AAR - Calverton dec 11-12 "Prune Seed"

[kDan]

Ah, what a way to start the season.  Rich got his Red Hat!  Woohoo!  

We walked out to a snow covered line on Saturday morning and fled a monsoon on Sunday afternoon.  My car floated through that last puddle.  I will always make sure Dakota is behind me in that giant black truck when I leave from now on.  This was one for the hearty, the dedicated, the suicidally insane.  Harry, when he came out to check on us on Sunday, said to me, "You guys are nuts you know that, right?"  Coming from him, I don't think I've ever received such a compliment in my life.  After all, he grew up under his father who ran Calverton shooting range through most of the last 40 years or so.  I know a LOT of you have heard the stories...  or seen the cars explode.  

We started out with 20 shooters on Saturday morning, and ended with four shooters mid-Sunday afternoon - three of them women, and one a Texan.  We were planning the Long Island Lady Seed for May or June, but maybe we'll move it to February, keep the warm summer months open for the boys.

I'm just gonna attach some pictures and let you guys post for now.  I've got to get back on the road.  I stopped off at the official Long Island IIT mentoring and Suffolk County promotions HQ, so it's still a loong way to Tipperary...

VietVet Red Hat


Winter Seed


Prune Seed


hanging da line (this is when I pretend I'm busy folding t-shirts or something)


Father and Son


Fast Frank - Son of Liberty


New IIT (Charliehotel) and Son




Steve

don't mess with long island - cuz nyrattlesnake will KILL you.

umm...  carry the one... denominator...

it's gonna rain.  this is gonna suck

232... what about you?

so... it's the little gray thingies right?

dum dum duuuum



Modified to capitalize the word Texan.  Not trying to mess with texas.

[Altarboy]

WOW this appleseed was a MEGAseed! we had like 20 shooters on saturday and on sunday we ended with 4 shooters(3 were boys and 1 was a boy) we had one rifleman on saturday. CHRIS what would we do without you? the barbecue was awesome, and the easy ups helped a lot on sunday. (although we had to take them down because of the wind)  . i ended up calling the line of 6 people on sunday. vietvett got his red hat congrats.  anyway, it was overall a successful shoot.

[CharlieHotel]

Great pics Dan! I'm gonna do my best to work every monthly appleseed and gain experience... Let me know if there's any thing else I can do in between. Was an honor to work with such honorable and skilled men. "Rain, what rain"?

Looking forward to January, Have a Merry Christmas if I don't hear from you before then.

[kDan]

You will hear CH.  Thank you, brother for stepping up.  Good feeling about you. 

Fast Frank already sent in his next pc.  Gawd LI is on FIRE!

But - If you guys wanna see what a real Winter Seed looks like -

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=19255.msg153287;topicseen#msg153287

See you in January!  I will be back with more photos but here's Mad Matt hammering the First Strike.  I mean Big Matt - he's like 8 feet tall and going from IIT2 to Shoot Boss like NOW!.

[bravo juliet mike]

It looks like another great Long Island event. Wish I had been there.

[sgtrock]

Now that looks like a Great Appleseed to be have been at,,,,

VietVet My Brother,,, A Big Congrtulations on the RedHat,,, You have been a Great Asset to this program before the Hat, I know you will carry on with the Dedication of a True Rifleman and an Instructor that this organization is Proud to have on board,,,, Long Island is the Great Frontier in New York and going strong,,, keep up the good work guys and gals,,,

sgtrock

[VietVet]

Now that I've dried off and rested up I've found the energy to join in here.

Honestly can't find the words to express the PRIDE I felt being presented my Red Hat. It is a day I will remember forever. I'd like to thank ALL who have helped me along the way. A special thank you to kDan who in his special way has been my mentor. Thanks Dan.

Where do I start about this shoot.
Anyone that has ever done an Appleseed at Calverton knows this is a "Hardcore Range". That was proven once again this weekend.
Today the rain was unbelievable. This for the record was worse then the shoot we had last year. The one we refer to as the "Monsoon Shoot". Can't even think of a term to properly describe this one. If we held it in the shower we would have stayed drier.

Rifleman persist and that was surely proven at this event.
Rifleman, Cooks whatever you want to call them they did persist.
The Shooters wouldn't quit. The harder it rained the harder they tried for the Patch. The wind and rain just added to the excitement on the line. Determination rained from the sky today. You could feel it in the wet air.

Hardcore, yes, the Shooters were.

Calverton has grown into a family of Cadre and Shooters. The more that's thrown at them the faster they want to return for the next event. It seems to be the New York way.

Maybe for our January event we'll have Snow.


Pretty much at a loss for word to sum up my feelings but to try THANK YOU  to everyone involved.
It's now hours after this Shoot ended and I still haven't taken off my new RED HAT!

Here are some photos in random order.......

[VietVet]

Here are a few more.
Hopefully some day I'll learn how to post them full size.

[SavageShootr]

Congratulations VietVet!!

Great job all.

[Josey Wales]

..Looks like a great event! The level of dedication & persistence was at an all time high.  It makes me proud to recognize the faces I know & excited to meet the new ones..

..Great job..          .....Strength & Honor........JW.............

..Rich, Congratulations My Friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......

[Dakota]

What else is there to say? Dedication, determination, and persistence prevailed this weekend.
Congratulations again to Rich for getting the Red Hat, thanks for all your hard work.
Dan, I've been going to Calverton since I was 6 or so, I knew enough to wait for you to get out through the swamp.
As for the shooters, and the new IIT's, we really do have a great group of people!
See you guys in January at the meeting, and at the January Winterseed!
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a joyous (insert your own holiday here).

Mike

P.S. Already working on some Snow and Rain proof ideas for backing boards!

[RATTLESNAKE]

Congratulations Rich on the new Red Hat. Harry is right "We are nuts". I am looking forward to January already....

[kDan]

In my rush to get this out yesterday, I neglected - did not forget - to post a picture of Charliehotel receiving his patch on Saturday.  He took the hat and worked on Sunday.

Congratulations, Chris!

[jim260z]

, and ended with four shooters mid-Sunday afternoon - three of them women, and one a Texan.

How fast we forget the bagman, dan

[CharlieHotel]

Just Proud and Humbled work in the midst of such skilled and Dedicated men... It is truly an Honor.

In my rush to get this out yesterday, I neglected - did not forget - to post a picture of Charliehotel receiving his patch on Saturday.  He took the hat and worked on Sunday.

Congratulations, Chris!

[R1SGx2]

Nice work and congrats Viet Vet. Red looks good on you, can't wait to see green.

Proud of the Shooters for persisting and the instructors for all they do.
Hope all have dried out and warmed up...

[kDan]

, and ended with four shooters mid-Sunday afternoon - three of them women, and one a Texan.

How fast we forget the bagman, dan

Jim...  Bagman...  never forgotten, you just sat out the aqt when I took the picture.

three women, a texan, and a bagman is more poetic

[kDan]

Bagman!