The Ammonoosuc Valley Fish & Game Club:
A history of a local treasure
It was in 1924 when a group of local citizens organized the Ammonoosuc Valley Fish & Game Club for the purpose to protect, propagate, and increase fish and game in the waters and woods of this section of New Hampshire. To the reasonable, legitimate and equal use and benefit of the community for food and sport. To conserve and increase the same for the benefit of future generations. these people all agreed to pay $1.00 annual dues and establish the club.
The Group
C.A. Bassett, D.R. Rouhan, B. Hampson, W.W. Leonard, W. Pike, E.W. Sawyer, H.O. Taylor, J.W. Rann, H.S. Cooper, H.E. Stevens, R.S. Rhinehart, L. Kugleman, Albert L. Abbott, F.P. Dearth, J.W. Fullerton, W.R. Wilson, G.H. Watson, Wm. Clough, M.P. Clough, N.C. Ricker, Carl Eastman, Henry E. Lother, Guy Haynes, C.F. Heath, L.E. Collins, Henry F. Smith, Arthur Bailey, G.A. Pebbles, V.H. Edson, H.B. Knight, H.E. Mann, M.A. Bisbee, L.A. Moulton, Lyman Warden, F.G. Weeks, George Lyons, F.F. Sanders, Fred Wells, F.H. Cryan, O.M. Bemis, W.S.Burton, R.T. Trumpass, J.O. Sheldon, Fred Sargent, F.R. Rice, Fred B. Morse, A.L. Kezer, J.B. Chapman, R.E. Boemig, R.R. Scruggs, Henry G. Smith, L.G. Gordon, O.E. Kittredge, Dr. Miller, Sam McAllister, Earl Batley, Wells R. Batley, G.R. Sanborn, L.R. Webster, and B.A. Stymest.
The Club was organized April 1, 1924
Trustees wer R. T. Bartlett, E.L. Hartwell and E. S. Miller.
The officers consisted of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, an executive committee of nine members of which the president was chairman and the secretary was clerk ex officio, five of whom constitute a quorum. All of the officers were elected annually.
On May 5th, 1927 Arthur W. Young of Bath, New Hampshire sold the club 9 acres of land located on “Bunga Road” (now route 112) for $1.00.
The club house was built about 1931 and some early members indicated that the large stone fireplace was constructed by the CCC that was located in Easton, N.H.
March 24, 1949 the club became a non profit cooperation. The bylaws were revised several times and house rules were established October 19, 1951 by President Clifton Dexter, Burns Bedell, A.P. Hill, Guy Walton, Clyde Darling, Tracie Robie, Oscar Chase, Ken Green and Secretary Ray Bailey.
In 1950 the annual dues were $2.00
The club has had many presidents during it’s eighty plus year history. The first president was R. T. Bartlett. A likeness of him is in the oil painting that hangs over the fireplace in the club house.
A particule list of presidents both past and present is R.T. Bartlett, Clifton Dexter, Ray Bailey, Claude Gadwah, David Dudley, Jim Patten, Bruce E. Simonds, Eric Batchelder, Albi Estes, Randall Burt, and Dean Thompson.
All did a service in maintaining the club but many of the major improvements were done under these presidents.
Ray Bailey was for many years the man in charge that kept the meetings interesting. In 1950 forty-five to fifty members attended each meeting. Before television many social activities took place at the club. During the 1930s 1940s, and 1950s, events and gatherings were held on the club grounds including clam bakes, chicken barbecues, pig roasts and games of all kinds.
During the 1970s Jim Patten cleaned up the club house and established a life time membership program.
Claude Gadwah furnished new cupboards and stove for the kitchen.
One of the longest terms was Randall Burt who was president for ten years. Randall was responsible when members replaced the metal roof on the club house plus made many many other improvements to the buildings and grounds.
The New Hampshire State Black Powder Championship Shoots were held at the club and many other events were added to the active interesting activities.
Dean Thompson, the president at the time of this article, has done more for the club house building than any other. He established and ran the very popular Super Raffle. The funds generated put the club on sound financial footing which made it possible for most of the improvements to the clubhouse and grounds. These included, lowering the ceiling, carpeting the floor, new chinking between the log walls, sealing the outside of the building with a preservative coating, new light fixtures, new doors, and some new windows, plus a heating furnace so the club house is usable in the winter time. A covered firing point was built on the range by several members with room for four shooting stations.
