AAR: Alton IL, July 16-17 2011

[yellowhousejake]

WOW! Can you say "oppressive humidity"?

Niecie and I had a great time visiting our Illinois neighbors. Everyone was as hospitable as could be. When Mtbrass and George63 said they have good shooters in southern Illinois they were not kidding. We saw lots of good shooting, and made three Rifleman. Drop the heat index 10 points and I think we would have made at least 4 more.

I think everyone went away from the weekend a few gallons lighter than they showed up, but no one complained. We took plenty of breaks, drank like fish, heard fantastic history, and learned what it means to be Americans. It was a great weekend!

We had plenty of instructors which was good for the students, but bad for me, I didn't get to make it all the way around the line as much I would have liked, so I am afraid I didn't learn everyone's names until late in on Sunday. But I remember the faces, and the perseverance everyone showed.

Thank you everyone for coming out and spending the weekend with us, Niecie and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Let's try to get some pictures up tonight!

Yellowhousejake

PS. Ellen, practice your trigger control with the pen, you made remarkable progress. I look forward to seeing your picture with a Rifleman's patch!

[mtbrass]

The heat was a concern going in but everyone handled it so well that it was soon apparent that the shooters were there to learn and to shoot and the heat wasn't going to stand in their way. It was a pleasure meeting each one of you and if you log in to read this AAR please post to let us know you are here it would be great to get some more feedback from you. I had a great time and hope you did too.

Congratulations to the three new riflemen. There was some suggestion that since there is a winter patch maybe there should be a patch with flames and a pitchfork for a weekend like this, if there was one you guys would have earned it. 

ALSO IF YOU LOST A BAG PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE OR POST AND WE WILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT BACK TO YOU ASAP.

To all of you who are knocking on the door just keep up the practice and you will get there.

Hope to see you all again soon.

[Niecie]

What an awesome, inspiring (perspiring) weekend! I had a great time and learned so much from each of the instructors, and was amazed at the perseverance of everyone there! Thank you to all for such wonderful hospitality!!

A big ole HOT congratulations to the Riflemen. What an amazing feat in the heat (ATM would make that into a song  ) Here are a few pics to start:

"Good Morning Shooters!"


Rifleman Larry


Rifleman Larry 


Steve, Larry, and Larry   


Final Rifleman of the day.... Dick


A group Huzzah!!


I will post more photos soon 

Niecie

[Garand69]

Great Pics Niecie 

Great looking bunch there! Great work Forging 3 more Rifleman folks!! That brings us to 40 for 2011 

With all that heat, were the frogs at least quiet???

[AK]

   Congratulations to Larry, Larry, and Dick for earning their Rifleman patches.  I get the feeling we may be seeing them again - hope so.  In fact, congratulations to all the shooters (and instructors) for sticking it out through the heat.     What a great bunch of Americans!  This was a great location for a shoot.  Thank you goes out to mtbrass for all his extra work as LBOTG.  A big thanks to yellowhousejake and Niecie for making the trip over from Indiana.  It was great to meet you.  It was a "cool" way to spend a very hot weekend.  I will try to post pictures tomorrow.

[Niecie]

Okay, here are some more pics....

In spite of the heat, the range was a great place to be Saturday morning!


MT brass preparing the shooters for their first target of the day, the Red Coat.




Checkin' out the first target....


Time for some instruction. MT brass and YellowHouse Jake


Break time "hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!"


...and snack


... and rest 


More instruction and Shooter 30-06 callin' the shots






Did I mention it was HOT?? The oven mitt was courtesy of Outta Ammo. I really think it was appreciated


George63 supplied his own remedy for cooling off.


First AQTs...






Appleseed  is a GREAT family activity!


Practicing the positions:








Sunday Morning re-cap with AK and George63




Why wouldn't you use the picnic table as a stage


Back to the AQT's




"hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!"


What a great lookin' bunch!



Again, thank you ALL for everything! I truly look forward to seeing each of you down the raod.

Niecie

[George63]

I was the only one to shoot right at a 210 but mtbrass did not give me the payback for his dowsing, April 2010

[ATM]

I really like that hat with the bacon cammo print. 

[mtbrass]

Great pictures and by the way as far as that target line George63 taught me how to build it a couple of shoots back and he had the backers up Saturday morning for us. Try as I might, being built close to the ground, I couldn't pull the backers out of the rafters.

