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"Snowflakes and Sunshine" (Sallisaw, OK, Mar 8/9, 2008)

Started by Fred, March 10, 2008, 01:22:03 AM

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Fred

     Saturday saw a cold morning, 16 shooters, and nine instructors. During the day the temp warmed up to comfortable, esp as the sun was out, but at dusk it was cold again.

     Yes, there were flakes of snow in the air Saturday, as the shooters lined up on an improvised range in a cow/horse pasture. True Appleseed at its best - ordinary Americans, every last one of them - but what were they doing in a cow pasture, for gosh's sakes? For two days?

    The answer was simple. Learning to shoot a rifle, learning their history and heritage, honoring the founders out of respect for their new-found knowledge.

     We keep 'em running ragged on Saturday (I understand some people got a sound sleep Sat night - other tossed and turned until the aspirin took hold... ;D).

     Did I mention that Dad and Cindy and Dan showed up? Cindy to shoot, Dad to be charming, and Dan to help run the line? First time for Fred to meet them, and he was impressed. Good Appleseed people, for sure!

     And from MO came Thor's Hammer and Longshot, ready to kick butt and make some OK riflemen!

     Mark from Iowa was the senior instructor there, until Fred heard the distant squeals of teenage girls, and to everyone's surprise and delight, The Guy shows up!

      Man, it was like a reunion of the Central US RWVA - all we needed was Scout and the Texas boys to show up, to make it complete!

     Fred and The Guy reunited - and all was right in the world!

      Under the steely-eyed gaze of Fred and The Guy, Mark did an excellent job of the History, his last test before advancing to a full-time instructor. A good job of setting the stage and explaining why 4/19 took place, in the first place.

    And the shooters had the near-unique experience of hearing the history from Mark, Fred, and The Guy.

     It was a "both barrels, the uncut version", and some strong stuff there.

     The OK organizers were a bit disappointed in the turn out - there were nearly as many instructors as there were students, and they said they had put out 500 flyers. The usual Appleseed conundrum: get 'em there, and we'll fire them up - but we can't get 'em there! ::) ??? :o

     Heck, most were from out-of-state, anyways - only two OK-ians showed - making their turnout at less than "one in a million", there being 3.5 million Okies.

     Yep, the usual sorry performance.

     But, as usual, a great Appleseed! Sunday was sunshinny shirt-sleeve weather, a welcome change from the day before. After everything was over, the land owner's daughter serenaded the instructors with Rev War music (the haunting theme from the PBS "Liberty!" series), and we immediately requested "The White Cockade" and demanded her presence at the next Appleseed in Sallisaw (yep, we've been invited back)...

     Fred got to meet a lot of instructors he "knew" only by "handle". And it never ceases to amaze him what good people they are... Instant friends!

     Thanks to all who came, to the organizers, to the man (Travis) who donated the land (hopefully, he'll soon be on the forum and reading this), and the instructors who drove up to 13 hours one-way to be there.

     While ALL the instructors did an excellent job, Mark from Iowa needs to be singled out for special praise, as he reached inside himself and "found the inner beast" Sunday, and it was the Terminator who was running the line, not a mere mortal. No BS, no monkeying around, just a good solid performance that kept noses to the grindstone. Good job - things moved smartly, and AQT after AQT was shot.

     The only much-welcomed break the shooters got was a "run to the line, unlimited rounds" on the white-star target, just to break the grind and allow a refreshing change of pace.

     It is possible, just possible, that the "first strike of the match" has taken place in a new state we've never been to before.

     With any luck, there will soon be Appleseeders all over OK. Coming up April 12-13: Grandfield, OK. Will it be the "second strike of the match?" It will, if you will come - and bring a carload with you...
"Ready to eat dirt and sweat bore solvent?" - Ask me how to become an RWVA volunteer!

      "...but he that stands it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman alike..."   Paine

     "If you can read this without a silly British accent, thank a Revolutionary War veteran" - Anon.

     "We have it in our power to begin the world over again" - Thomas Paine

     What about it, do-nothings? You heard the man, jump on in...

Groundhog

Greg Miller

"You know what?...  Just shut up..."
Overheard at the Big Texan in Amarillo, became most used line at shoot...

The Guy

Well,

I had quite a nice time.

There was one "aw hell no" moment though.  When I arrived at 0430(ish), the range was 2.8 miles up the road.  At 2.4, there was a running creek over the "road".

Hmmm.....

Undetered, I got out and looked carefully, at last noticing the concrete pad just under the surface.  So onward I pressed, having a quick "nap" till the shooters and Instructors showed up.

