Central Maryland Chapter Virtual Meeting

Letter from the President                                                                 April 2024

As Spring tries its best to show itself, we are all reflecting on the hunts we had last season, some great adventures that we will share stories about for many years to come. For several years, our assembly of ruffed grouse and woodcock hunters and members of the Ruffed Grouse Society chapter in Maryland have been mostly inactive. In 2021, a chapter leadership meeting was held at the Izzac Walton League property near Potomac, Maryland. At that meeting, I was asked to take over as president of the Potomac Valley Chapter. The timing was not right for me and I declined the opportunity at that time. Over the next couple of years, I stayed in touch with a few people from the chapter. We trained and hunted together and had a great time.

Late last year, through a series of events, Clay Williamson and I started talking about getting the chapter running again. Emily Sliski had come on board as the new RGS & AWS engagement coordinator, helping chapters grow and communicate, she’s been a treasure with her always upbeat spirit and positive energy. Ben Larson had already started as the Mid-Atlantic forester for RGS. Ben and I had met for lunch on several occasions last year as he lives close to my office. Ben has had a very successful career with timber management prior to coming on board with RGS & AWS and has created a huge momentum for successional habitat work in the short time with RGS & AWS. The timing felt right and Clay and I, with the help of Emily, got the first Birds ‘n Brew event scheduled last Fall.

From that point, we invited chapter members to participate in the growth and re-branding of the chapter to increase membership and build upon all of the awesome work that had been done for many years prior. While the name has changed from the Potomac Valley Chapter to the Central Maryland Chapter, we are still the same chapter with the same membership. We are building on years of dedicated work and countless hours that have gone into making our chapter a success and want to invite you to become more active with us.

We currently have one habitat project under consideration: field edge forestry mulching at Cedar Point WMA in Southern Maryland. This project is being championed by member Ed Nicholson with the enthusiastic support of the DNR and RGS & AWS. We also have our next Birds n’ Brews event scheduled for May 22 at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe, Maryland. We are working on the details for a chapter Veterans Woodcock Hunt at historic Canaan Valley, West Virginia, carrying on a longstanding tradition for several of our members. We are also planning a Fall clay shoot and game fair fundraiser, with falconry and other demonstrations, at First Mine Run in White Hall. And, if plans work out, we’ll hopefully restart the chapter’s annual Chukar Challenge, Bird Dog of the Year event in the Spring.

We are having a virtual chapter meeting Tuesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. During this meeting we would like to vote on filling a few currently-vacant committee positions including the two required habitat chair and treasurer roles and the optional roles of vice president and secretary. Please send your nominations for these open positions prior to the meeting to me at Ted@DiddlySquatKennels.com.

To attend, RSVP below and we will send you the meeting link.

Our goal is to have fun, get to know each other better and work together to enhance habitat for our beloved birds. We want to bring on new hunters, both young and old, and of course, help our dogs have all the fun they can! Stay tuned for emails on upcoming dates and as always, please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. We are here for you. It’s your chapter. How can we make it best for you?

I look forward to seeing you at our next event!

All my best,

Ted Gattino

Parkton, Maryland & Barton, Vermont