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General Information:

Next Meeting: Our next General Membership Meeting will be held January 9th at the Elk's Lodge on A1A. Because the Elk's are now having Bingo on Tuesday nights, we will be meeting in the Small Room (Dining Room). Please enter through the Bar (awning entry) on the South side of the building.

Christmas Meeting: Our Christmas Meeting was held December 12th. Any one that did not attend sure missed a great party. Joel and Carmel decorated the tables and 16 lucky winners took home the poinsettia decorations. Good job!

Santa made his annual appearance and all of the kids that attended received presents for being good this year. Thanks Ed, Bert, and Lois.

Thanks to all who donated items and bought tickets for the "Basket of Cheer". Pat King was the lucky winner. When's the party?? Thanks also to First Coast Trailers (Chuck and Carmen Dykes) and Vince's Sports Room Restaurant and Pub for their donations to Al's raffle. Proceeds of the Christmas raffles were donated to the "Empty Stocking Fund." This year we raised $836.00 for this charity. Outstanding!!!

Bill Phillips and his crew prepared the turkey, venison, and ham. Thanks all of those who volunteered to bring covered dishes. There was no food leftover so I think everyone enjoyed it. I know I did.

Program: Carl Pecora will talk and demonstrate Bottom Fishing Techniques.

Snacks: Rusty Russell has volunteered to provide snacks.

Membership: Don't forget to invite a friend to our meetings. REMINDER: Dues for new members are ½ price starting now thru May 31, 2001. We also need your help with getting our former members back to the Club. This years activities are going to be FUN!!!

Membership Drawing: Congratulations to Dick and Betty Newton who won the $100.00 drawing. They very graciously donated it to the "Empty Stocking Fund". This brought our total donation to $936.00. Terry Moore, Ed Gingras, and Frank & Janet Booth missed out on the drawing because they were not present. Be there this month for $100.00. You must be present to win.

Raffles: Al Cumbie will have a variety of items and gift certificates for you to win.

Web Page: Roger Crossman is working very hard with our designer on the Web Page. The page is up and "under construction". We will be asking for photos and fishing input from you. If you mail photos that you want returned, please include a stamped envelope or we will return them at a meeting.

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Angler of the Month: Congratulations to Charlie Kudlo who had the largest (2.1 lbs) Pompey Drum weighed-in this month. He and Wally Springstead (8.06 lb Redfish) tied with 2 points but Charlie's card had the earliest postmark. Three cards were turned-in this month; one of those did not meet the minimum weight.

TFRD Tournament: The annual Trout, Flounder, Redfish, and Drum Tournament will be conducted January 1st thru March 31st, 2001. Sign up at the meeting. Rules are enclosed.

Right Whale Watcher! Happy right whale season to you! The North Atlantic right whales are headed our way once again from December 1, 2000 - March 31, 2001. There have already been seven sightings in Georgia and Florida. The sighting hotline (1-888-97WHALE or 1-888-979-4253) is already in service and awaiting calls from sightings! If you call the hotline to report a right whale sighting, you will be instructed to leave your name, phone number, and location and they will call you right back. Please remember to make the reports as soon as you see the whale(s) if possible. This will enable them to notify local ship traffic so the chances of a collision are reduced. Also, please note how many whales there are, if any of them appear to be calves, which direction they are swimming, or if there are other animals or boats in the area.

Right whales are pretty easy to identify. Here is what distinguishes a right whale from all other whales:
1. White callosities (rough, raised patches of skin) on the head
2. Short, stubby pectoral flippers (on the sides of the body where we have arms)
3. Triangular-shaped tail with a deep notch in the middle and black on both sides
4. NO dorsal fin (on its back)
5. V-shaped spout from blowhole

Corrections: I hope I don't have to include this paragraph every month. Sorry for the screw-ups.
I won't even try to explain how they happened.

December Angler of the Month, Melissa Cumbie, also entered a 28.6 lb Amberjack last month. I neglected to include it on the Angler of the Month (now 18 points) and Year End Board (1st Place Amberjack)

Michael Cornett is the Men's Angler-of-the-Year leader with 6 points. I failed to include his 1st place Jack Crevalle, which I had listed under Mike Cornett, in his total points

Enclosures: A Chart of Fish Cards sorted by Month (for those who asked for it), TFRD Rules, Year-End-Board, Boat-of-the-Year, and Angler-of-the-Month standings. If there are any errors please call me or tell me at the next meeting. - Jim Blalock

ACGFA Logo Contest: Our official club logo was designed in 1958 and updated in 1974. It contains a Tarpon and Sailfish leaping above the City Gates. The Tarpon and Sailfish represented the "game fish" that were plentiful and caught in large numbers at the time. The Board of Directors is considering changing the logo to bring the design up to the type fishing we are targeting today. Some suggestions were Kingfish, Dolphin, Trout, and Redfish with the Old Fort, Bridge of Lions, Lighthouse, and City Gates as backgrounds. The Board has authorized a Logo Contest for members with a Years Free ACGFA Membership as a prize. Additional information will be provided at the next meeting.

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This is a picture of some of the ACGFA workers that punched holes, filled gallon cans with concrete, banded, and prepared over 5,000 Tires. These along with 2 Cars, 2 Small Fishing boats on a Trailer, Miscellaneous Fiberglass Molds, and a Wooden Boat, were loaded on a U.S. Navy Barge and deposited on Pop Warner Reef. The project took 3 years of preparation, 3 days of loading, and 45 minutes to unload. Unfortunately, most of the tires and materials drifted or covered with sand in a short period of time. This is one reason why they use concrete now!!

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