AAR - Chillicothe, Il May 28-29

[Patriot Gal]

Saturday 5/28:  A better group of students you will never experience!  Teacheable, motivated, willing...perfect!!

We had 27 students show up (one walk on) with 2 no shows but 2 more walk-ons expected for Sunday.

Between the rain, brats and burgers we heard some great history as Wurstmacher related the story of Paul Revere, Wm. Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott along with the first strike of the match.

The day was filled with 4 minute squares, ball and dummy, IMC, NPOA, carding the sights, SHF, 6 steps, safety, safety, safety, seated position, standing, prone.........a very busy day!!! 

We did not reach AQT runs, however we did see a doubling of scores and effective ranges as shown on the pre and post Red Coat targets for the day.   Progress is apparent.  Everyone learned, everyone improved and EVERYONE was pretty darn tired by the end of the day..

At the end of the day, we had a reflection back to the sacrifices of our forefathers and a reminder that we have heroes around us every day, cut from same cloth as those who sacrificed their lives on April 19, 1775...who sacrificed for our freedoms.
Tomorrow, we will have pictures as they become available.

Thanks, everyone for all you do for Appleseed!
Patriot Gal/SBIT

Addendum for the results of the weekend 5/29:

    6 - COUNT 'EM 6 RIFLEMEN!!!!       Talk about persevence!!!      AND a brand new ORANGE HAT!!!!! 
Congrats to Cassie, Ben, Tina, Celeste, Hollis and Jeff for persevering and achieving Expert!  You make us all proud!!!

And congratulations to Celeste for taking an orange hat.  Father Tornado245 and all the instructor team are VERY PROUD!!!

As soon as I can get my pictures to present in the proper orientation, I'll get them posted.  They want to post sideways.   

More pictures to follow from NFMH and T245.  Thanks everyone!

[Missouri Brigade]

Keep up the good promotions.  Many shooters said they found out about it at gun shows.  Appropriately for Central Illinois, several also heard about it REO Speedwagon style---heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend.

[Brother_COM]

What a blast! PG was a great SB and taught us straight from the book! Thanks PG! I brought a friend, an ex-Marine, we boh had a blast and improved our shooting groups by the end of the day. No time for AQT as the rain held us back a bit. I was glad it never poured, just rained a few times throughout the day.

Kudos and a hearty THANK YOU to CM and PG for lunch! Mmmm - Mmmm - Good!

At the closeout, PG reminded us of the sacrifices made FOR US and our posterity. Thanks again to all military personel: Past/Present & Future - Let Freedom Ring!

Below is a Mlitary tribute with pics from YouTube. VERY touching! Thanks again Vets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tllnsbejXs

Over-n'-out!
Glen

[kriegshund91]

Great weekend! I am beat, but made Rifleman! Thanks to Crystal Mtn, Pappy and Wurstmacher for their help and patience. This has definitely made me a better shooter, now it's up to me to maintain this ability they brought me to. Hope to be able to bring at least one of my daughters to an Appleseed event. Thanks again to all the guys and gals on the instructor team.

[HB]

First- A Huge thank you to all involved to make this happen. Those of you who take time out of YOUR day to help us improve our skills and and teach us the history of our Great Country are Heroes.
Second- I went out Saturday morning thinking I knew how to shoot. WOW I was wrong. Even after all the great advice given to me, I still realize I have a long way to go.
Third- I plan to attend another event to further improve my abilities, but this time with a rifle that is set up for me (Thank you Pappy and PG for working letting me use your guns).
HB

[Klippefurt]

Another Chilli AS on the books, and another big one for Klippefurt's family. My great-neice and 2 of the 3 friends she brought to the shoot won their Rifleman patches this weekend! Three out of four ain't all that bad! They really had a great time, and all four want to repeat for future Appleseeds. I tell you, the girls in my family never cease to amaze me! But, then I am speaking through the pride! Please excuse my bragging, but it is really hard to be humble when all the girls in your family have Rifleman patches!!  I really would like to thank all those who participated, and especially those who took down the target line. I went out to the range this morning (Monday) to take the posts down and clean up the range prior to the CSC Sporting Rifle match tonight only to find that the posts had been taken down and placed in the Club House porch for me. And, the waste barrels were not filled with trash, so there were none to empty. Great job, AS Instructors!! Very much appreciated!!
Next match in Chilli is Labor Day weekend. Let's start now filling the slots. Remember, there are only 35 shooting positions available!
How about them pictures?

