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WEEKS 1 AND 2 IN REVIEW
Looking back on the last several weeks makes me wonder where to begin. I have been neglecting the web site because of all the newsletter duties I picked up. Getting the information around for the matches has also been taking up some time. For the most part, I think things are about under control now. The first few weeks at any new job are usually a bit more exciting than the ones that follow. There's a lot of new faces handling the information end of things this year and looking at all the things that "could" have gone wrong, I think we've been pretty lucky so far.
I'd like to thank all the guys in the target room for making my life a lot simpler. They've made an outstanding effort getting the targets scored. Nobody is standing around and it's easy to find help when you need it. For those who have not noticed, the target room crew performs a miracle about every 15 minutes on match day. Give a hand to Gary Hendrix, Eric Springman, Eric Wolfgang and Ted Morgan. All I can say is if you're in relay 10 and you think you might make the shootoff, You'd better be cleaning your gun. Don't waste time after the cease fire because before you know it, you'll be shootin again or going to the pits. Thanks also to Joe, Frank and Matt for helping out in the target room so these guys don't pull their hair out from being in there all day long.
Kudo's also to Erin Moon and Vic Hakes for keeping the pits running as smooth as ever. There's been all sorts of troubles that could have bit us there which have been circumvented in a nick of time. Vic and Erin also did pit duty for the 600 yard match which went as smooth as any match I've ever seen. It's nice to have things that run "by themselves" and when they do, we take these folks for granted.
Sarah Morgan and Debbie Hendrix begin their day long before I arrive at the range and they're working till dark. Remember to say thanks to them also for everything they do. I know that if either one of them wasn't at the range, I'd have no idea where to begin when the day starts.
Last but not least, please smile at our rangemasters when you walk by the stand next week. Let em know you appreciate everything they're doing too. Mike and Bob have pulled a lot of duty in that shed trying to keep everyone safe and happy. Also, keeping the match moving along at an pleasureable pace.
I won't go into a lot of rhetoric about the results of the matches. Other than Heavy Gun week 2, I think the majority of the shooters would just as soon forget about these last two matches. Even many of the winners are not real thrilled with where they stand. It's been a rough few weeks. I feel bad for the people who had the unfortunate luck to be in the tougher relays. Lots of people came to the range as prepared as you can be and still ended up being blown off the paper in difficult conditions. All I can say is don't loose heart over it and enjoy the successes that come later in the season when things are not so rough.
I'm sure that I'll add to this news page later in the week. For now, I'll begin by including the newsletter articles from Frank and Joe. Once I read them, I'll continue on with whatever they forgot to mention. I'm only going to put in one bold print headline here. That will be a link to our weekly newsletter that from now on, will be available here on the news page. I might also make a seperate page for an archive of them. This file will be a PDF file exactly like the one sent to the printer for printing the hard copies of the newsletter. You are welcome to download this file and print your own newsletter IN COLOR if you wish. You may then staple it up and you'll have the newsletter the night or two after the match (if all things go as planned). For now, the plan is to have the newsletter ready by Tuesday night. There's no guarantee that it will be ready every single week, but we'll make every effort to get it done. Please remember that all the efforts by your President, Vice President, Treasurer and PR/Info persons are volunteer efforts to get this newsletter out in an acceptable time frame. It will take time before all the process is second-nature to this all-new newsletter crew. Rest assured, everyone is doing their best within their limits of time.
Week One Article from Joe and Frank
A Word From Joe:
Our work party was a success thanks to all the people who participated. Thanks to Henry Chiarkas for bringing his tractor which helped immensely with the work that had to be done. The holes in the back bank were all filled in, the target frames are all repaired, the flags were put out. It seems like the same guys show up every year and get it all done. The Bowers and the Johnsons were there, as usual. Wayne Burrows, Frank Grappone, Gary Hendrix, Ken Brucklacher, Wes and Eric Springman, Boyd Heaton, Ted Morgan. We have water thanks to Mark King. Bob Dupont put cleaning rod holders up on all the poles in the new cleaning pavilion and John Buhay put up holders in the old pavilion. There are more workers that I know I'm forgetting ( I should write this stuff down). Thanks to everyone for a job well done.
