AAR Cloverdale, IN July 23/24 2011

[DaveD]

Another great group of shooters!

Saturday dawned slightly cooler than the 100 degrees of Friday, but still very hot and humid. Shooters start checking in at 8:00.  By 9:15 check-in is complete, equipment is on the line and we jump right in to Introductions, safety briefing, and the 1st Strike.
   Rifles to the line with the Red Coats taking a hits by 10:15.  The heat and humidity are fighting us, but we persevere with a lot of water and Gatorade. By 1:00 shot groups are improving and we have a welcome break, sitting down to a meal and the 2nd Strike of the Match.
   Back on the line at 2:00, the shooters  instructing each other through the Ball & Dummy drill.  Carding the sights, a few more 1" squares, then comes introduction to the Army Qualification Target (AQT). Saturday ends with an Instructor demonstration  of the AQT, then the Red Coat from the AM comes back out to measure improvements.  WOW! Almost 100% improvement from this  morning. Great Work Shooters!   Wrap up with 3rd Strike and Benediction, shooters on the way home by 5:30 PM   

Sunday starts at 9:00 still hot and humid.  Red Coat, a couple of squares, and here come the AQT's. Lunch at 12:00, History continues followed by KD instruction.  A thunder storm whips through dropping the temperature to a welcome level. Hour and a half later the storm gone, we are back on the line working AQT's.
   Scores continue to improve throughout the afternoon, with one shooter confirming his rifleman status from an earlier Appleseed.  We end the day with History and Benediction at 5 PM.

My thanks to the shooters and my fellow instructors for making another great shoot happen at Cloverdale Conservation Club!

Come Back Soon!!

[AuntieBellum]

What a great Appleseed!  Was it hot?  Maybe a little.  Humid?  Perhaps.  Wet?  You could make that argument.  Did we have great attitudes and shooters ready to learn?  ABSOLUTELY!  The red coat numbers were amazing - such huge improvements!  Even more amazing was the attention to the history.  There was the nodding of heads and even the occasional verbal affirmation.  There were questions and even additional reading suggestions from the attendees.  Awesome!

Steve, congrats on reaffirming your Rifleman score this weekend!  Brian and Kyle - you'll be there right behind him soon.

Travis and Mike - our two campers for the weekend - tough guys for sure!  The instructor crew looked at the tents we packed while sweat dripped down our brows still at 8:30 pm and fled for the nearest motel.  Dry-fire at home, and come on back! 

Laurie and Pete - we missed you on Sunday.  You made some fantastic improvements on Saturday, and you're always welcome on the line. 

Matt and Matt - I still think they picked spots beside each other on the line to purposely confuse us - both of you did great and made huge improvements throughout the weekend.  A pleasure to work with you both.  Matt A - I have your stapler.  You have no choice now but to come back if you ever want to see your stapler again.     Send me a message and let me know which 'seed you'll be at next.

Cannon and Dick - apparently the emergency 10/22 repair did the trick, as you both jumped back on the line right away.  Great scores - another trip out, some dry-fire at home, and you'll both be there.  Don't wait another year!  There's another shoot at Cloverdale just next month...

Elizabeth and Jim - you were so much fun to work with.  You obviously enjoyed your weekend out away from the kids.     Both of you are SO close!  I look forward to seeing you both again.

Thank you all for coming out for what would have otherwise been a miserable weekend outside.  For me, Appleseed is always worth dealing with whatever elements are thrown our way.  In fact, sometimes the worst weather brings out the best Americans - hearty American souls who are ready to honor our forefathers and reclaim our American heritage.  It would have been easy for you to wake up Saturday morning, check the weather, and then head straight back to bed.  Thank you for making the decision to join us.  Wake up your friends and neighbors, remind them of the sacrifices made to secure our Freedom, and bring them with you.  See you all soon!

Pics to come soon...!

[Modhydro]

Thanks to all of those who volunteer and take the time to teach us real history and spark interest that we may not have realized that we had.  The shooting instruction is great as well.  It still amazes me just how much I didn't know  that I didn't know.  As long as you go there with an open mind, you will come away with more than you imagined.

More importanly, bring along a friend, family member or neighbor.  My personal goal is to bring a new shooter to every on that I can. 

Thanks again for a great two days.  I know that the boys and I benefitted greatly from it and my buddy from work, Matt is talking all about it this morning.  We have another one hooked on it.

Steve Roskowski

[AuntieBellum]

If I'm 3/4" to the right...that's 3 moa at 25 yds...so how many clicks?!



Sling work with Bull.  Laurie had it all figured out in no time!



Elizabeth wore pink just to make sure we could see her with that camo rifle.     You can also just barely see Indiana's newest IIT watching her trigger control closely.  Welcome, Eddie!



Cannon instead tries to hide behind his rifle.   



Mag out, bolt back, safety on, flag in, hmmm...what's next?



Dick enjoys his last little piece of shade just before it goes away...at about 11am.



Travis gets some one on one time.  I can see that nice, open platform support hand from this angle:



Ball and Dummy:











DaveD oversees our able IITs reviewing the positions Sunday AM:



While the students take it all in:



And our welcome reprieve from the sweltering heat:


Did you take pictures?   Please share!

[Bull13]

Thank you all for participating and persevering through all the challenges the weekend offered! It was an absolute pleasure passing on the tradition. Great attitudes and open minds to learning the marksmanship skills and more importantly OUR heritage.
I witnessed truly incredible achievements in skill. Great job one and all! I hope to see you all again and are welcome on the firing line anytime.

[AuntieBellum]

Thanks to all of those who volunteer and take the time to teach us real history and spark interest that we may not have realized that we had.  The shooting instruction is great as well.  It still amazes me just how much I didn't know  that I didn't know.  As long as you go there with an open mind, you will come away with more than you imagined.

More importanly, bring along a friend, family member or neighbor.  My personal goal is to bring a new shooter to every on that I can. 

Thanks again for a great two days.  I know that the boys and I benefitted greatly from it and my buddy from work, Matt is talking all about it this morning.  We have another one hooked on it.

Steve Roskowski

Steve, it was a pleasure to have you with us this weekend.  Thank you for bringing your sons AND encouraging a co-worker to come out, too.  That's 3 people!!!  Doubling the program was such a silly little goal, anyway.   

You obviously have taken the instruction to heart and came back to share the Appleseed experience.  Keep coming back, keep spreading the word, and I look forward to seeing you all back soon!

[Niecie]

Great pics Auntiebellum! Especially the last one with the flag and the rain! I bet that was quite beautiful in person, too

Applause to all that came out to participate in spite of the heat. How many times did you hear hydrate, hydrate, hydrate? 

Sorry we could not attend, DaveD, but I hope to see you soon!

Niecie

[Kokopelli]

Thank you, AuntieBellum, for the great pics!  And a huge thank you to all for the superb instruction and history lessons over the weekend. 

I learned so much in those 2 days.  Jim and I love history, and were so excited about our first Appleseed event!  To be able to combine marksmanship training AND our heritage really made our weekend.  We loved it and can't wait for the chance to attend another one. 

And I would really encourage all women to sign up to attend Appleseed.  It had been many years since I shot a rifle, and I received all kinds of encouragement and patient help from all of the instructors.  It was AWESOME! 

Elizabeth