NSSA Recognizes St. Joe Valley Conservation Club as Club of the Year 2005

Date Posted: Mar 22nd, 2007
St. Joe Valley Conservation Club (SJVCC), an all-volunteer club located about 30 minutes northeast of Fort Wayne, Ind., is this year's recipient of the Club of the Year award in recognition of their superb efforts in promoting skeet shooting. SJVCC has grown from a 50-acre trap club when it was first established in 1950 to a 155 acre clay target shooting facility, iwht a 2,800 square foot clubhouse, 10 skeet fields, 9 trap fields, a beautiful 5-stand building, and 27 RV parking spots.

Most of their growth has been accomplished in the last six years due to the sacrifice and hard work of their members. Statistically, SJVCC has gone from 26 NSSA members in 1999 to over 250 members, as well as 175 lifetime members, in 2004. They have increased targets thrown from 187,000 in 1998 to over 1,250,000 in 2005. This year SJVCC will host 10 ATA trap shoots, plus their zone shoot, and 4 NSSA skeet shoots, including the Zone 3 Championships and the Indiana State Shoot.

In 1992 they built their first two skeet fields, and held their first registered shoot in 1993. Since the time skeet was introduced, the Board has held to the philosophy that SJVCC is not a trap club or a skeet club, but a clay target-shooting club. This attitude has played a major role in their success.

"Build it, and they will come," is an appropriate motto for SJVCC. In May 1999, they applied for their first grant under the Robinson-Pittman Act. After extensive preparation and work they received enough funds to acquire three Superstar trap machines, five Superstar skeet machines and to build a 5-stand, complete with traps. They were also able to make all the fields and the clubhouse handicap-accessible.

Then in December of 2001, SJVCC once again applied for funds to continue their major expansion program. They received a grant for additional trap fields with skeet overlays, along with being able to purchase voice calls, lights for both skeet and trap fields, and many other incidentals to accommodate handi-capped individuals.

In February 2004, they received another grant to bring them to their current configuration. In total, the DNR granted the club more than a half-million dollars to make their facility the finest in the state and one of the best in the nation. This most recent improvement also enabled Indiana to, once again after a long hiatus, be in the rotation for the Zone 3 Championships.

During the time that they have been improving the club, they continuously advertised to the local community of the resources available to them; a number of articles have been published in the Fort Wayne newspapers. They have nearly 300 individuals involved in the winter league, which has been a great growth stimulus for them, and hold a minimum of three hunter education courses, all of which have been filled to capacity. In addition, the Allen County Sheriff Department uses their facility for training and they have been a very good source of public relations with the Fort Wayne area concerning the club.

Future plans include adding another 23 RV spots, showers for the campers, redoing the original trap fields and expanding the clubhouse. They continue to make concerted efforts to add new shooters to the club programs, especially young shooters, as they are where the future growth of our sport lies.

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