Wisdom from the WOODS - SEMO Sportsmen's Association
I started to kick off this article with the statement that I am often unorganized but as I think about it, my wife will disagree with that and say that I am always unorganized.
That came to light when I finished reading an article in the DAR about the Southeast Missouri Sportsmen’s annual membership meeting and dinner. I had a clipping from the DAR that was more than 40 years ago about one of the organizations most successful events.
When I looked in the envelope where I had seen it last, it was gone. I knew it was in the envelope, but it wasn’t there. After a frantic search, it was found and included below.
The adults in the picture are Lawrence Richardson, Richard Woods, Clyde Richardson, and Paul Woods.
We were seining bass for release in the area streams and lakes in one of the early projects carried out by the SEMO group. The lake was located on the Lake Valley Farm, east of Williamsville and owned by Dr. Fred L. Kneibert. The Missouri Department of Conservation placed more than 1,000 bass minnows in the lake in the spring and they grew all summer. The lake was drained and when the water was low enough, we seined the fish, placed them in buckets for transfers to rivers and streams as a re-stocking project. Some of the bass grew up to 10 inches during the summer.
SEMO Sportsmen’s Association from 40+ years ago.
Other projects by the SEMO group included getting the food plots and pond construction starts off Pine Cone Road. That investment took $200 of the association’s treasury and was well worth it. It worked so well that the US Forest Service took over the project and we didn’t have to spend any more money to get the projects completed.
The SEMO Sportsmen’s Association is the second oldest organization in the state organized or helping wildlife in the state. The Missouri Wildlife Federation is the oldest such organization if they are still in existence (that is, if the current Missouri Wildlife Federation, incorporated in 1970, traces their roots to the original organization).
Getting down to the bottom line as TV news shows say, the bottom line for this article is that the SEMO group’s annual meeting is set to be held March 21 at the First Christian Church on North Mani Street in Poplar Bluff. The cost of memberships is $5 which includes the meal, consisting of fried chicken, potato salad, and baked beans. Also included is entertainment and drawing for several door prizes. The proceeds go toward helping sponsor the annual Kids Fish and Fun Day which usually is in late May.