President Pro Tempore Bryan Slaba called the Wagner Rotary Club to order on Wednesday, October 9th. He was reluctant to use the new bell and opted to put out the old bell for a nice ring.

Rotarian Bill Heermann was called upon to give a blessing and he gave thanks for the sunshine of today, the food and asked the Holy Spirit to guide us on our work in our community.

Fr. Jim Friedrich was a guest of Francis Doom today. Rotarian Laurie Kidd played a familiar tune from grade school, 4-H, Camps, etc. and had Rotarians use the motions also in “If You Are Happy, Clap Your Hands, Stomp Your Feet, and Holler Rotary”. The Rotary song for the day was “Roll Rotary”.

The winner of a chance at winning the new Queen of Hearts pot was Amanda Bechen and sadly she drew an Ace of Diamonds. If she had won, it would have been $15.00 which Patty Frei recorded as the collection for the day. Frei also reported that Pastor Bill’s team has officially lost the attendance race with a total of 15 misses. Pastor Laurie’s team had some makeups and her final total was 11 misses. The steak meeting is next Wednesday courtesy of Bill’s team. However, Laurie’s team had 7 absences for the day while Bill’s team only had 1 absence. Football winners were Roger Sailor sold by Kathe Henke and Dr. Jay Fitzgerald sold by Becky Brunsing.

Other business consisted of Rotarian Laurie Kidd issuing a challenge/invitation to the club members to attend an event at the United Methodist Church in Wagner on Thursday, October 31st. She presented a flyer from the Tyndall Rotary Club who sponsors this event in Tyndall and announced that our Rotary members were all welcome to come to the local UMC this Halloween for a “Trunk & Treat”. It is an event that has been held for several years now and is really growing.

Rachel Woods informed the club that the Wagner City Council had approved our proposal for a good shade shelter at the Hennies Baseball Field, so our project is a go. Laura Wright informed everyone that the Citizen of the Year which is sponsored by Rotary has application forms online or you may contact Laura for an application. The nominations are due by the end of the month.

Program Chairman of the Day Jordan Weber introduced Erik Cimpl to the club. Erik is the owner of Cimpl Made Hunts which he founded in 2014. Erik is the son of Dan and Kelly Cimpl and in addition to his hunting endeavors he farms with his father.

Erik graduated from Wagner Community School and pursued his initial career before moving back to Wagner and establishing himself at a farm located southeast of Wagner where his grandparents and great grandparents lived. Nancy Cimpl and the late Mike Cimpl previously resided there before Erik returned.

Erik has turned the house into a lodging facility which will hold 13 people. He also has a shed that he turned into a kennel/dog facility. There is room for eight dogs. The hunting customers really enjoy the quiet country atmosphere where they can board their dogs and prepare their own meals and relax after a day of hunting.

Cimpl said at the beginning of his business he attended a hunting and fishing exposition held in Kansas City, Missouri. It was an expensive venture but has paid him back many times over as the groups he contracted to come to South Dakota to hunt are return customers every year. There are three main hunting months; October, November, and December.

Erik established his food plots right away and keeps them separate from the farming plots to protect the crops from damage and this allows him to also improve the plots and design them to his satisfaction. He avoids over hunting his plots in order to keep the birds in his area and to replenish his broods. Cimpl releases about 1,200 birds a year. Last year was his biggest release of 1,500 birds. 2,000 birds are too many. A good crop of birds is about 90% hens and when they arrive at 8 weeks old, he starts releasing a few hundred every day. Decreasing the amount of birds in the coop allows the other birds to grow faster and the released birds start becoming adapted to the outdoors.

Erik asked some questions of the group which members did have the answers to=What is the opening date for pheasant season? Answer: The third Saturday in October. How many season openings are there? Answer: 3—a youth season, resident season, and the third season non-residents are allowed into SD to hunt. Erik is totally booked for this year’s hunts.

Other programs for the youth in South Dakota to participate in shooting were discussed and the club adjourned in its usual fashion of singing “America”.