Sportsmen's Legacy Foundation honors past, ensures future

A nonprofit organization has taken flight in Lincoln.The Sportsmen's Legacy Foundation, now in its sixth year, recently presented scholarships to 10 Lincoln High School seniors and two Sierra College students for their work with wood ducks.The organization also honored posthumously two local sportsmen who were instrumental in promoting sportsmanship, education and wildlife conservation.2005-06 $500 scholarship recipientsLincoln High School:Joseph A. ArmstrongAnastasia G. BakosKelsey A. CroallHarrison S. EideMike HillDaniel F. MaldonadoYolanda PlascenciaGarrett R. SnyderSarah M. StewartWilliam S. ZumaltSierra College:Dan SederquistJessica TaxHonored sportsmen2006: Jarol Jansen and Vincent Noyes2005: Everett Hendrickson and Cedo Besana2004: Brue Childs and Hal Weygandt2003: Orrin Hoffman and Primo Santini Sr.2002: John Garcia and Tom Floratos2001: John Garcia"(The foundation) helps memorialize local sportsmen in our community," said Mark Fowler, a foundation director. "And it recognizes students who are involved in our wood duck next box program."Rick Hoffman, current chairman of the foundation, was instrumental in getting the organization started, noted Fowler. There are about a dozen active members in the group, all of whom are avid hunters and fishermen who also care about wildlife conservation.A big part of the foundation's efforts center around its emphasis on youth. The foundation's goal focuses on building its scholarship fund, which provides $500 scholarships to Lincoln High School natural history students who pursue full-time college studies in wildlife biology or conservation.Among the requirements to receive a scholarship, students must participate in a community conservation effort by installing, maintaining and monitoring wood duck nesting boxes.From January to the end of June, the students regularly monitor the nesting boxes, Fowler said. They keep track of the eggs as well as the number of wood ducks that hatch.The nesting boxes are located at the high school farm and two offsite locations - one is located at the Ride to Walk facility on Highway 193 and the other is at the Jerry Weygandt ranch on Doty Ravine, noted Pat McCartney, another foundation director.Last year, students monitored nesting boxes that produced 954 eggs and 546 ducklings.Besides monitoring the nesting boxes, students also might write and submit an essay, and they must enroll in college to receive their scholarship.To help fund the scholarships, the foundation holds two major fund-raisers.One is a sporting clay shoot, which was on the Saturday before Mother's Day. The event attracted 175 people, McCartney said, of which 155 were shooters. Participants paid a $100 donation to compete. At the shoot, the foundation also held prize drawings."We raise enough to take care of the kids," McCartney said of the fund-raiser.The foundation also participates in a breakfast, co-hosted by Placer County Supervisor Robert Weygandt and Lincoln City Councilman Primo Santini. For two years, Weygandt and Santini have charged $100 a plate for the fund-raiser, with all proceeds going to the foundation.The foundation also accepts donations. McCartney noted Wal-Mart donated $1,000 this year, as did the local Kokanee fishing group.In a letter to potential donors, Hoffman said, "our efforts are making a difference in the lives of students and for wildlife."Besides the scholarships, the foundation also pays tribute to local sportsmen who have sought to make a difference. The two sportsmen honored this year are the late Jarol H. (Jerry) Jansen and the late Vincent L. (Vinnie) Noyes, both lifelong Lincoln residents. Jansen was an avid hunter and fisherman. He belonged to Ducks Unlimited, the Sutter Buttes Hunting Club and Clay Cities Investment Group.Jansen's community activities included the Masons, Rotary and the Lincoln City Council, where he served as mayor. He helped establish and promote the Lincoln Riders' Club, and he helped financially support the efforts of youth groups, such as the 4-H Club and FFA.Noyes was known as an outstanding sportsman who "hunted everything there was to hunt and fished everything there was to fish," according to a press release. He served 10 years as rangemaster for the Lincoln Rifle Club. He also conducted .22-caliber rifle instruction in the basement of the Jansen building and at McBean Park. Noyes was an active member in the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department, the Native Sons of the Golden West and the American Legion Post 264. For his many contributions, he was named Lincoln's Mr. Community Service in 1990. Noyes also was a member of the Rocklin SIRs, the Camp Far West Trailer Club and the Beale Pheasant Club.Besides Hoffman, Fowler and McCartney, the Sportsmen's Legacy Foundation Board of Directors include Secretary Wade Johnson, Treasurer Dave Inderkum and directors Butch Moulton, Robert Weygandt, Marty Jack, Jerry McCoun, Riley Swift, Ron Berg and Hank Sekoch.The foundation's motto is "Honoring the Past, Ensuring the Future."For more information about the foundation, or to make a donation, contact Hoffman at (916) 645-3689.- Richard Myers can be reached at richardm@goldcountrymedia.com.