Remembering an Ambassador

NWTF volunteers are the glue that hold the organization together, and having strong leaders is crucial for success. In the Northeast, a precedent was set by Jerry Zimmerman who taught the entire region what it meant to be a passionate leader committed to the NWTF mission, inspiring turkey hunters and conservationists to get involved.

Zimmerman tragically died in a car accident in 2006, and that loss is still felt by many, but they have continued to keep Zimmerman’s spirit alive in everything they do.

After Zimmerman passed away, his hometown NWTF chapter, the Lehigh Valley Longbeards, changed its name to the Jerry Zimmerman Memorial Chapter in his honor. One of the chapter’s founding members, Bob Schwalm, has been involved since 1998 and learned much from Zimmerman.

“Starting a new chapter is always a challenge, but with Jerry; he made it so much fun,” Schwalm said. “When I first came on board, I met Don Heckman, who was with Jerry, and I introduced myself. I said, ‘Hey, I just became a banquet chairman, what do I do?’ And Heckman said, ‘Whatever you do, have fun, and when you stop having fun, don’t do it anymore.’ Working with Jerry at a banquet was so much fun. He was motivational, passionate and enthusiastic.”

It has been more than two decades since he joined the NWTF, and Schwalm is still at the helm of one of the nation’s most successful chapters, because it never stopped being fun. Schwalm remembers how much Zimmerman loved his job and how he was deeply passionate about the wild turkey. His personal mission statement was God, country, kids and wild turkey habitat, which is something Schwalm still lives by today.

Scott Wojton, now an NWTF regional director, was also a volunteer with the Lehigh Valley Chapter during Zimmerman’s time.

“Jerry had a very big personality,” Wojton said. “He was easily recognizable, he always had a smile on his face, and he’d brighten any room. On banquet days, he was personable and friendly, but also stern and made sure that we were on the right track. He was also the auctioneer at our banquet, which was pretty unique.”

Zimmerman was an avid turkey hunter, and his hunting camp was close to where Wojton started turkey hunting. They would always trade stories and wish each other luck in the woods.

“I always looked up to him because he had been hunting for a long time and working for the NWTF,” Wojton said. “He was, in my opinion, the ultimate ambassador.”

As an NWTF regional director, Wojton now works with some of the same volunteers who have been with the organization for decades, and he sees the impact Zimmerman has made on all of them.

“He recruited all of these people to become part of this mission, and these folks are still involved today,” he said.

Similar to Wojton, Ray Smith was a volunteer and chapter president under Zimmerman who became an NWTF regional director in Zimmerman’s place. At the time, Smith never could’ve imagined he would be the person to take Zimmerman’s place but was honored to be filling his shoes.

“I really felt the only way that I could honor him was to continue to do what he had done and pick up right where he left off with growth, passion and excitement,” Smith said.

As a volunteer, Smith remembers Zimmerman as a jokester. Whether they were planning a banquet or attending an NWTF leadership training, Zimmerman loved to laugh and make jokes. He was a friend that all his volunteers could trust, and he was someone that made volunteering for the NWTF fun and engaging. But even with all that humor, he prioritized his passion for the wild turkey to succeed, and to do that, he worked hard to recruit more volunteers and ambassadors.

One of those recruits was Skip Motts. In 1989, he was interested in taking his NWTF membership to the next level and volunteering, but the closest chapter to him was over an hour away. That’s when he saw an NWTF advertisement in Pennsylvania’s local Turkey Talk magazine with Zimmerman’s contact information.

Motts called the number just to ask for advice, but in a matter of months, he became the president of a new chapter about to host his first banquet. From there, Motts went on to join the Pennsylvania NWTF Board of Directors, and he continued to grow closer to Zimmerman over the years.

In the early 2000s, the two gentlemen went on a hunt together in Montana, which allowed Motts to harvest his first Merriam’s wild turkey. The turkey is still mounted in his office today, symbolically watching over him as he works with volunteers as the current NWTF regional director for western Pennsylvania and western New York.

Motts, Smith, Wojton and the rest of the NWTF staff were excited to announce that the NWTF Pennsylvania State Chapter will be erecting a memorial for Zimmerman at Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, in 2027, to celebrate his legacy. The dedication will include the Zimmerman memorial bronze legacy turkey sculpture that was originally at NWTF headquarters in Edgefield, South Carolina.

The Zimmerman memorial will be a part of a state-specific dedication, following in the footsteps of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Countless major donors and partners will be honored on dedication plaques that will also be showcased at the Cabela’s in Hamburg, celebrating the NWTF’s mission and the history of wild turkey conservation in the Keystone State. For anyone looking to participate, reach out to Sean Langevin, NWTF director of annual giving, with questions at slangevin@nwtf.net.

The memorial has been an opportunity for some volunteers in the region to recall some of their favorite memories with Zimmerman. But for other volunteers, there isn’t a day that goes by that he isn’t remembered.

“I’m honored that our chapter gets to carry the Jerry Zimmerman name for the NWTF,” Schwalm said. “All of our outreach events, they all come from what Jerry taught us. It feels like Jerry’s still with us. He’s in everything we do. In my mind, everything I do, Jerry’s right beside me, and I can always see that smile of his. And I know he’s proud of us.”