Safari Club International Sponsors 23rd Annual Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Banquet
Safari Club International 09.11.12
Safari Club International (SCI) will co-host the VIP Reception and the 23rd Annual Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Banquet and Auction Gala on Wednesday, September 19 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
“As a Diamond Sponsor of Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, we are proud to once again help host the largest gathering of sportsmen and women in Washington, DC.,” said SCI President John Whipple. “For nearly 25 years, CSF has maintained a vision that has delivered bi-partisan trust to the hunters and anglers who recognize the importance of federal policy on their outdoor heritage.”
“CSF’s leadership allows for bi-partisan and bi-cameral legislation to move through an otherwise divided Congress,” concluded Melissa Simpson, SCI Director of Government Affairs and CSF Board Member.
The annual banquet represents one of the largest gatherings of policymakers, sportsmen’s organizations, conservationists, alongside the fishing, firearms and ammunition, and angling industry representatives.
To learn more about the incredible bi-partisan efforts of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, please go to www.sportsmenslink.org.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