The range was pretty, and Travis had things well set up for us.  Thor and LongShot were inside the shed already, and shortly there after, Dad, Smiley Dan and Cindy (with a new XCR!!) showed up.  Then I looked a bit more, and there was Iowa Mark and Fred.

Gosh, it felt like home.

The shoot went well, though since I left early, I missed any Riflemen.

I am quite sure though that at least Greg will have made it.....

There were several faces I recognised from Osage Beach, and a special shout out to "Chief" here, good to see you buddy!

There were several "youth", and once again, I think the future is in good hands.  Clint made great strides with a sling and a shooting jacket, and I bet the next time his dad brings him along, there will be a patch in his future.  Much improved from Osage.

The drive was only 9.5 hours, so I am looking forward to making it down there again...

Oh yeah, PJ Evans showed up Sunday am, just as I was leaving, so he had to be "The Guy" for the day.

He will never be the same......LOL!!

JK.

See you all at the next one,

Guy

Longshot

5 1/2 hours from Osage Beach, Thor's Hammer and I arrived at the home and range of Travis, the land owner. It took about 5 minutes for the 3 of us to become friends, and we sat up WAY too late jawing and explaining Appleseed's mission.

  7:00 am came WAY too soon. There was this strange car parked outside, running, and when I noticed movement inside, I had a moment of uneasyness that was fully justified a few seconds later when The Guy crawled out fresh off an all-night road trip! Well met!!

Fred and the other instructors began arriving, interspersed with Appleseed students. Admin. details, safety, and first history later, we headed down the hill to the range. Osage Beach Boot Camp graduates Rickman and Danny, along with landowner Travis had done a great job setting up the range.

Shooting and learning commenced, with instructors and IIT's in the learning cauldron alongside the students. Under the watchful eye of Fred AND The Guy, EVERYONE was expected to improve and demonstrate. Saturday's pace and round-count were a bit slower to let the IIT's knock the rust off. Did I mention that it was COLD!!??  Miss Kelly, one of our younger students, would peel off her jacket to shoot, run the course of fire, then shiver uncontrollably through the next instruction demo, but she PERSISTED.

  Chef (Chief) another Osage Beach veteran, set about knocking the rust off and fine tuning in anticipation of the first AQT. ( Little did we know..)
1" squares, Red Coats, ball and dummy, and positions were covered and re-covered. Last history of the day about dark(ish) and Travis's lovely wife ( I didn't get her name, I think it was "Yes, Ma'am, thank you") brought out a kettle of Sloppy Joes made with Travis's own home-grown Longhorn beef, and plenty of other good things while the instructor crew parlayed on the following day's plan. Then....... blessed sleep.

Thor's Hammer and I were the only ones hard-core(or foolish) enough to camp on-site. Travis had made available his toy box (read SHOP) with heat, TV, stereo, etc. making tents un-necessary and warm sleep possible. BUT...the 6:00 AM wake-up call on a working farm is tough on one's Applesleep.

  Sunday the pace picked up a bit. The Guy set sail for home earlyon, leaving the line in  Iowa-mark's more than capable hands. We were down to 10 shooters on Sunday, and I was disappointed to not to have Cody, an 11-ish lad who had been doing well Saturday, return and make a serious attempt at a Rifleman score. All was not lost, however, as Chef shot his first Rifleman score of 210 on the first AQT of the weekend. As there was a VERY active creek right behind the range, we were eager to see Chef do the Rifleman Backstroke. (Especially T.H. and I because Chef is a dear friend) but through some gunsmoke deal with Fred, Chef was allowed to keep his feet dry on the condition that he would BEAT 210 before the daywas out. Another round of ball and dummy, and a second AQT, and Chef turns in a 220. Horsefeathers!!!!
NPOA star targets, another AQT, and, you guessed it, Chef cranks out another good target, this time a 228. By now our hopes of seeing Chef's eyes crossed in that cold creek are fading, so another deal was cut with Fred (Hmmmmm!) that if Chef shot another 210 he would voluntarily walk into the creek.

A few squares, Fred's "run and shoot" team target, and the final AQT.
Ready? Chef shoots a 210! Scored it himself! However, when presented to Fred for verification it suddenly became a 211, and Chef gets to continue singing bass!!?? I'm watching the RWVA donor list to see what that 1 point was worth...LOL!

Did I mention that it WASN'T cold? Sunday was a little cloudy in the morning, but a beautiful early-spring day. Much easier on the shooters, shivering is so hard on sight alignment.

