Your 2020-2021 OPTA Board of Directors
Please contact any of us and we’ll help you in any way we can!
| President | Bert Blackburn |
| Vice-President | Lori Cain |
| Secretary/Treasurer | Pam Muma |
| Director | Emily Brown |
| Director | Bill Drikos |
| Director | B.J. Jackman |
| Director | Ron Rowe |
| Director | Richard Bootsveld |
| Director | Peter Tsementzis |
| Director | Verne Higgs |
President’s Message August 4, 2020
Provincial Championships Cancelled!
We have just finished our OPTA board meeting. Unfortunately, we have concluded that we cannot hold our Provincial Championships this year. There was an equal split in the vote. The main concerns were the safety of our competitors and the uncertainty of insurance coverage. We tried our best to set out a plan that would have kept everyone safe but in the end the decision was to cancel for this year. I thank the board for their honesty and hard work in making this exceedingly difficult decision and I would also thank the St Thomas Gun Club for their efforts to make it work.
We will still be holding our Annual General Meeting this year, but it will be held virtually probably via Zoom. Notice of the meeting and the agenda and financial statements will be sent out later. The meeting is tentatively set for Sept 15th in the evening.
Again, I am sorry to have to give you this bad news. I always look forward to the Provincial Championships. We will have some great shoots next year!
Stay safe,
Robert (Bert) Blackburn
OPTA President
President’s Message July 2019
Greetings from your new President.
We have just completed our 100th Ontario Trapshooting Championships. I am sure all the participants found it a memorable event. It was great to have many former trapshooters attend to renew ties to the shooting community. Some even pulled out their guns and participated.
I would like to thank the Hamilton Gun Club as well as all their staff and volunteers for a great event. The grounds were in great shape which was no small feat with all the rain this spring. The staff were friendly and helpful for the shooters. I look forward to many more events at your club.
At this time, I would like to thank the board members who are retiring.
Neville Henderson has been on the board for 11 years with the last 8 as President. He has led us through a lot of issues the most significant being the discovery and prosecution of the fraud of our former treasurer. Under his watch and guidance, and as a result of the fraud, we now have a modern constitution and by-laws with robust audit requirements. This was a huge undertaking. Neville did most of the heavy lifting to get it completed.
Warren McLay has been on the board for 10 years. He was half of the dynamic duo who looked after the procurement of the trophies for the Provincial championships. This is a lot of work and we appreciate the time and effort that goes into this. He is going to concentrate on his position on the board of the Hamilton Gun Club as they continue to improve the facilities.
Beau Douglas found it necessary to resign from the board last January due to other commitments. He has been helping with the tabulation of the results of the shoots in the province for the selection of the Delegate team awards.
We now have new board members.
In February, the board decided to appoint 2 new members to complete Beau’s term as we prepared for the 100th anniversary celebrations. Paulo Sampaio and Lori Cantelo agreed to come aboard and instantly pitched in to help. Lori took on the task of organizing the licensure for our new raffle which turned into a larger than anticipated project. Paulo was a huge help in procuring sponsorships for the celebrations and assisting with the implementation. Both have now committed to a 2-year term.
Jamie LeBlanc brings business experience as a Chartered Professional Accountant and gun club experience with many years as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Fredericton Trap and Skeet Club. He is on for a 2-year term. Jamie will bring a fresh new perspective to the board.
B.J. Jackman is hard working cash crop farmer who works long hard hours during planting and harvesting but finds time to compete during the off seasons. He is a very accomplished shooter with a lot of experience shooting in Ontario as well as at major shoots in the US. We look forward to his insight. He has committed to at least the year remaining on the term that was open with the resignation of Warren McLay.
Your returning board members are:
Pam Muma who has been on the board for 10 years with the last 8.5 years as Secretary-Treasurer.
Emily Brown has been doing a fabulous job as our communications and public relations person. She is the one who has been looking after our website, Facebook, twitter and all the other social media things that I don’t participate in much. She has made contacts in the government and media as an advocate for all shooters. She also volunteers with the Canadian Trapshooting Association, the Ontario Council of Shooters and the Canadian University Shooting Federation. She is always ready to help at any shoot and in any way to get more people, especially youth, to join our ranks.
Dominic Gitto who has been the other half of the trophy committee for many years. He is going to help train our new trophy committee. He is also part of the new board at the Hamilton Gun Club where he has dedicated a lot of his time.
Bill Drikos has been a member for 2 years. He is a long time executive of the Artemis club. We appreciate his experience.
Robert (Bert) Blackburn who has been on the board for 10 years with the last 7 years as Vice-President. It is now my honour to take over as President. I will strive to help the association thrive over my term. Please remember that this is your association. If you have any advice or concerns, please let one of the directors know. We don’t promise that we will implement your recommendations, but we will certainly carefully consider the pros and cons of changes and make an informed decision. Enjoy the rest of the 2019 shooting season and the beginning of the 2020 season before winter sets in again.
Respectfully,
Robert (Bert) Blackburn
OPTA President
Past Presidents of the OPTA
Neville Henderson 2010-2019
Steve Stiby 2007 – 2010
W. L. (Smokey) Smith 2000 – 2007
Ike Prokaska 1998 – 2000
Brent Price 1996 – 1998
Ray Norton 1994 – 1996
Paul Shaw 1992- 1994
Jerry Mariani 1991 – 1992
Jerry Gilroy 1990
John Van Huesden 1988-1989
Jerry Mariani 1986 – 1987
Bruce C. Lyons 1982 – 1985
Maurice J. Wainwright 1976 – 1981
Jerry Mariani 1975
John Kaylor 1973-1974
Jack Henning 1971 – 1972
Bruce E. Stevens 1969 – 1970
Ed Wladichuk 1953 – 1968
Tom Oliver 1952
Hugh Lennox 1951