Illinois Ducks Unlimited Right Here, Right Now

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Illinois Ducks Unlimited Right Here, Right Now Ill Editor: Bill Sarafin LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

Convention in Milwaukee last month! With over 100 attendees from Illinois, we were 2 nd only to Wisconsin in attendance.

ULINE (Friday) and Caterpillar (Saturday) stepped up in a big way sponsoring events on each day. And the Night at the Harley Museum was absolutely awesome!

leadership positions at DU, Inc.. John Newman, Chairman of the Board, bid farewell and passed the gavel to our new Chairman George Dunklin, Jr.

. We thank John for his outstanding service to DU as Chairman and welcome both George and Paul to their new leadership positions within DU!

A true testament to the great volunteers, members, major donors, and staff we have working for waterfowl and wetland conservation at events throughout our

1 Illinois Ducks Unlimited Right Here, Right Now Ill Editor: Bill Sarafin LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! June 2015 In This Issue Firearm Frenzy 2 A Word From Our Chairman It was great to see many of our volunteers, members, and major donors at the National Convention in Milwaukee last month! With over 100 attendees from Illinois, we were 2 nd only to Wisconsin in attendance. And hats off to the volunteers and staff from Wisconsin for putting on a wonderful convention. ULINE (Friday) and Caterpillar (Saturday) stepped up in a big way sponsoring events on each day. And the Night at the Harley Museum was absolutely awesome! The Business Sessions on Friday and Saturday launched the Rescue our Wetlands Banding Together for Waterfowl Campaign and formalized changes in our top leadership positions at DU, Inc.. John Newman, Chairman of the Board, bid farewell and passed the gavel to our new Chairman George Dunklin, Jr.. As the outgoing President, George presented the Presidential Crest to Paul Bonderson, the new President of DU, Inc.. We thank John for his outstanding service to DU as Chairman and welcome both George and Paul to their new leadership positions within DU! Finally, Illinois and Region 5 took home many awards in recognition of our performance through the end of CY A true testament to the great volunteers, members, major donors, and staff we have working for waterfowl and wetland conservation at events throughout our state. Congratulations! As always, it s an exciting time to be a part of DU and I look forward to working together to make Illinois Ducks Unlimited the absolute best we can be! Top 10 State Award s 3 Ducks University Varsity Chapter 5 More Awards 7 21/ 38 Top 10 Finishes 8 Major Donor Campaign 10 Upcoming Events/ State Facts 14 Help Wanted 15 IL State Contacts 16 Illinois DU Facebook Photo Contest Winners 17 Till next time..bill

Top 10 State Awards January 1, 2014 December 1, 2014 The absolutely outstanding dedication and commitment to the Ducks Unlimited mission of wetland conservation demonstrated by the Illinois Ducks

3 Top 10 State Awards January 1, 2014 December 1, 2014 The absolutely outstanding dedication and commitment to the Ducks Unlimited mission of wetland conservation demonstrated by the Illinois Ducks Unlimited volunteers, members, major donors, and staff resulted in Illinois placing in the Top 10 nationally in 21 of 38 award categories. A duck call with the Illinois DU state design was presented to me at the 2015 National Convention on a lanyard with 21 duck bands one for each Top 10 finish. We tied with Missouri for the 2 nd highest number of ducks bands. I could not be more proud of your accomplishments and the recognition that goes with it. Congratulations! The criteria and placement of each Top 10 State is contained in the following pages.

4 21 Top 10 State Awards! Awesome let s shoot for 38!