  Iowa-mark did mid-day history while T.H and I did range repair, but I cauhgt the last few minutes and it was well done. Fred gave final history and inspiration, and the shooters said goodbye and left to begin their own Appleseed odysseys. The instructors received the rare treat of Miss Kelly's playing of a RW period violin. Past met present when she played "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". A little time socialize with new friends and old, plan the upcoming Trail stops, and it was time to head north to Old Mo.

About an hour up the road, Thor and I were discussing that intangible sense of satifaction that comes with knowing that you are doing something good, that you are making a difference.

May our trails converge...

Longshot
" In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot." Mark Twain..?

"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."  Jeff Co

Dad

Sorry I haven't posted sooner. I think the 6 steps to firing the shot are easier than using a computer.

The Sallisaw AS was great. The weather was very nice, comfortable temperatures and light breeze.

The students all seemed to be eager to shoot and learn. One Rifleman, one very close, and several "knocking on the door". And at least two students who made great improvements from Sat. to Sun.

It was good to see Danny, Rick, Longshot and Thor's Hammer ( Osage Beach BC alumni) and PJEvans from Nov. Davilla BC. And a bonus of seeing The Guy!!

I met Iowa Mark, who ran the line and kept things moving smoothly. I'll happily work for him any time.

I'm looking forward to going back to Sallisaw.  Travis and his family (landowner) were very accommodating.  They fed all the instructors, and in general went out of their way to make us feel at home.

And finally, Fred himself was there.  My wife, Hot Brass, was very impressed. And I think she understands why The Appleseed Program is so important.

Thor's Hammer

Everyone that has posted so far has described the Sallisaw weekend to the "T". New friends made, old friends re-visited. Good time had by all.

I really liked the run down the hill. It broke up the pace and allowed everyone a little bit of fun. I know I was smiling great big watching the action unfold ;D.

Longshot did forget to mention that he and I got to share in the last Redcoat on Sunday. Iowa-Mark gave us the go ahead to join the line(Thanks Brother!). I used Iowa-Mark's LTR and scored the 100,200 and dead center head shot. 300 and 400 were sub-par at best(time for me to practice :-[). Longshot had his Tech-Sight flipped to 300(forget checking the powder, buddy, pay attention to the sights) so he shot above every target ??? Excellent grouping though.

Travis and family were very gracious hosts. I look forward to more Appleseeds at his place.

One more shout out to Clint, good to see you again, and I'm glad I could help you out with loan of one of my extra slings(BTW, if you don't happen to have one when I see you again, rest assured, you can have mine).

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the trail!

TH

Jason
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.    George Carlin

knubby

   Sorry to have taken so long, been busy here fixing fences(lol!) and getting ready for hay season.
let me start out by saying that I had a wonderfull time with the appleseed experience and cant wait to  host another. there was so much usefull information and instruction it was hard to absorb it all in 2 days!
  my 16 yr old daughter Kelli really benefitted from the instruction. her shooting vastly improved. The very next weekend she competed in the Arkansas jr. olympic rifle match.She placed 3rd in both kneeling and prone individually(out of 93 competitors) with a 2nd place overall team finish. Appleseed Works!
  The "dynamic duo" plans to attend the granfield shoot in quest of our rifleman patches!
  once again,I would like to thank Fred and the instructors for a great experience and welcome a fine bunch of individuals back anytime
                        Knubby & Fiddler
dammit!! that was my trigger finger!

The Guy

Good job Fiddler!!  (you know, fiddler was one of my daughter's spelling/reading words this week... ;D)

Glad to hear you did so well.

Knubby, thank you for hosting this one.  Nice line, and I bet in warmer months it is quite pretty.

I can't wait for the next one, and hopefully I won't have to leave early next time.

Good to meet you both, and thank your wife again for the sloppy joes!!

Guy

Fred

   knubby, glad to hear you and fiddler will be in Grandview. Something for me to look forward to.

   But only if she brings her fiddle!

   You heard me! We'll want her to play for everyone that haunting tune from the PBS "Liberty" series.

   And don't forget to add "The White Cockade" to really jazz people up.

   Man, what a treat that will be. I'll go ahead and put it up on the regional board, so everyone will know this will be a "special" Appleseed.

    PS: I failed to mention and express thanks for the great meal you and the Better Half served us instructors on Saturday after the shoot. Thanks!!
"Ready to eat dirt and sweat bore solvent?" - Ask me how to become an RWVA volunteer!

      "...but he that stands it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman alike..."   Paine

     "If you can read this without a silly British accent, thank a Revolutionary War veteran" - Anon.

     "We have it in our power to begin the world over again" - Thomas Paine

     What about it, do-nothings? You heard the man, jump on in...