**President’s Corner**

**September 2025**

It was great seeing everyone who was able to attend our September meeting!!!

We had a busy agenda that covered several topics as we get ready for another duck season. In normal fashion we had two NYS ECO’s join our meeting to review any changes for the upcoming season as well as answer any questions. They addressed a discrepancy that was published in the printed version of the New York Hunting & Trapping regulations guide which set the daily limit of mallards to 2 birds per day which is incorrect.

The daily limit for Mallards for the 2025-26 season is no more than 4 mallards (2 of which may be hens).

We also reviewed our summer activities which included our Summer Board Meeting, Annual Picnic as well as a recent outing to shoot sporting clays at Peconic River Sportman’s Club. I’d also like to acknowledge those who contributed their time and efforts to making these events possible.

Summer Board Meeting: Brent Salamone for hosting as well as all members of the Board who attended and contributed to a productive meeting.
Annual BBQ & Picnic: Co-chairs Kate Sohm & Allan “AJ” Pearsall, Ron Pliszak & Tommy Gresser for doing the cooking and anyone who lent a helping hand to make the event a big success.
Sporting Clays at PRSC: Ron Sineo, Bill Spadafora, John D’Avino & Bill McGinley who are all members of BOTH PRSC & SSWA for helping coordinate and taking out our members. While I was unable to attend I heard that everyone had a GREAT time.

There’s also been a lot of planning as we get the year off to a strong start. Past President Craig Kessler had a fantastic idea that became reality. The 1st ever Youth Waterfowl Weekend Grand Reunion recently took place on September 20th at Hubbard County Park. South Shore Waterfowler’s, in addition to Duck Unlimited, NYS DEC & Suffolk County Parks Department, is 1 of the original 4 organizations that’s been involved in this program since it started 28 years ago. Our very own Curt Matzinger has been a mentor every single year since it’s inception. The reunion gave all past and current mentors and students the opportunity to get together and celebrate the strong traditions of Long Island Waterfowling. Thanks to all of those who have ever been a mentor, gotten a youth involved in waterfowl hunting. I also appreciate those who took the time to plan, attend and celebrate the program as well as represent SSWA. They include Craig Kessler, Curt Matzinger, Kate Sohm, Ben Sohm, Adam Dean & Charles Miernicki. It was a fantastic day, we all had an opportunity to make some new connections, catch up with some familiar faces and hopefully gain some new members. If anyone is interested in being a mentor or knows of any youth that interested in this years program just respond to this email.

With that being said I’d like to talk about membership and a membership drive during the month of October that we’re running in order to promote the club and increase our ranks. As an organization we’re looking to strengthen our numbers , this will help us support club events that take place throughout the year. Besides, as a local organization we have the flexibility to have the types of events that our members are interested in doing, that’s why all of us are members. For any member in good standing that can get 2 new members to join the club, that member will get their membership for FREE. This was an idea that was discussed at the Summer Board Meeting and earned a unanimous vote in favor of the program.

Our next MAJOR event is the 45th Annual Duckboat Show & Waterfowl Festival which is taking place on Saturday, October 25th at Cedar Beach Marina. This is our organizations largest of the year and also are club’s largest fundraiser. Please get the word out to promote the show to your family and friends as well as anyone that you know including vendors. Vendors should contact Curt who is accepting payments, tables are assigned in the order that their payment is received.

I’d also like to discuss the help that is needed to run this event, this is NOT a 1 person show. We need members to step forward if we’re going to make this show enjoyable and a success for the club members as well as those who pay the price of admission. At last year’s show we found that we didn’t have enough help at any of the stations of the show. For those of us that “worked” at the show we found that we couldn’t step away to browse the show, get a cup of coffee or a much needed bathroom break . I don’t want to dwell on the past but we certainly don’t want a repeat of that this year. While we have some people who already stepped forward at our last meeting we need additional members that can help with the stations that will be at this years show. Any help whether its a full day or even just a few hours we be appreciated. The stations and the headcount needed to run a station include:

Front Gate (4 people)
Main Table (6 people)
Sporting Clays (5 people)
Duck Boat Show Judges (3 people)
Duck Head Painting (2 people)
Floaters that can go where they are needed
We’re also looking for someone that can do a duck calling seminar

See what it takes to do the show the right way? Please contact duck boat show chairman Curt Matzinger or myself if you can help out or if you have any questions.

Curt can be contacted at 631-355-6258

I can be contacted at 631-255-2162

One extra heads up that I’d like to give everyone is we have a vendor from New Jersey who will be bringing in bales of long cut salt hay. Considering how difficult it can be to find and cut salt hay these days if anyone would like to ensure they can have bags put aside please contact me. I’d be happy to share what a typical bag looks like and you can let me know how many bags you’d like me to let the vendor know about.

I look forward to see you all soon, our next regular meeting is Monday, October 6th at 7pm. Refer to the events page of the website for further details about our next meeting or other SSWA events and happenings.

Your President,

Steve Pliszak

President’s Corner September 2025

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