There is an old saying that goes, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it

The Ormsby Sportsmen's Association (OSA), a sportsmen's club for local hunters and fishermen, has been a fixture in Carson City and in the State of Nevada since way the mid-1940's.

That's more than 60 years of continuous existence!

In that time, it has achieved a status as one of the largest and most active outdoor organizations in the entire state.

Through those many years, it has been involved in a multitude of worthwhile activities such as:

"The Goose Nest Project" in Washoe Valley, hawk stands in Washoe Valley, construction of "Guzzlers" for birds and wildlife, annual planting of trout in Ash Canyon Creek, "Adopt-A-Highway cleanup, and financial support for such entities as: Operation Game Thief, the Nevada Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, the Carson Valley Chukar Club, the USFS Outdoor Workshop for youths, etc.

For as long as I can remember (I am an "Old Geezer," so I go back a long ways!), OSA has met on a monthly basis on the third Tuesday in January-May at the Carson Nugget Convention Center, held monthly picnics on the third Tuesdays in June-September at Mills Park and finished the year with its annual banquet on the first Saturday in December at the Nugget.

And, for as long as I can remember, it has charged an astonishing, low, $5 per year for adult membership and $2.50 for youngsters under the age of 16.

I joined OSA many years ago, and have had the honor and pleasure of serving in every office, including two different occasions as president, and have also been one of a very few to be chosen as a Honorary Life Member.

So, it was with more than just a passing interest that I recently learned there is a movement to change the OSA meeting dates.

There is a proposal to change the club's by-laws, which would convert the meetings from once a month to once a quarter (once every three months).

The logic behind this proposal seems to be that if the club members are not attending the meetings, they will be more inclined to attend if they are held once a quarter.

I personally think that logic is flawed. In my less-than-humble opinion, what is needed is better monthly programs that will bring members to the meetings rather than fewer meetings. That just makes good, common sense.

Many years ago, another large Nevada sportsmen's organization changed its meetings from once a month to a quarterly basis, because they, too, were concerned that not enough members were attending its monthly meetings.

That radical change seriously affected the club (which shall remain unnamed) and to this date, it still has not returned to the successful status it had previously enjoyed.

I fear that OSA will face that same fate by making that same type of change.

I think that if a club's members are not attending meetings, then the club should determine why they are not in attendance, rather than changing meeting dates.

I once read, somewhere, a long time ago, that the national average for club attendance at meetings is only 10 percent of their membership. In the case of OSA, that monthly attendance is certainly much more than 10 percent.

The proposal to change the by-laws will be brought up for a vote by the paid-up OSA members, who are present at the February regular club meeting (Feb. 21).

From a personal point of view, I, for one, would hate to see 60 years of successful club existence jeopardized for the sake of a change.

I plan to be at that Feb. 21 meeting to voice my opposition to that proposal and to vote against it.

I'm voting "No," because I distinctly remember an old saying that goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Makes sense to me!

OSA has been working very well, thank you, for 60 years. So, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

If you are a paid-up member of OSA, plan to attend the meeting on February 21. Then, whichever way you think is proper, be prepared to vote either "Yes" or "No" on that proposed change to the by-laws.

And, before I forget, the guest program for that evening will be Carol Bailey of Washoe Valley with a dynamite color slide program in the Brown Bears of KatmaI, Alaska.

Geez, that program, alone, is reason enough to attend.

• Bet Your Favorite Pigeon

Bet your favorite pigeon he can't tell you who are some of the other Honorary Life members of OSA.

If he grins and says, "Dick Biggs, Norm Budden, Cookie Callahan, Larry Callahan, Tom Cavin, Andy Gotelli, Bob McCulloch, Don Quilici and George Wilkerson," he could be one of them.

• Don Quilici is the Outdoors editor for the Nevada Appeal.