Getting our ducks in a row.

The officers and some of the club members have always known that we needed to be prepared when it came time to purchase land for the club’s future. That time has arrived. As most of you probably have heard the land by Hominy was not exactly what we were looking for so we continue our search. After sitting down with an attorney, I had a better idea of what we needed to have and be prepared. Neighbors, water, electricity, roads, easements, taxes, insurance and a public accountant, just to name a few. The one thing I do feel great about is the clubs enthusiasm to get this all accomplished, so we will have a future for our club. We have put together a letter of intent with a card for you to send back to us. Please do so as soon as possible so that we will have a better idea of where all the club members stand on this issue. Thanks for your support.

As the summer heats up and the anticipation of bird season gets stronger, you need to be watching the bird count reports from the different parts of Oklahoma and other states. Right now the panhandle is having a drought; they have not had any of the rain that we have had. Bird counts maybe down out there. The other end of that scale is Iowa, too much rain and flooding may have washed out the birds. Just a little heads up might make or break your success this fall. I anticipate that the fields will be less populated with hunters because of the gas prices. Some hunters will not be willing to go hunting as far as often, but still going for the opener with more guys to share the cost.

NO MEETING JUNE OR JULY

Sunday shoots are going strong, with 20 plus guys and gals attending. The wind is a great excuse for not hitting everything you shoot at. I have found it works anyway. Thanks to all the guys that have stepped forward to be the range masters in the past weeks, sure make things a lot easier.

Dog Care, Fresh Water, Fresh Water and Fresh Water!

GSPTRNR “Greg”

Dear Tulsa Bird Dog Club Members,
As you know, the Tulsa Bird Dog Club has been discussing purchasing land for field trials and clay shooting. At the close of the May 27th 2008 meeting it was decided to pursue the matter with the membership.
Initially, this discussion was focused on a 120 acre property between Skiatook and Hominy for $120,000. On May 29th, Greg Kuhnke met with attorney A.G. Murray and discovered that the 120 acres are not contiguous. There is one 80 acre block that connects at a corner to another 40 acres. It was concluded that particular property is probably not suitable for what we need as a club.
Regardless of this particular land's suitability, the discussion shifted to what must happen in order to purchase any property. For one, we must have a down payment, and in order to raise one, we need to save and accumulate sufficient funds.
We have discussed a number of ways to achieve this goal and one would be to increase the annual membership dues to say $100.00 per year. If we retained approximately 100 members at this rate we could save maybe $8,000 to $10,000 dollars per year for a down payment on a piece of land.
Once we have the down payment saved, we could then sell Equity Shares or mandatory owner-memberships. This would consist of a one-time Owner/Membership Fee of say $150.00 Each member would receive a Certificate of Ownership that would be transferable by gift or sale to another party. Hopefully, as the land purchased is improved over the years it will increase in value thus increasing the value of each Equity Share or Membership. This way even a senior or seasoned member could join knowing that his investment can be passed on to a loved one or friend to continue this hunting tradition.
We are suggesting that we start the Equity Memberships only after the down payment has been realized and that land has been identified for purchase. Soliciting equity ownerships prior to identifying land for a future home would be like selling blue sky or a pipe dream.
The number of people willing to pay the higher annual dues and purchase shares will determine the amount of down payment available. The difference between our down payment and the purchase price will be paid by a loan from an area bank. Currently, there are two local banks competing for our business. The size of our down payment determines how much the new dues will have to be in order to cover the annual expense of the loan.
All numbers used above serves as an example only. Many factors could raise or lower the equity fee and annual dues. What do you think?
To determine the feasibility of this proposal, we need to know whether you are willing to pay increased annual dues and purchase one or multiple owner shares to help with the down payment. You do not have to buy any shares to join the club at this point, but every member will be required to pay the equity fee once it is implemented.
The Equity Ownership method of financing and improving land has been used successfully by many organizations. The number of Equity Ownerships to be made available will be determined by the membership as the number of shares available will also impact the value of each share. The value of the some memberships has risen dramatically over a period of time in some cases increasing 5 to 10 times the original investment.
We plan to fully discuss this matter at our next Tulsa Bird Dog Club meeting on August 26, 2008. We have described the dream of your TBDC Officers. We need to know if you the membership share this dream and want to make it happen. Please be present and be prepared to express your ideas and thoughts on this matter.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call one of the officers of the club.
Greg Kuhnke -
Roy Marshall -
Keith Lindsay –
Mike Hill-
Chris Jones-
Doug Hardesty-
Jeff Jones-