As the end of our first RBC on the NEW DAR range, a new record was set. 54 shooters took the line on Sat. morning, the longest line yet at the new range. While somewhat unexpected, there was no problem handling the crowd, with a 100 shooter range and 20 instructors in attendance. The weather was simply beautiful.
Personal instruction was the order of the day, and at one point I observed a student with a Red Hat and two Orange hats observing him. Problems were worked on with dispatch. The group displayed good skills on arrival, and progressed well until the first history break at lunch. I divided shoot boss duties with The Guy, and went to work the KD range at noon. 5 shooters did well at distance, putting to use the skills learned.
Sunday morning brought rainy drizzle, and found us at half our previous shooter strength. By 10:00 nearly everyone was soaked, but then the skies cleared somewhat, and things were more comfortable for the rest of the day.
The AQT grind produced a total of 5 Riflemen, two of whom have been persisting for some time.
Special congrats to Dane, who knows what a Rifleman is all about.
With the help of the "Rifleman's super energy cookies" and red Gatorade, no instructors were fatigued during the making of this Appleseed. ;D
Longshot
This Appleseed has been overshadowed by the outstanding Boot Camp that ran from Sunday 10/18 right up to this event :-[ While you can read up on the Boot Camp here: http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=10273.msg85862;topicseen#msg85862, we are talking Appleseed here. As stated, 54 Missouri shooters turned out to learn Marksmanship, History, and Heritage. The DAR has been improved 20 fold from where it was in Jan 09. Thor's Hammer and Longshot, amongst others, have worked tirelessly on it, and it shows. Their long days, hard work, and personal funds are much appreciated. Missouri now has a quality DAR. AND, it's not even done yet!!!
With 25+ instructors on hand, the students got near 1 on 1 instruction. We also had the ability to break the line into 2. This allowed even closer instruction to those that needed it the most. By splitting the line, some shooters were pounding out AQTs on Saturday. O0 Even though you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting an instructor, **) **) no one was standing around. Each shooter or two was "adopted" by an instructor and given personal instruction. Speaks volumes about our instructor corps. It would have been easy to just "mill" about and slack off, but everyone jumped in. O0 I even had a number of shooters remark about this and how it displayed our commitment.
We had Beth on the line as a shooter. She is Derry Brownfield's assistant. She arrived with 2 others in tow. Her brother, a Viet vet, and a friend from OK. All shot well and had a good time, excluding the pains from body contortions **) Beth "enjoyed" herself so much, she invited the Shoot Boss, Longshot, to join her on the Derry Brownfield Show on Monday. I'm not sure how to link the broadcast, but if you log onto Derry Brownfield.com, you can probably find it.
Sheepdog, Pappy, and myself had to say goodbye to the free state of Missouri and head back to the Land of Oppression (Illinois) 1st thing Sunday so I can't comment on Sunday. As for Saturday, it did my heart good to see so many Americans willing to come out and hear about their forefathers, their heritage, and their obligation to those that helped create this Country.
I have always enjoyed my time in MO and this time was no different. Missouri stood proud this past weekend.
EEL
It was great. My 10 years old son got great attention from Eel and Thor's hammer while I worked LSO on the line. They did a great job. He was shooting one inch groups by noon Saturday. Adam got to wave a redcoat with 3 in the 300 and a 250 "headshot" in front of his older brother and sister. Something I had never been able to accomplish with him.
I learned alot. So many red hats. Big thanks to Aftermath for helping me learn to spot "cheaters". He caught a transition violation but let me handle it with the shooter. Hats off for that. I really appreciated it.
I really needed this Appleseed. I watch the news, listen to folks talk and feel so dismayed...I come to Appleseed and get recharged.
Thanks to all who gave me little words of wisdom. I had a great time.
Stand up you "Sons of Martha.".