2020 Maryland Bass Nation President’s Conference

On Sunday March 8 the Maryland Bass Nation held its annual President’s Conference at the Sykesville American Legion Hall.

Representatives from all clubs were invited to attend and with the exception of a few it was a very satisfying turnout. Some clubs not present noted that they were not aware of the meeting so, in the future, we will do a better job of announcing this meeting but, keep in mind, until further notice this Conference will always take place on the second Sunday of March. So no excuses.

For all intent and purpose this is a business meeting. An opportunity for the Board and Committee Chairs to interact one on one with club representatives.

Dick Berich provided membership updates. Steve Carman presented a current treasures report and laid out the 2020 budget which then requires the approval of club representatives present.

Gunner Beal provided insight to a new High School Trail series and Doug Zittle discussed the critical role that regional Tournament Committee representatives play in developing our tournament schedule. I asked our web site developer and manager Brian Webb to take a moment and provide some insight into what feeds a good and interesting site, bottom line everybody’s input.

Our newest addition to the MBN ranks, the Kayak Division, was introduced by new members Adam Hugoboom and Alex Fiolka. These guys gave a terrific Power Point presentation that elicited more interest and questions then I could have imagined. Steve Carman will be posting this presentation on our web site. As an aside Adam will be serving as the Kayak Division Chair during future MBN Board meetings and, coincidentally, is a new committee member of the Blass Bass Advisory Subcommittee.

Highlight had to be when River Rock Bassmaster member Jeff Anderson handed me checks for youth, scholarship and PVA. This club sits on the top of the mountain when it comes to their generosity in supporting the many factions of the Maryland Bass Nation. PVA received $1,000.00, Scholarship $250.00 and Youth $800.00. Gentlemen I cannot thank you enough. Between their generous donation, the 50/50 raffle and the auction we deposited a total of $1,323.00 into the Youth account.

The American Legions kitchen staff was up and running this year and provided members with a delicious lunch of chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and salads. Hats off to Candy for a job well done.

Roger Trageser