I can't say a big enough thank you to Phil Bower and Eric Wolfgang. We got the first match in because of them - they had to learn the system of setting things up and printing all the paperwork off and they are fast learners. Most people don't know the work they put in and the problems they solved on the fly to make it all happen. Phil continues to put in hours to make our new newsletter happen. Of course we have bugs to work out but I know by the time Phil is done we'll have a newsletter as great as our web site. Matt Dienes is working on getting the print copies done and in the mail. Please be patient, if it isn't all we want the first time it will only get better.
Shauna Hakes and Erin Moon put together a great cookbook. They're on sale for a very reasonable $10.00. Please buy a copy, or better yet, several copies. They make great gifts.
The 600 yard berm has been put in. Thank you to Ken Brucklacher, Eric Springman, Frank Grappone, Willie Williamson, Phil Bower, Shaun Heming, Gary Hendrix, Wayne Burrows and anyone I'm forgetting again. Let's hope that 600 yard shoot is a big success, it will mean more growth to our club and additional income. Ken came back on Sunday morning at 6 AM to clean up the front bank and clear the trees that blocked the view of #1 target. Now when you sit on number 1 you get a nice clear view. To watch Ken on that dozer was awesome, scary even. He knows how to operate that thing.
It was good to see all the guys and gals back again and to start our new season. I, along with a lot of others at the first match, are already out of the 2007 10 match agg race. That wind at our first match was brutal. Speaking of the gal shooters, it's unbelievable how, with so few of them shooting, so many of them get in the shoot offs. Check the relay winner pictures, you'll see what I mean. I believe there were 7, maybe 8, woman shooters and 5 were in shoot offs.
We heard the sad news of the deaths of some members this past year, Paul Dewalt, Walt Bryant, Harry Jones, Bob Williams. Our hearts go out to all the family and friends who miss them.
Joe Salt
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From Frank Grappone:
The thirty ninth season at the oldest thousand yard benchrest club in the world started off in a howling fashion. The wind as usual haunted the shooters all weekend and it was reflected in the results. It was the only time in Bob Aronson's memory that an extra sighter was given to shooters because every shot was blown off the target for the final shot in the fourth relay of the heavy gun relay. How about only one shooter having all ten shots on the paper in a relay and the next relay with only two. That's some wind!
The great part of the weekend was seeing old friends and hearing tales of what happened over the winter. I really believe that most of us genuinely enjoy the time we spend at the range as much as the competitive shooting.
600 Yard matches will start after the light gun shoot next match. The shooting procedures are on the wailing wall and will be explained again on the day of the shoot. For safety, we will close the range to all other shooting during the 600 yard match. We do not think it is safe to go down range to the 1000 yard targets during the match. We will review this decision but for the next match the range will be closed for 1000 yard shooting until the 600 yard match has finished. We plan on finishing by 7 PM. The gate will be closed and a sign posted to notify everyone that the pit area is off limits.
Shooting fees will be $15 per class. You may enter either light or heavy class or both. There will be no relay winners, only aggregate winners. You can pay your match fee the day of the match after 9 AM. There will be someone there to take your fee. Relays will be posted and shooting will start 1/2 hour after the light gun shootoffs. There is no pre-registration. We are trying to keep this as simple as possible
You will need enough ammo to shoot four targets, five shots each, and sighters. It will be a lot of fun and fill the need for more shooting. We need more volunteers to help fill positions of range master, safety officer and target scoring. Thanks for all the help in getting the range put together, the interest shown, and cooperation by the club to help us pull this off.
See you next match. End of report #1 FRG
Then from Week Two, Again from both Joe and Frank
A Word from Joe
At match 3 we will hold general membership meetings before both light gun and heavy gun matches. We'll start at 8 AM sharp. If you're not there, decisions will be made without your input. There is a proposal that we add a new officer position, Assistant Secretary. The board recommends that the additional position be added. Anyone who goes in the club house, and we all do at some point, can see the need to have more than one person to take care of all the things there are to do. Debbie Hendrix has been so good in the job, which she's doing as a volunteer at this point, it's hard to see how we can do without the position. We'll have a vote on it at the 4th match.
I need to alert everyone that our 2007 rule book contains an error, in the records section. Page 32, the Heavy Gun 10 Match Group Aggregate says it's Rich Dillon, 7.6639. This is the error. It's supposed to say Wayne Linsenbach, 7.295. By the time the error was caught we had already printed the books. Sorry, Wayne. I don't know how I could have missed your record (but I still feel good about the $5.00 I got from you for beating you for group this past match.)