George has saved my bacon more than once and our friend from Jerseyville supplied the plastic cap nails that saved so many staples.

I can't say this enough- these shooters and this shoot had me smiling all the way home and I haven't stopped since. Way to go and thanks for the popsicles.

[George63]

one of the shooters brought me a pound of homemade bacon, that may buy a .50 rule

[Mutti]

What does one say about an Appleseed but "Huzzah!".

We traveled on up hoping that the Instructors would be as great as the bunch on our last two - little did I know that there is some magic "chemistry" that all Instructors, Shoot Bosses, IIT and Apple Cores seem to have that permeates the clan  . We brought our "Khris Kringle" Seventh Step gift and teachable attitudes - we left with much more.

The knowledge that MissouriBrigade is a steady soul, George63 the stability of an ancient Oak, Niecie the "steel wrapped in silk" backbone that exudes confidence, MTBrass the ability to inspire "just one more", YellowHouseJake the patience of Job, AK the quiet strength to support you through trigger control (I felt it!), Shooter the ability to make "organization" on the line a certitude, OuttaAmmo and PlentyofAmmo were solid steady support - even if the heat clouded my memory and I forgot a few - Thank you so very much!

No matter what the heat, humidity and hardships - we, as a family, have the perseverance to someday be Rifleman. We'll make sure to post pictures when we join Larry, Larry, and Dick.

[Niecie]

No matter what the heat, humidity and hardships - we, as a family, have the perseverance to someday be Rifleman. We'll make sure to post pictures when we join Larry, Larry, and Dick.

Please do!! Your family was such a joy to work with. YHJ and I talked about you guys for most of the drive home  You guys put Appleseed over the top for me.

I don't know where else I would meet so many awesome Americans in one place. After every shoot, I KNOW I live in the greatest country on Earth  thanks to people like you and your family, all of the great folks that came out to learn the history and marksmanship, and a fantastic group of instructors that I had not yet had a chance to work with. 

BTW, thank you again for the cheese! We will put it to good use as soon as we are willing to turn our oven on again My best to your whole family.

Niecie

[AFRetKeith]

What an AWESOME weekend.  Despite the heat, I can say, as a first time attender that my expectations were exceeded.  The quality of instruction was outstanding.  And let's remember, not only were the shooters in the heat, but also all our Appleseed team -- you are all to be thanked for your commitment to see us through.

I have already signed up for the Marion IL event Oct 8-9.  I'm excited to have another opportunity to be with like-minded people and hopefully earn my patch.  At least I have a couple of months to lay around (literally) and work on NPOA.  Speaking of which, someone mentioned a target where you can be a shorter distance (10 ft?  10 yd?) away and be able to work on NPOA while in your home (with the same effect of being on the range).  If you can point me to a link, I'd appreciate it.

I want to thank you again for reminding us of our heritage and ensuring we know the answers to the four questions every American should know.

I'm trusting that for many of us, our paths will cross again.

Thank you Appleseed cadre!

[Boba Fett]

WOW! Looks like a fantastic shoot. But then again... It's Alton... and that range is blessed and highly favored.  I'm sure it was even better with YHJ and Niecie coming over from IN to lend a hand. I gotta ask.. "We're there Popsicles at 2pm Sunday, or is that an Indiana only thing?" 

Congrats to everyone who stuck with it this weekend. That's what Riflemen do. 

Looks like you had some standing water nearby. How were the mosquitoes? Nothing makes an unbearably hot day (weekend) better than a horde of biting, itching, blood-sucking insects. 

Boba

[George63]

the blood suckers really only came out for the campers at night

[AK]

Great pictures, Niecie!  I have none to add that wouldn't be duplicates.  I don't how I missed getting you in any of my pictures.  Were you ducking?
Thanks for the kind words, Mutti.  Working with a family like yours, and the other shooters we had this weekend, is why we do what we do.  We will be watching for those Riflemen pictures.  I know it won't be long.  Hope to see you all again soon.

[Shooter30-06]

The first thing which has to be noted in this AAR is the brutal, unrelenting, merciless heat.  Shooters were having to use gloves and oven mitts just to hold their rifles.  So you would expect complaining, friction among the shooters, and friction among the Instructors.  Wrong!  The shooters and Instructors I worked with at this shoot were absolutely the toughest and best spirited group I have ever worked with.  Good cheer, cooperation,  and perseverence were the order of the day.  I had heard stories and legend of the fiber and markmanship of Alton shooters.  Now I know it's true.  A special note to the Sabo family - what a wonderful group!

Congratulations to Larry, Larry S., and Dick on earning their Rifleman Badges.  AS has designed special badges with icycles for cold weather.  These guys deserve a special badge with flames coming out of the stripes for this shoot.  Well done!

I want to thank my fellow Instructors.  The Illinois Instructor Corps are simply special friends who AK and I look forward to seeing (yes, even Missouri Brigade even though you tore up my expensive demo rifle!).  A special note of thanks to Yellowhousejake for helping SB this event and bringing his wonderful bride with him.  You were simply fantastic to work with.  I also enjoyed meeting Restless, the new Missouri coordinator.  I will not hold it against you that Pappy helped train you.  I think someone else I know shot rifleman with Pappy standing next to him.  Finally, a big thanks to mtbrass for doing a great job as local boot on the ground.

You were all great and this was a special shoot!

[OutaAmmo]

Hot Hot Hot.  What a great Hot time at the Alton Appleseed.  My 1st time helping at Alton.  Lots of eager students that endured the Hot weather.  I was surprised that everyone came back to shoot on Sunday as Hot as it was. 

This group of students where really advancing at a fast pace despite the Hot weather, Hot rifles. Hot brass, and shooting mats so Hot you couldn't hardly sit or lay on them.  Lots of water breaks and cooling off in the shade I believe kept a lot of students and instructors from falling out.  Thanks Niecie for the pop sickles (first aide on a stick) Sunday afternoon.  They where a life safer.

Great to see Yellowhousejake and Niece again.  I like going to Indiana and got my Rifleman patch at Riley.  Was nice to see the Sabo family again, Hot on the AS trail. 

Congraduation to Larry, Larry and Dick for making Rifleman.  Lots of other students are knocking at the "210 Door" and should be there at their next AS.  Hoping it won't be so Hot the next time.

What a great bunch of Hot instructors to work with.  Everthing just seemed to "click."  Can't wait to attend my next AS at Alton.


Did I mention how Hot it was at Alton?

OutaAmmo

[yellowhousejake]

"We're there Popsicles at 2pm Sunday, or is that an Indiana only thing?" 

Of course, we share the goodness everywhere we go 

YHJ

[Missouri Brigade]

Thanks to all the shooters who came out and shot in a unique range on a hot weekend.  Safety was always first with both firearms and in dealing with the heat.  If anyone is leaving open spots on covered firing lines at other shoots, shame on you!

It is always great to shoot with the Sabo family.  Hopefully more of team Illinois will get to meet you all in the future.  Thanks for all of the food treats.  rprlrpc's excellent 7th stepping helped to fill this shoot.  mtbrass did a lot of work to get the range ready and did a good job with all the lessons he had to teach.  George63 shared a lot of his expertise at one of his favorite shoot locales.  OutaAmmo and PlentyofAmmo again showed their dedication on the trail and were a great benefit to all the instructors and shooters.  It was good to meet Restless, the Missouri state coordinator--A fellow Missourian, but one who is still a Missouri resident.  Finally, AK is really developing as an instructor and her grace in dealing with Shooter30-06 was appreciated by all who don't have to spend nearly as much time with him.

Niecie and YHJ were great to work with.  Thank you for helping out on short notice.  We all need to make efforts to work with new people.  Get a carpool together and head to a different part of the country.

Boba--I had a few bites, they were probably worse at night.

[NavNuke]

Mutti is the wordsmith in our family so I know that I cannot can't say "Thank you" any better than she.

Thank you all!

We had a wonderful weekend. Mutti and Rifles&Reins have been working diligently on our range back in a sinkhole. No small accomplishment given the daily heat warnings. They have been getting up at the crack of dawn and busting butt until the temperature becomes oppressive. Rifles&Reins is really going all out to try and make Rifleman by her 15th birthday at the end of next month. With her level of motivation, I know that anything is possible.

I also just completed signing up all of us for the Marion shoot in September. I imagine the temperature will be dropping by September.

NN

[Cooper]

At least I have a couple of months to lay around (literally) and work on NPOA.  Speaking of which, someone mentioned a target where you can be a shorter distance (10 ft?  10 yd?) away and be able to work on NPOA while in your home (with the same effect of being on the range).  If you can point me to a link, I'd appreciate it.

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=6265.msg57936#msg57936

Enjoy!
Coop