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Story here: http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2007/12/13/news/local_news/news01.txt
The Citizen said:Making history
BY Christopher Caskey / The Citizen
Thursday, December 13, 2007 9:44 AM EST
SENNETT - When someone thinks of a sportsmen's club member, an image might come to mind of a man who likes to hunt. Dottie Wells does not fit that image. She obviously is not a man, and she doesn't hunt.
Yet the Brutus resident was recently chosen to be the Falcon Sportsmen Club's next president. On top of that, she will be the club's first female president in its more than 50 year history.
“It's not that I had this burning desire to be president of the club,” said Wells, who has been a member and on the organization's board of directors for more than 15 years. “But I know I can run a meeting.”
She can also shoot. Wells is a member of the club's trap shooting team, and has been involved with trap shooting since the 1970s.
She got into the sport through her husband, Don, who is an avid hunter and is also the trap team's captain.
Wells said she has never been much of a hunter, and she was “scared to death of guns” since she was young. But trap shooting - a sport where participants shoot clay pigeons with a shotgun - gave her a chance to spend time with Don. She even got to be pretty good at it.
“We have plaques and trophies in the back of the clubhouse. My name is on a couple of them,” said Wells, who is a retired legal secretary. “I beat Don sometimes, but he gets me most of the time.”
Located on Turnpike Road in Sennett, the Falcon Sportsmen Club takes up 45 acres that include shooting and archery ranges, as well as a catch-and-release fishing pond for its more-than 1,000 members. Every year, the club also holds two popular events for the public - a family fishing derby and a turkey shoot.
The organization also participates in conservation efforts with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and organizes a number of scholarships and safety and training courses each year.
Along with shooting for the trap team and serving as a director, Wells volunteers much of her time for the club's events. She cooks for hundreds of people when the club hosts a trap shoot.
She participates in the club's pheasant program, helping to raise the birds until they are released every year in November.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Dottie Wells stands at the Falcon Sportsmen Club, in Sennett, on Tuesday afternoon. Wells was recently elected president of the club and will be the first woman to hold the position.
“(Dottie) is a sports person. She enjoys all sports, and she actively encourages all sporting activity,” said Lorenzo D. Farnham III, a member of the club's board of directors. “We wanted her to be president because of her abilities. It doesn't make any difference if she is a woman or not.”
However, Farnham said that he hopes Wells' position will encourage more diversity among the club's membership and officers. There is currently only one other female member on the board.
“We're desperately trying to get more family participation,” Farnham said. “This is a family club.”
For Wells, it is also a social club. It a place to take her black lab puppy, Jasper, to play with other dogs, or to grab a cup of coffee in the morning and shoot the breeze - even if it is mostly with men.
“I'd love to see more women in the club,” Wells said. “Maybe we'll be able to keep these men in line.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or [email protected]
To learn more
For more information about the Falcon Sportsmen Club, visit www.falconsportsmenclub.org or call 252-0014.
Good article.