5 FIRST DUCKS UNIVERSITY VARSITY CHAPTER IN ILLINOIS! I had the pleasure of attending the Southern Illinois University (SIU) DU Chapter event on Saturday, March 21, 2015 in Carbondale, IL. Established in Fall of 2009, the committee consists of 11 young adults. The SIU University Ducks Unlimited Chapter is the only existing University Chapter in the state of Illinois. They have been involved with duck banding and blind brushing in Union County, assisting with the Crab Orchard Refuge duck blind drawing, various clean-up events and the Illinois Junior Duck Stamp competition. A University Chapter is conducted just like any other Chapter. The committee started planning their event approx. 4 months ago. They had about people pre-registered and had to close the doors at 124. The event consisted of many raffles including: silent/live auctions, 50/50, pick of the litter, mystery box, and a tier raffle. I m sure they didn t realize, at the time, but it s their second event and nearly doubled their attendance and revenue! Haley wore some oversized waders to help sell tickets to win them.thanks for taking one for the team Haley! I had the opportunity to speak with Forrest Bonin, Chairman. I asked him how and why he was interested in Ducks Unlimited. He said, I grew up in Indiana. As a kid, I went with my Dad to other events such as Wild Turkey Federation. So I grew up with volunteering and supporting them. I started hunting as soon as I could. Ducks Unlimited isn t as big in Indiana so when I started school here and found out they had a Ducks Unlimited Chapter I was so excited. Forrest s Dad drove 6.5 hours to attend the dinner event in support of his son and the committee, as well as other supporting parents attending. Other SIU DUCK DAWGS on the committee: Kyle Lindner, Co-Chairman; Garrett Cooper, Treasurer; and Haley Pence, Secretary. A sincere mentionable for directing this committee is Scott Ishman, Faculty Advisor. Scott does a tremendous job working with these young adults in this Chapter from start to finish. It was a pleasure to work with him on Saturday.

6 With that said let me introduce the SIU Committee: Forrest Bonin, second from the left, first row and Scott Ishman, second from the right, first row. Other committee members (not listed as pictured): Cameron Hupp, Andrew Selinger, Scott Pautler, Brock Letcher, Ryan Winka, Haley Pence, Garrett Cooper, Willie Wessel, Kevin Schabacker, and Kyle Lindner. It was exciting, for me, to see their passion and working together as a team. Other key supporters in attendance: Jon Sturgill, Regional Director; Randy Brown, Mike & Kim Hecht and Kenny & Vicki Eggemeyer, (Randy, Mike and Kenny are District Chairman in Southern IL). I had a great time meeting so many passionate people and adding to my DU Family! It was refreshing to see each and every committee member step up and readily available from start to finish. Hat s off to Scott and Jon! Congratulations SIU on a great event! If you are interested or know someone who is in supporting, volunteering or starting a Ducks University Chapter, please feel free to contact me anytime at vmandurano@hotmail.com or Vicki Mandurano State Youth and Education Chair

7 More Awards from the 2015 National Convention State Campaign - #2 in the nation Top 100 Chapters to raise up to $100,000 Quincy Chapter Salt Creek Chapter President's Elite Chapters to raise over $100,000 North Shore Chicago Chapter Chicago Downtown Chapter West Suburban Chapter Lake Forrest Chapter State Excellence Award - Silver This is a new award program unveiled at the 2015 National Convention to recognize all states that excel in the same valued criteria as the Top 10 State Awards. Growth in all 5 within a calendar year equates to Gold Level status, 4 equates to Silver Level status and 3 to Bronze Level status. There is no limit to the number of winners in each category. Criteria includes All Income, Event Income, All Members, Event Attendance and Volunteers. Overall Top 10 States for CY2014 were as follows: Mississippi 1 Oklahoma 6 Missouri 2 Illinois 7 Colorado 3 North Carolina 8 Oregon 4 Ohio 9 Nevada 5 Virginia 10

8 Did you know.? May 9 Blue winged teal, shovelers and redheads begin nesting May 14 Canvasbacks begin nesting May 18 All pintail hens begin their first nesting attempt May 24 First Mallard and pintail broods appear May 27 Ring-necked ducks begin nesting May 29 Ruddy ducks and lesser scaup begin nesting May 31 Author and conservationist, Nash Buckingham was born June 15 First redhead broods begin to appear June 21 Summer Solstice June 25 Most blue-winged teal and shoveler eggs have hatched June 27 Lesser scaup and ruddy duck eggs begin hatching July Migratory Bird Treaty Act becomes law July 4 Independence Day Illinois DU Blackhawk fans at the 2015 National Convention Gala on Saturday night. A win for the Ducks and the Hawks!