[Patriot Gal]

Brother_COM  So glad to have you and your friend attend this weekend.  Hope to see you both again!  And THANK YOU so much for that very touching video.

We have a friend in Appleseed, West, who was stationed over in Afghanistan for 3 months.  While there, we sent him a few things he needed for his work and a bunch of goodies for him and the others over there with him.  We figured it was the least we could do. 

On Saturday, when we arrived home from Chillicothe, we received a Certiticate of Appreciation from them, in the mail, thanking us for our patriotism and sacrifices!!!  I was humbled that they were thanking us, when what we did was so small compared to what they do everyday for our liberty and freedom. 

Thank you to all our service men and women in Appleseed with gratitude for all you have done for our country in the name of Freedom and Liberty!!!  God bless you all!!!

We are always praying for you!
Patriot Gal and Castle Mountain

[Castle Mountain]

As for me and my house we will stand with Isaac Davis & Captain Parker. 1742 model issue Brown Bess as used by the British on April 19th, 1775

It was a wonderful weekend of blended weather from soft rain to down pour to beautiful sunshine. I think the sun brought out the riflemen
and women as Sunday we were grinding out the AQT's and the good folks persevered  with great determination. A wonderful group of shooters
indeed. Many more are knocking on the door and will achieve rifleman, I have no doubt about it. I wish the GUY could have been there to see
the rest of Cliff's nieces and family earn their rifleman's patch and I hope you do let him know. All instructors and IIT's worked very hard.
Tornado is another red hat in the making I have no doubt about it. His daughters are most precocious a joy to have met. East Peoria's Police Department
finest finally have a bonafide Rifleman in their ranks thanks to Jeff who came out to experience his first Appleseed. Why did he come? Because we campaigned the police dept. and left posters and fliers in their coffee room as also the local fire departments. The Illinois Deer and Turkey Classic helped also.
Congratulations Jeff you were a pleasure to have worked with. Hollis is another first time Appleseed shooter, recruited from American Firearms Company employee whom we have built a relationship over the past year. Hollis goes back to work with his rifleman's patch whom is former marine employers will
no doubt appreciate. We look forward to Hollis accepting an orange hat at his next Appleseed event as he is most eager to become of part of the program.
Enie ( Klippefurt's niece) worked hard and followed instruction well, and persevered to the tearful delight of CLiff. His emotional joy tugged at all our hearts.
Her friend Benjamin was also
a supurb student and listener and was fun to coach. Tina was very, very focused and in the bubble on Sunday and scored rifleman. Congratulations to Tina
for your effort. Celeste, made her father proud for both achieving her riflemans badge and for accepting an orange hat. Look out for the youngest one for she is on her way also. Tornado245 you deserve to be a proud Dad. Congratulations to you both. And Cassie what can we say. You were awesome.
Although the day ended with only six I know for sure we have several riflemen in the wings next Appleseed. We would sure like to be there for them.

I cannot thank Pappy enough for all the hard work he did on the line working with so many and solving so many equipment issues in the fashion of
a master gunsmith and trouble shooter. You sir are a truly indispensable talent and people always learn when you are there. I wish G69 could have been there.
I know Deacon was coming down but company computer problems demanded his trouble shooting and rerouted him back to Wisconsin after making two long driving attempts to cross the illinois border only to get called back each time. Next time brother. But you missed out on some good food I was assigned
to cook. Having a sun room in the building did make things convenient to have escape the weather during both lunch hours and brought people together in close quarter for history and nourishment.  Thanks to the Chillicothe Sportsman Club for allowing us the use of the club facilities. Thanks Klipperfurt you are a good man!!

