The Berkshire County League of Sportsmen (BCLS) has announced the recipients of its prestigious Silvio O. Conte awards. Michael Buffoni of Stockbridge was selected to receive the 2012 Sportsman of the Year Award. Mike has been a member of the Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club (SSC) for more than 20 years, serving as its VP or on its Board for more than 10 of those years. Some of his accomplishments are: Organized and hosted a day for SSC Fresh-Air Kids, organized and participated in the club’s Youth Turkey Hunt Mentoring Program, Co-Chair of the club’s Gun-a-Day sweepstakes, Co-Chair of the Skip Whalen Ice Fishing Derby, runs the club’s Youth Rifle League and is the leader of the club’s Youth Archery program which has seen 700 kids enjoy the joy of shooting under his mentorship.
Karen Kruszyna, of Cheshire, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a member of many organizations including the Adams Outdoor for Youth (AOFY), Adams Agricultural Fair Committee and is a Board member of the Cheshire Rod & Gun Club. She does much to get kids of this county outdoors. She is always there to help out at the annual Youth Outreach Fishing Derbies at Reynolds Pond in Cheshire, the BCLS functions such as the Conte Banquet, the AOFY fund raisers and more. She is an avid sportsperson and as you may recall received an award from the Mass Division of Marine Fisheries in 2012 for catching the largest striped bass in the state that year in the women’s category.
Mikel Moss of Sutton, MA, will receive the John Zuber Outstanding Achievement Award. This new award was named in honor of Zuber who was a renowned sportsman from Pittsfield who passed away in 2012. Moss has been the President of the Massachusetts Sportsmen’s Council for 17years and has fought for sportsmen’s rights for over 50 years. He has received his share of awards from sportsmen’s clubs and county leagues from across the state. Some of them include the Raymond L. Gribbons Conservation Award, Sportsman of the Year Awards from Mass Bowhunters, Beach Buggy Assn., Worcester Surfcasting Club, Essex County, Plymouth County and many others. I’m sure that this award will have special meaning to Mike as he was a longtime personal friend of Zuber who was a BCLS delegate to the Mass Sportsmen’s Council for many years.
The Berkshire Natural Resources Council will be the recipient of the Sportsmen’s Appreciation Award. This organization, established in 1967 is responsible for acquiring and or preserving for open space and passive recreation more than 6,466 acres of land here in the Berkshires, and that doesn’t even include the 600 acre conservation easement it is currently trying to secure on land in the Otis-Tyringham area. Need I write any more?
These richly deserved awards will be presented at the Silvio O. Conte Memorial Dinner at the Cheshire Rod and Gun Club on April 20. Tickets can be obtained from any BCLS delegate. *****
Mass. DFW, through Novi Systems, a third party online survey company, has been sending out electronic hunter surveys to approximately 32,000 licensed hunters. The survey is designed to understand hunter efforts and preferences and to collect important local “on-the-ground” information for managing game in the Commonwealth. The survey takes approximately 5-15 minutes to complete and all responses will remain anonymous. Over the last few weeks any sporting or hunting license holder with an email address in the MassFishHunt system should have received an email invitation from Novi Survey with a link to the invitation. Surveys are being sent out in batches through the end of March to prevent them from being treated as spam. A reminder will be emailed to those license holders who have not responded within a week. *****
The Lee Sportsmen’s Association is holding a NRA Basic Pistol course on March 25 and 28 from 5 to 9 pm. The cost is $100 which includes LSA membership. Preregistration is required by calling Larry at (413)442-7807. *****
BCLS President Mark Jester is organizing a bus trip to Boston on Wednesday April 3, for the GOAL Rally on the Common in support of the Second Amendment. The bus will leave Pittsfield approximately 8:00 a.m. and return the same day around 6:30 p.m. The estimated cost would be somewhere between $25 – $35 pp on a full bus of 54 people. He needs a head count before this Wednesday. Contact him at 413-499-8482, 413-822-7243 or mpjester60@hotmail.com if you plan on going.
Pictured above is 10 year old Nathan Armstrong of Lenox who caught the big fish in the Lenox Sportsmen’s Club ice fishing derby, an Atlantic salmon weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring 29 inches. He is holding the fish with his two brothers Brendon and Ricky, and his dad Rick and Uncle Harold Armstrong.