Starview Sportsmen - 60th Anniversary

[JohnUSCG]

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10226188?IA...ydr.inyork.com

Mark the date (Sept 6th) to come out and see Starview!

Starview marks 60th anniversary
Mount Wolf outdoors club sports more than 1,200 members.
By DAVE SOTTILE
Daily Record/Sunday News



Starview Sportsmen's Association in Mount Wolf might just be the finest club in York County of its kind, a place where outdoor enthusiasts of all ages gather and participate in a variety of activities.

A rifle range? Starview has it.

A pistol range? Got it.

A sporting clays course? An archery range? Horseshoe pits? Hiking trails? A picnic area? A pond?

Yep, got 'em all, along with 1,000 dues-paying active members, 226 lifetime members and a waiting list filled with 200 people.

But as the club prepares for its 60th anniversary celebration on Sept. 6, founding member Ken Heindel says he never imagined the organization would blossom into what it is today.

"Never in our wildest dreams could we have predicted this," the 84-year-old Heindel said. "It began with a bunch of us guys who just loved hunting and fishing. We started raising pheasants and stocking the area for hunters.

"We were worried about having enough game, so we would trap rabbits in the Mount Rose Cemetery, bring them back to the club and release them there. We wanted to keep things going."

Oh, the group kept things going -- and then some.

Heindel is the last survivor of 21 founding members who started the club with a meeting in a one-room schoolhouse in the village of Starview back in 1948.

Jay Yinger attended one of the club's early meetings as a 14-year-old boy with his father, who was also a founding member of the club.

"I've been with it right from the get-go," said the 74-year-old Yinger, who has served more than 16 years as president of the organization during a handful of stints. He's also been treasurer and served on the board of directors of the non-profit club.
"The biggest thing that's helped us succeed throughout the years is the volunteer spirit and commitment of our members, who work full-time hours but don't get paid for keeping things looking good on the grounds," Yinger said. "It's amazing to see some of the newer members stepping up and taking more roles of responsibility.

"Our members appreciate what we've done in the past, what we have right now, and they want to keep up the tradition for those yet to come."

Five years after its founding, the SSA moved from its rented one-room schoolhouse to another it purchased. The Jerusalem School building served as its headquarters from 1958 to 1965, when its current farmland property was acquired.

A converted barn housed a clubhouse meeting place until it was destroyed by a 1991 fire. The club quickly rebuilt a new building that opened in early in 1992.

"When strangers come in, they're amazed at the facility and how it's so well-maintained," Yinger said. "We don't hire outside help for the ordinary jobs like mowing the grass, plowing snow, cutting firewood, etc. We have guys there, members, who that take it on to do the work.

"They work it like it's their full-time job, but they just view it as something that's worthwhile. They want to keep things going."

That very approach -- and the opportunity to share time with like-minded outdoor enthusiasts -- is why the club looks forward to its next 60 years.

"We need to get the youth involved if we want to progress as a club in the future," said current president C.W. "Butch" Lehr, a Starview member for 30 years. "I'll be 64 in a couple weeks, and we have a lot members about to turn 65.

"That's why we've got to get the young people involved. They're the future sportsmen of York County."

The club sponsors hunter and trapper safety classes for hunters of all ages. It also held a spring turkey hunt for kids age 12, who were paired up with "mentor" members of the club.

Lehr said none of the five young hunters bagged a gobbler, but both students and mentors enjoyed the experience of being together.

Active members must be at least 18 years of age, but Lehr said 12-year-olds can join the waiting list when they're 12. Five years later, at 17, they move to the head of the list, so permanent membership can be quickly attained.

Full-time members pay a $40 annual dues, plus a $25 initiation fee their first year. When a member turns 65, he or she becomes a life member, opening a spot for a new full-time member to join.

The fees, Yinger said, will soon go up because of the increased costs associated with keeping the club running on a yearly basis.

"As a tax-exempt entity, the government says that our dues must pay all of the operating expenses of the club, and today everything is more expensive," said Heindel, who has seen his share of changes throughout the years. "The cost of insurance, liability insurance, utilities and taxes keeps going up. Everything goes up."

Known for its wide array of options for outdoor buffs, Starview does what it can to provide its members and guests with a complete sporting experience.

Lehr said the club has a shooting range up to 500 yards, the only one of that distance in the county.

"People join just to shoot long range," Lehr said. "It gets them ready for a trip out west, where they might need to shoot an elk at a great distance."

The club also has a pistol range up to 75 yards, an archery platform to shoot at targets from 10 to 35 yards out, and a sporting clays course.

Starview also raises 3,000 trout annually for the state, to help stock local streams as well as its own pond, which hosts a fishing rodeo for kids each spring.

People keep coming back, Yinger said, a fact that's not lost on SSA's members.

"I'm just so proud of the esprit de corps of the organization and how everyone cooperates so we can reach our goals of giving everyone the best club we can."
Reach Dave Sottile at 771-2063 or dave@ydr.com.


TIME TO CELEBRATE
Starview Sportsmen's
Association will host its 60th anniversary celebration from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 at the club, located at 501 Jerusalem School Road in Mount Wolf.

The event is free and open to the public. It will feature demonstrations of trapping, fly fishing, dog training, muzzleloader rifles, sporting clays shooting, and other outdoor activities.

Refreshments will be served, and the club will raffle off a Remington 700 BDL 30-06 rifle with a special anniversary message lasered onto the stock.

For more information, go online to www.starviewsportsmen.org

[usmc0341]

By far the nicest club in the area, if you aren't a member you should get on the list!

[Chris17404]

How does one get on the list?

[JohnUSCG]

Chris,
The club is open to the public on Sundays from 9am - 2pm for Sporting Clays Shooting. If you come out, there are application forms hanging on the board inside the clubhouse and just ask someone behind the desk or at the lunch counter to co-sign for you. There is an address on the form to send it to and that is all there is to getting on the list. Of course you are always welcome to come out and shoot awhile too!
If you aren't available on Sundays, come out to our open house on Sept 6th and there will be MANY people around to get you the form and sign, etc. It is going to be a great day for us to show off the club.