Jim Daniels(top left), Gretchen Scheider(bottom left), R. Charles McLravy(center), Bill Fischer(Top right), Steve Schneider(bottom right).
Michigan Pheasants Forever recently named these five inductees to its PF State Hall of Fame.
By Bill VanderZouwen, Michigan Regional Representative
JIM DANIELS helped start Michigan’s first Pheasants Forever chapter in April 1983. He served as president, vice president and treasurer of the Jackson Chapter. Jim also served as State Council president for six years. In 2005 he relocated to Gladwin and joined their chapter, where he has served as treasurer. While in Jackson, he signed a contract with the Michigan DNR to cooperate in the Sichuan pheasant project. A lot of questions were answered about pheasants and their nesting habits. While State Council president, the seed distribution idea formed and became part of Michigan’s habitat program. Some Pheasant Forever Signature seed mixes came from a DNR/State Council research program at Rose Lake. Jim says, “I feel proud to be a member of our nation’s leading habitat organization and enjoy working with all chapter members and our Pheasants Forever representatives.” Jim is our longest serving Michigan Pheasants Forever chapter volunteer, is a member of the Long Spur Society, and was previously presented with a Michigan Pheasants Forever Lifetime Service Award.
BILL FISCHER attended his first Pheasants Forever banquet in 2008 and joined the Saginaw Chapter board in 2010. Bill became the chapter’s youth chair in 2011. He held Learn to Hunt events, Family Fun Nights and school programs. Bill has been the president of the Saginaw Chapter since 2013. In 2015, Bill was contracted by Pheasants Forever to run the Great Outdoor Jamboree at Lake Hudson State Recreation area. In 2016, he was hired to serve as the Pheasants Forever Michigan education & outreach coordinator. As the outreach coordinator, he works with chapters, Michigan DNR and other partners to hold Learn to Hunt events, Women on the Wing events, Pollinator Habitat events, Outdoor Jamborees, wingshooting classes, State Park Pheasant Fridays and other R3 events across the state. He regularly pulls the BB gun trailer to events around Michigan. He has served on State Council, helped at many chapter banquets, and is a Pheasants Forever Life Member.
GRETCHEN SCHNEIDER has assisted the Washtenaw chapter since their first banquet in 1987 and has served as chapter secretary since 2013. Gretchen mentored a PF education & outreach staffer and assisted with the Great Outdoors Jamboree. Gretchen has served in State Council since 2011. Her creativity and talents proved highly valuable in her administration of our state web page and Facebook, crafting statewide newsletters and state convention publicity, designing legislative handouts and so much more … all with that trademark smile and most pleasant of personalities. Gretchen shows all of us that a person doesn’t need to lead a chapter or the state council to have a huge impact. She has been a most valuable volunteer for the Michigan regional representative for at least seven years. Gretchen is also a Patron Member of Pheasants Forever.
STEVE SCHNEIDER is a founding member of the Washtenaw Chapter that started in 1987. He was elected as chapter president and served as the first banquet chair. He served as president all but one year from 1987 to 2011. Steve has served as chapter treasurer from 2013 to present. Steve also served as state council chair for 14 years, where he worked to help staff accomplish our mission and bring volunteers together toward common cause. He currently serves as vice president of State Council. Steve previously received the Leadership Award at a Michigan Pheasants Forever State Convention. Steve’s conviction and generosity are also seen in his Pheasants Forever Patron Membership.
R. CHARLES McLRAVY served as the first president of the Ingham Chapter for 15 years. It is a chapter known for holding Michigan’s largest banquets with highest memberships. He recently started and serves as president for the Capital City Chapter, whose goal is entirely to raise substantial funds for state and national programs. Charlie is a humble, generous person, often donating valuable guns he has won for chapter fund-raising. He has modeled the way for all of us in his most generous contribution to the Call of the Uplands® Campaign. Charlie represented us well in his 19-year service (5 years as chair) on the Pheasants Forever National Board, during a time of amazing growth. Charlie says, “I’ve made lifelong friends who share a passion for conservation and the outdoors. Pheasants Forever has been, far and away, one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done.” Charlie is Michigan’s only Patron Member in both Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever.
This story originally appeared in the 2022 Winter Issue of the Pheasants Forever Journal. If you enjoyed it and would like to be the first to read more great upland content like this, become a Pheasants Forever member today!