire pistol rounds

    • 5 plate gong rack

    • Bases have been built for the dueling tree & existing plate rack

    • DO NOT SHOOT THIS STEEL WITH RIFLES

    • This is for handguns only. 22LR - .45 ACP

Old Business

  •  Grant Update:

    • The club has been awarded the grant to rebuild trap house 3. Jake and Erik are looking into the purchase of a premade fiberglass structure that will be used instead of concrete. Once this has been purchased we will remove the thrower from trap 3, demo the existing structure, place the new structure and reinstall the trap thrower.

      • To satisfy the grant funding requirements we will be looking for a large number of volunteers to help with this effort. Please be prepared to help when called upon.  

    • To ensure eligibility for future grants, we need to increase and show public engagement through events like ATA shoots, youth programs, and open competitions.

      • Rex is working to get the weekly trap shoots listed in the Chaffee County Times and Mountain Mail events section.

  • Clubhouse   Porch Covering:

    • Updated estimate: $1,100–$1,300

    • Motion approved (11–0), pending city approval (required by lease).

    • Status as of 8/6: No progress reported.

    • Rex and Jake will be meeting with Brian Berger from the city to discuss this.

  • 5-Stand   Enclosures:

    • Proposal to build 6 enclosures for 5-stand machines.

    • Cost: ~$900 each / $5,400 total

    • Design: Cement pad + steel lockable cover, forklift   movable

    • Motion passed unanimously to proceed.

    • Purpose: Expand club use and add additional disciplines, especially for youth shooters.

    • Jake is doing some last due diligence to ensure we have the best design we can.

    • Jake and Erik have found a source for prebuilt enclosures. They are getting pricing and availability.  

  • Trap Field Expansion:

    • Plot plans of trap field confirm space for additional trap/skeet fields.

    • We will need an updated lease with longer / irrevocable terms to justify expense of expansion. 

    • Contact Jake Farber if interested. 970-471-2369

    • Jake presented the proposal to the Board of Trustees and is waiting for a follow up meeting.

    • It has also been highly recommended by a couple of board of trustees members that BVSC tries to get representation onto the Buena Vista Recreation Advisory Board to represent BVSC’s interests. https://buenavistaco.gov/2153/Recreation-Advisory-Board

  • Friends of the NRA Banquet

    • Has been postponed

    • New date TBD

 New Business

  • Absentee Ballot

    • Greg Newton made a motion to reintroduce a proposed bylaw change allowing absentee ballots for the annual board election. The request had been rewritten to address concerns that led to its failure when first introduced in May 2025. He noted that nothing in the current bylaws requires waiting a year before reintroducing a failed request.

    • Long-time members Art Grover, Preston Ellis, and Brad Kavanagh stated that while this is not written into the bylaws, the matter was addressed and voted on in the 2016 timeframe to prevent the same issue from being repeatedly brought forward after failing.

    • After discussion, it was decided that club tradition would be followed and the revised absentee ballot request will be brought to the membership next year.

    • It was further decided that draft language will be prepared to add a stipulation to the bylaws specifying how often a failed bylaw change may be reintroduced. This proposed change will be presented at the November 2025 meeting and, with the support of attending members, will be put to vote at the December 2025 and January 2026 meetings.

  •  Turkey Shoot

    • Our yearly Turkey Shoot will be held on Nov 22nd  at the Trap range for our Shotgun games and Nov 23rd at the Rifle / Pistol range for our Rifle / Pistol games.  

    • 13 different games will be available to shoot to win a prize. Each game has a $3 buy in.

  •  Leadville Gun Club Visitors

    • John Wilson, Secretary, and Paul Majewski, Board Member, came as guests of Jake Farber. They wanted to check out one of our meetings and to introduce themselves. At the end of the meeting, they said they felt like they were attending a larger version of their club meeting and that it sounds like we have a lot of the same challenges that they have. They are very interested in working together on events. Rex and Jake will continue to have conversations regarding where we may be able to join forces.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:35ish

Rex Roberson - BVSC Secretary