About Us

The Making and History of the Huron Sportsman's Club

  The Huron Sportsman's Club started as an idea that a group of seven friends came up with while at a tavern. Clarence P.Z. Hermans, Stan Uchman, Ed Uchman, Cookie Samson, Russ Wilson, Glenn Hubert, and Norm Chesno were the gentleman who started it all. The idea started as a shooting club and a way to help provide a community service. Within three years the club grew to 30 members and was quickly gaining Michigan United Conservation Club (MUCC) status. 

The first meetings of the club were held in the back room of a local bar and the judges chambers at the town hall. It was during these meetings that they established the membership dues and the rules of the club. Around 1947 the club purchased land and built a little club house, which we now know today as our back room and the kitchen. 

During the 1950's there were hopes of expansion, so the fundraising began. Money was earned through 50/50 drawings, the annual Hunter's Ball, raffles, membership dues, and donations. Hosting carnivals and area home comings were also ways for making money for the Sportsman's club. Many times they also set up a booth to shoot clay pigeons.

Going into the 1960's there was an addition made to the hall. The new area with a concrete floor gave kids the opportunity to roller skate on Saturday afternoons, and gave the club a place to host the annual Hunters Ball and a variety of other dances including a Fisherman's dance that was hosted around the beginning of trout season. One of the main interests of the club has always been trap shooting and many times large amounts of ammunition was being blasted on Sunday afternoons. 

Community efforts began to increase in the 1970's. We donated to other local organizations such as the Good Fellows, and the Rotary. Members also organized an effort to clean up trash along the road side of Huron River Drive from Pennsylvania to King Road. This was also when we started the Hunters Safety Program. This program enables young kids to obtain knowledgeable information on the proper gun handling and hunting procedures. In order to obtain their certificates from this program, the kids have to attending training and complete a test that includes how to properly load, shoot, and disarm a shot gun. It was also during this time that the club sent a letter to the DNR suggesting that a fish ladder be installed in Flat Rock so larger fish could get able the dam and swim up the Huron River. 

Throughout the 1980's fundraising efforts began to include steak fry's and euchre tournaments. It was also during this time that the Sportsman's got involved with the Huron Apple Festival. Tractor pulls, steak dinners, and a booth for selling raffle tickets were just some of the activities they held and participated in during those times. They also won first place two years in a row for the best float in the parade!

Going into the 1990's there hadn't been any big changes except that the community had grown. Due to this, shooting at the club doesn't happen as often as it once did. A scholarship was established and an Outdoor Challenge for high school students through Huron High School. A camping club and a weekly golf league was started during these years. 

During the early 2000's things stayed consistent with the club in regards to all of the activities and community events. But the community was changing and growing. The club decided to make a change too.

   In 2020, the Huron Sportsman's club celebrated 75 years! In honor of that the little club house was renovated and remodeled. Two brand new bathrooms, a grand entrance, and a more spacious well lit parking lot. The anniversary celebration has been put on hold due to restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic, but we put on a celebration for all of our members a couple of years later to make up for the delay and ensure that this organization makes it another 75 years!