Upcoming Events IL DU 60 Gun - Firearms Frenzy Saturday, Jun 20, 2015 Illinois River Experience Saturday, Aug 08, 2015 Cordova DU Banquet Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 Oakwood Bottoms Duck Experience

14 Upcoming Events IL DU 60 Gun - Firearms Frenzy Saturday, Jun 20, 2015 Illinois River Experience Saturday, Aug 08, 2015 Cordova DU Banquet Saturday, Aug 22, 2015 Oakwood Bottoms Duck Experience Friday, Dec 11, 2015 Mark Schore helping the Forbes biological staff clear traps and check bands. Checked about 500 ducks on this day. Upcoming Events Illinois Ducks Unlimited 2016 State Convention Peoria, IL February 5-6, 2016 Illinois Outdoor News Calendar of Events Outdoor News is pleased to list your event in the Outdoor News newspaper and online. Tell us the type of event (banquet, fundraiser, show, education or seminar, meeting, shoots, tournaments, etc...) and the details of the event, and we'll get it listed. m/illinois/submit-an-event/ 2016 Ducks Unlimited National Convention Anchorage, AK June 1-5, 2016 State Facts Based on numbers Available as of 01/01/15 Total Membership 30,267 Greenwings 1,979 Legacy Greenwings 628 Sponsor Members 2,119 Major Sponsors Grassroots Total $2,566,163 Total Acres Conserved 46,492 Rescue Our Wetlands Banding Together for Waterfowl

15 Just as ducks need us to help provide adequate habitat for their migration, IL DU needs chapters in the following areas. If you know anyone or have friends in these areas, please contact the state chairman or your local Regional Director. Chapter Bloomington Carlinville Danville Robinson O Fallon Olney Monmouth Galena Galesburg Waukegan Elgin Yorkville Contact Jim King jking@ducks.org Jon Sturgill jsturgill@ducks.org Brett Brown bbrown2@ducks.org Kyle Stefancin kstefancin@ducks.org We are also looking for additional volunteers for the following chapters: Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Streamwood Grundy County Barrington West Suburban Area Aurora Boone County

16 Illinois Ducks Unlimited Ildu.org Illinois State Chairman Bill Sarafin Illinois State Chairman (Elect) Dennis Wooten State Campaign Chairman Galen Johnson State Treasurer Scott Marcacci State Secretary Mark Schore State Youth and Education Chairman Vicki Mandurano State Webmaster Jonathan Fields State Convention Chairman Frank Lemcke State Convention Co-Chairman Bill Hartter State Shooting Chairman Rob Bockstruck State enewsletter Editor Bill Sarafin Ducks Unlimited National Officers Senior Vice President Rex Schulz Regional Vice President Galen Johnson At-Large Member Diane Oberhelman Ducks Unlimited Staff Senior Regional Director-NW Illinois Brett Brown Senior Regional Director- Central Illinois Jim King Regional Director-NE Illinois Kyle Stefancin Regional Director-Southern Illinois Jon Sturgill Regional Biologist-Illinois Eric Schenck Regional Biologist-Indiana (Leading Projects in Southern Illinois) Mike Sertle Director of Fundraising & Volunteer Relations Troy LaRue Director of Development James Roberts

17 Illinois DU Facebook Photo Contest Winner (1 st Quarter 2015) Like Us on Facebook at Illinois Ducks Unlimited Winner Jake Winter! Congratulations Jake! Runner Up Forrest Bonin

Illinois Ducks Unlimited I DU

Illinois Ducks Unlimited I DU Ill Editor: Bill Sarafin LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! August 2014 In This Issue Illinois DU License Plate 2 Volunteers 2 A Word From Our Chairman Well, we re into the dog days of