Missouri Brigade was a treat to have on the line, solid instructor in the wings that is for sure. It was nice to have Wurstmacher there to oversee the event
with his calm cool demeanor and great first strike history. I thought he really set the foundation well for the weekend.
NoFoMoHo and Abby also worked very, very hard and fun to be around. You are fortunate to have such a great familly crew Chuck. Truly. Nice to work with you.
Chillicothe memorial weekend was very special for Patriot Gal and myself as we began there with you and ended another great weekend with you and yours.
Looking forward to the addition of all your photos.

I do hope all the shooters who came will be attending another event soon. Most were very close to achieving their rifleman's badge. Brother_Com you let us know soon when you are coming again ok?

Best regards,

Castle Mountain.

[Missouri Brigade]

Good to see a good turnout with a lot of great students and fellow instructors.  Thanks to Cliff and the Chillicothe Sportsmen's Club for providing a much needed covered firing line.

[kriegshund91]

How appropriate! The day after the shoot, the History Channel airs the first part of a series on the Revolutionary War, starting with everything leading up to and including the events of 19 Apr 1775. If only more people would study and remember history instead of trying to rewrite it. It just brought home everything we did and talked about over those 2 days. I'm working on getting the word out and may have one of my coworkers interested in attending a future AS. Just remember, if everyone who attends an AS gets a friend to attend, we have doubled the numbers every time. Keep up the good work folks. I intend to attend another shoot sometime soon and hope to bring one of my kids with me when I do.

[Shooter30-06]

Kriegshund, there is going to be a shoot on June 25-26 just south of Victoria.  We would love to see you there!  In the mean time, thanks for helping get the word out.

[Pappy]

Hello Group; Chilli, has always been a favorite for me. Many reasons that stem back to when all the instructors camped on the grounds for the event. The facility is very much like a park setting with many shade trees that shelter the area from mother natures full wrath - ISH,, Well it was a Illinois shoot so ya gotta get a little wet just so ya know you went to a shoot, RIGHT......
Every one comes to a shoot with a goal, some want to learn the skills to become a better shot, some want more than that & some come to inspire those around them student/shooters to take that next step past a Riflemans score.
We had quite a bit of fun and made some more Appleseed Friends, Like many others it seems harder and harder to talk to anyone outside of Appleseed mostly because they just DO NOT speak the same language.  (Gun Culture)
AS Always & Keep them in the black. Pappy

6 new RIFLEMEN, I think that could be a record for the Chili location...
  Some one has the photos of all these new Riflemen to post??
 

[Tornado]

Chillicothe was a great shoot. So many shooters willing to learn and to persist. They were very positive throughout it all and made it a lot of fun. I appreciate all the good feedback from the other instructors. Two of the best demonstrations of IMC I've seen and the history was great. I think I learned a lot more as an instructor than as a shooter. I learned something (a lot) from each of the instructors that will help me to do better as a shooter and IIT.

The best part for me, besides seeing the number of new Riflemen (6!!! ) was to see my daughter, Celeste, shoot Rifleman at her 5th AS and take an orange hat. Something she's been working toward since our first shoot last year. It has been an amazing journey to see her persist through several AS's and finally accomplish her goals and take the next step.

My daughter, Olivia, walked on as a shooter for the first time (having only fired at a RC at Danville in March with a lot of help) and put some of the dry firing to the test and it's really has paid off for her as she is shooting some really nice groups. She is a huge fan of AS and I see Rifleman and a red hat in her future. Wish she could have been there for both days.

I'll post up a few pictures and get some more from my wife's camera up soon.

--Tornado245

[Tornado]

More pictures from Chillicothe, IL May 28th.