Robert Rutherford designed the blueprint for the original berms at 50, 100, and 200 yards.
Dr. Alan Ingle updated a modification plan and improved the berms for use with the covered range.
Range rules were established and a large bulletin board listing the rules was constructed on the range.
Sporting events have always been a part of the activities.
One of the first was the Fall Field Day. It was usually for two days with shooting events and other games. On Sunday the activities for the year ended with the bean hole dinner.
The beans were cooked in the ground as the lumbermen did on their log drives down the Wild Ammonoosuc River. The Crawford family had cooked the beans for many years with Janice Crawford the chief cook. The dinner was named after William “Bill” Crawford, her late husband who was a member for many years and always worked on cooking the beans.
At the 1951 Field Day the club featured Herb Parsons, a famous trick shooter who worked for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. He put on a wonderful show of marksmanship which ended with him shooting the Indian Head which hangs in the club house. He placed a tram containing a sheet of aluminum and a sheet of paper about fifteen feet away from him. Using a model 63 Winchester automatic .22 rifle and several magazine tubes of cartridges, he rapidly shot freehand the picture from a sitting position ending with several shots forming the eye.
During the 1950’s Ken Green ran a Registered Trap Shoot for the club. There were two trap houses on the grounds. One was used for single birds and the other was used for doubles. These were well attended and brought in a strong financial benefit for the club. After a short dormant span of no trap shooting, it was revived again on August 29, 1967. A group of club members, Eric “Bud” Batchelder, James Slayton, John Adams, John Fullerton, Jr.. Richard Welch, William Crawford and Lyle Grimes install huge lights, donated by the railroad, near the registration house. This enabled the shooters to see the clay birds as day turned to darkness and trap shooting could continue into mid evening.
In later years Fred Charles Jr. ran the trap shoots for several years. When he died the registration building was dedicated in his memory and a large sign was fastened to the wall in a ceremony with his family and club members.
William Schmidt and then Bruce Crawford carried on the trap shooting, until a committee of four, Eric Batchelder, Albie Estes, Chet Ludwing and Michael Dannehy, continued with the shooting program.
Other shooting events held at the club included a New Hampshire State Championship Muzzle Loading Match chaired by Bruce E. Simonds, Nelson Simonds, Bruce Henry Simonds and Larry LaMarre. As many as 75 or 80 shooters competed for medals in the many individual matches and most shot for the Championship.
Some of the other shoots included many modern rifle matches with the running deer target being the most popular challenge. the 22 rimfire targets for the young shooters drew a large following. The latest contest is the marble shoot held during the Field Days in the Fall on Saturday followed by trap shooting on Sunday morning and the bean dinner served at noon.
One of the best events which the club holds each year is the children’s fishing derby. This was started many years ago and is now over 50 years old. It has introduced hundreds of young peopl to the enjoyment of fishing. One hundred or more youngsters catch the beautiful brook trout stocked in the Wild Ammonoosuc River by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. The youngsters fish from 8:00 am until noon on a Saturday in early June. Prizes are then given to the young boys and girls and refreshments are enjoyed by all. For several years Butch and Barbara Atwood ran the event. The for a time it was chaired by Bruce Henry Simonds with the help of Cliff Batchelder, Craig Jewett, John “Jack” Shafer, and many Club Members. Currently the event is organized and chaired by Donal Clark, with the help of Serge Turcotte as the offical to weigh and measure. Members assist with the stocking of the fish before the event, getting donations of prizes for the kids and cooking the hotdogs to go with the chips and drinks. A cake for dessert is a big hit with all attending.
Another club function is the New Hampshire Hunter Safety Course. There was both a regular course and one for archery hunters. This is required to obtain a N.H. hunting license. The class is well attended each year and was usually held in the month of August. It was run by John Shafer and other members for several years. At one time Cliff Batchelder was in charge the of regular program and Lewis Mardin the bow program.
With the changing times the New Hampshire Hunter Safety Course has now available and On-Line Course as well as a 2 day in person course. These are both held twice a year, in April and August. The on-line course does require the individual to take a one day field course. Members of the club take training to be certified to assist with the instruction of the field day course.