I really enjoyed the 600 yard shoot on May 19th. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I personally say that only because I like shooting, I didn't do any winning. Frank Grappone and Willie Williamson had things so well organized (with some help from a few others) that the entire match, with 29 shooters, took about 3 hours. $5.00 of each entry fee was paid to the Original 1000 Yard Benchrest Club, netting us $145.00. Both the 1000 and 600 yard shooters benefited. I think this 600 yard shooting is really going to take off and it's another way for people to enjoy shooting. I hear all the time that people don't get to shoot enough. Well, here's another opportunity to shoot, plus it's a new challenge and a new way to test your rifles.
Shauna Hakes has volunteered to run a silent auction during the World Open. She's looking for donated items to put in the auction. For those who don't know what a silent auction is, it's where the items are put out with pieces of paper and a person writes down a bid for something they want. Others can come along and up the bid and this goes on until it's announced the auction is over. At that point the person with the last bid gets the item. Any donations would be appreciated, shooting supplies, household items, crafts, baked goods, stuff we all have around and wouldn't miss. All proceeds will go to the club. See Shauna, usually found at Judy's cook shed,to drop off items or to let her know what your donation will be. This kind of thing takes a lot of time and organization and thanks to Shauna for volunteering to run this fund raiser. It won't work unless we get donations, so please help out. Speaking of fund raisers, don't forget our cook books. If you can sign out 5 or 10 of them and sell them in your home areas, please do. You know how the women like those cook books. Get some for birthday or Christmas presents too. I also want to thank Debbie Hendrix, and her mother. Debbie's mother made the blankets that we raffled off at Match 2. I'm sure everyone saw them, they were on display in the club house. Beautiful blankets, made from fleece. Congratulations to the winners - Sheila Foulkrod won the baby blanket with the fish and Erin Moon won the Moose blanket.
I've got to say that the board this year just has their act together. The matches are going great, we're finding short cuts and ways to improve things. Something as easy as buying a new printer has saved untold time in the morning printing off all the plotter and relay sheets. From getting the paperwork done, getting the targets measured and results posted, getting the pictures taken, getting the newsletter out, working with advertisers and setting up the World Open, everyone is working together. Congratulations to my Vice-President, Frank Grappone, for some good shooting at Match 2. Have Matt and Dan finally taught you something?
I know there are new shooters at the club and I've met some. There are more that I haven't met yet. Please come and introduce yourself. With so many people it's hard to search out everyone. I'll try to help out anyone I can, and I'll do my very best to remember everyone's name.
Joe Salt
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From Frank Grappone:
The first 600 yard match was well attended by 29 shooters and went off without apparent glitches. We have some improvements in mind and many good suggestions were put forward by all shooters. We have to improve the speed of changing targets and think we have a method in place. Sight in was difficult for some shooters without the benefit of spotters that we are all used to in 1000 yard competition. We need to improve the instructions from the Range Master and we'll have that done soon. The highlights of the day was that scoring went rapidly and results were put up quickly. The setup time was more than adequate for all shooters. We could see substantial improvement in targets from the first relay to the second as shooters adjusted to the 600 yard discipline. We will continue to improve the quality of the match procedures as you continue to improve the quality of shooting. As was observed, the unique winds of Williamsport do not impact the 600 yard shooting as much as the 1000 yard matches. Willie and I are working hard to improve the quality of this shooting experience for all of you. This IS the fastest growing segment of distance benchrest shooting and we will represent ourselves well.If you observed the last match, didn't have enough ammo loaded or whatever excuse you can conjure up, load up 40 rounds for yourself and get involved. Match fees will be collected from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM the day of the shoot.
Many of you have spoken to the Board about improvements that we can make to the range to make this world class facility even better. Additional camping spots, new target frames, new benches and firing line, repairs to the pit area. Folks, this all costs money. As you have seen from last year's performance we can put these improvements in place but they cost the club substantial amounts of money. All of these improvements are high ticket items and we all need to help defray the costs. We make efforts during the year to help, the raffles, cookbooks, 50/50 tickets are all examples of methods that we use to raise money for these capital projects. The gun raffle is one that we have potential to contribute heavily to the club's financial well being. We need every club member to step up and get a minimum of 4, I say again only 4 tickets and get them sold to insure that we can make these continued improvements that we all benefit from. The tickets are available in the clubhouse. Please step up and do your fair share. Thanks to those that carry the ball well year after year, the rest of us need to get in the game. Thank you in advance.
End of report- FRG