WINTERSEED!!!!!!!!! Happy Dance!!!!!
It was a rare Virginia Winterseed. Temperatures ran just below freezing and we had snow. When the wind picked up it felt right. We had 8 on the line and had the chance to get Winterseed Patches for instructors as well as shooters. 4 shooters and 3 instructors succeeded. With this very motivated and attentive group of shooters we set a Virginia one day record for AQTs and rounds fired on a Saturday. 5 AQTs in the snow and cold would be good enough but we had room and opportunity for instructor development and 3 instructors are now Winterseed Qualified. It was cold, it was fun. The thing that made it work was the large crew of dedicated instructors and IITs. It was possible to get the maximum out of the event. Congratulations to Brotherpilot, Monkey, and DeadAnt for earning the Blue Winterseed patch as instructors. Salutations to Todd and Jon as "repeat offenders" adding Blue Winterseed patches to their collections and a distinguished rocker for Jon. It is especially good to congratulate Hunter and Daniel for their first Rifleman patches to be the Blue Winterseed patch. Daniel got doused in "North Bridge Snow" for his 210. Thanks to both of these new Riflemen for seventh stepping and joining the Virginia Cadre as IITs. I was highly impressed with Matthew and Ben who shot safely and showed tremendous improvement throughout the day. Ben, I expect a patch in your near future.
Many thanks to the crew: Monkey, Brotherpilot, Rockhead, DeadAnt, and wplunket2011 for their efforts that made it all work so well. Great job in difficult conditions!
And because :pics:...
Our intrepid leader, ready for the elements:
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_143851.jpg)
Yup - it was snowing during a VA event!
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_143842.jpg)
Jon, earning his Winterseed patch...
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171316.jpg)
...and his Distinguished Rifleman tab!
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171416.jpg)
Daniel, earning his first Rifleman score with a 210!
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171721.jpg)
Daniel's baptism by "North Bridge snow"...
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_1717550.jpg)
Todd, showing that he knows what he's about:
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171526.jpg)
Ben, showing off his Youth Patch:
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_1711410.jpg)
Congratulations to Hunter!
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171900.jpg)
Matthew, earning his Youth Patch
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171128.jpg)
Like father...
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171618.jpg)
...Like daughter. (Guess who got the better score...)
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/20190112_171647.jpg)
A few more:
The safety brief
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/IMG_5005.jpg)
RockHead demonstrating the Six Steps:
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/IMG_5011.jpg)
All ready on the firing line...
(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m555/jespe1/IMG_5008.jpg)
Monkey left off an important picture: