9-22-2008
Aldo Leopold Award Winner and Past TWS President, James E. Miller, will be donating one rifle and two shotguns of historic significance to The Wildlife Society to raise funds to grow TWS’ membership. These guns were previously owned by valued colleagues of Jim’s and were all past Aldo Leopold Award winners: Larry Jahn, John Gottschalk, and Jack Berryman. Jim has also pledged an additional gun from his collection, yet to be identified. Guns will be donated, one per year, commencing with a collector shotgun owned by Larry Jahn, that will be raffled at the annual meeting in Miami. he Jahn gun is a 20-gauge, Winchester Classic (over/under) Shotgun with 26” ventilated rib barrels, highly engraved with single adjustable trigger, auto ejectors, and a beautifully figured walnut stock and forearm with internal choke tubes in “Like New Condition” (see photo). The collector value of this special shotgun is approximately $ 4,000! “Certificates of authenticity,” prepared by Jim describe the history of the firearms and include some pertinent information on their previous owners. These will be printed on TWS letterhead, signed by Jim, and framed. In addition, TWS President Dan Svedarsky has donated a fitted luggage style canvas and leather case for the shotgun.The raffle will be managed by the conference hosts, the Florida Chapter of TWS, with Steve Rockwood as the coordinator. Raffle tickets are available only during the conference, starting with the opening reception on Saturday evening. No purchase or contribution is necessary but we suggest a minimum donation as follows:
$10.00 for 1 ticket, $50 for 6 tickets, or $100 for 12 tickets.
Ticket distribution will end at noon Wednesday, November 12. The winning ticket will be drawn that evening, between 5:30 and 11:30 pm, at the Farewell Barbecue at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.
The winner does not have to be present to win but is responsible for arranging the transport of the gun home following all state and federal legal requirements. Tickets can be purchased for another person who may not be able to attend the conference. There are no restrictions on who may win the raffle prize other than the winner must be at least 18 years old.
All proceeds will be used for membership incentives to state and student chapters (separate competitions) based on new membership enrollments between September 1, 2008 and September 1, 2009. Cash awards (depending on amount raised by raffle) will be given to chapters for 1stthough 4th places. Use of these cash awards will be at the discretion of the chapters for promotion of membership and involvement in TWS. Nonmember meeting registration includes a one-year membership as an added bonus and these count toward the tally of memberships attributed to a state or student chapter. See the Florida Chapter-TWS web site, FLTWS.org, for more details on purchasing raffle tickets and for more details on the heritage gun, Larry Jahn, and Jim Miller. See also, “Annual Conference” on the TWS web site at wildlife.org.
On behalf of TWS, President Dan Svedarsky extends a huge thanks to Jim Miller for this generous donation to support TWS and membership growth.
For more information, contact: Darryl Walter at 301/897-9770 ext. 314; email: dwalter@wildlife.org, Dan Svedarsky, 218/281-8609; email: dsvedars@umn.edu, or Steve Rockwood, 321/726-2862; email: Steve.Rockwood@MyFWC.com.