What a shoot!
I'm going to start my description of this shoot by what made the biggest impression on me. And that was the instructors that answered the call. I threw out an SOS here, and you guys responded en masse. You showed up in great numbers, and you showed up with enough gear to equip nearly the whole shoot had it been necessary. And you did so with the full knowledge that you were committing yourselves to a challenging shoot. And then you showed up, and then each of you performed wonderfully.
My heartfelt thanks go out (in no particular order) to EZ3, wvmmfalcon, VanRichten, NC-17, Chrome, BeSwift, PatentGuy, Brickhouse, MacMcM, and BBKF.
This excellent instructor turnout resulted in a nearly 2:1 student:instructor ratio. And with 18 kids on the line, some of which had never handled or shot a firearm before yesterday, I firmly believe this ratio was critical, not just to the success, but to the safety of the shoot.
The obvious second part of this shoot that made it a success was our wonderful group of students. As I mentioned, we had 18 kids. Accompanying them on the line were 8 adults bringing the total on the line to 26. Each and every one of them brought teachable attitudes to the line and to the history discussions. In addition to the 8 shooting adults, we had several more who were there for the kids, but not shooting. And all of those listened attentively to the history presentations throughout the day. All of these students were a joy to teach. And we had some shooters (both kids and adults) show some drastic improvement in marksmanship during the day.
And the safety lessons during the day were taken seriously by the students. BBKF wanted me to point out that our discussion about keeping muzzles down range no. matter. what. was clearly taken to heart. Mason got his thumb bitten by his bolt in the middle of a string of fire. It cut him pretty good. She happened to be standing right behind him when it happened. She said he said "ow!", then finished his string, made his rifle safe, and then turned around to point out to the instructors (and his dad) that he'd cut himself pretty good with his rifle. She said his muzzle was safely downrange the entire time. This is an example of discipline in the name of safety. It made her proud. (Me too)
These kids impressed us so much, that we gave each of them a William Diamond patch during the benediction. They earned them.
And if any of you instructors had any questions on whether or not you reached any Americans yesterday, believe me, you did. A couple of the home-school parents are in my friends list on facebook. By the time I got home, they already had a significant thread running just absolutely raving about how great the day was. And after the shoot, several of them approached me and expressed their disbelief that such an awesome program could possibly be free for the kids and women. They were blown away by the quality of the history and marksmanship instruction, and were astonished that we are staffed entirely by volunteers.
And if you need any further proof, it looks like a significant portion of the HSA is going to pick up Paul Revere's Ride as part of their history curriculum. (Thanks Mac!) We reached some quality Americans yesterday, and they in turn are going to reach more. We will see some of them back again, I'm sure of it. And we may have yet another dedicated shoot for this group, because word-of-mouth is currently spreading through the homeschoolers like wildfire.
Again, thank you to all the instructors that made this shoot such a success. And thanks to the students for being so teachable.
Hopefully some pictures will be forthcoming.
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Thanks Vanrichten! Great pics!
I am so fortunate to be in Appleseed. Where else can you meet people like these who are attentive and teachable? This group of Instructors around here (and the furriners from MD,PA,VA, and Northern WV) is a joy to work with also. I feel like it's Thanksgiving at every Appleseed I attend.
The group we had Saturday was an extended Home School Association. They had folks from 3 or 4 counties to come out to HEAR THE HISTORY taught, and oh yeah we will shoot some too....
Chrome came up with a plan to make our day llike a typical school day. We had History (of course), Geography(I tried really hard to paint the country-side as if it were 1775 and described Boston to Concord in relation to local towns here), Science(anatomy of muscles and bones), Math(IMC), Civics, and oh yeah Marksmanship.
Now the bad part: I didn't get to do all three strikes. I did the first, Chrome did the second and siglite did the third. It flowed very well, as we have all worked together for some time, with me being the Johnny-come-lately in the group. I know we spurred some thought in the adults and the older kids.. Isn't it a blast to ask "What did Paul Revere yell as he rode through the towns"?
Appleseed is a checkbook.... you get out what you put in. My only solution to prolonging this feeling I have, is to do more so I get more...
"The Appleseeds are coming... the Appleseeds are coming..." see ya there...MacMcM
Mac, Chrome, Siglite, vanrichten, brickhouse, EZ3 et al,
It sounds like this past weekend was an amazing success. Congratulations to you all for pulling this together. I am REALLY impressed.
Events like this are what make me proud to be involved with Appleseed!
Mike
Hey Mike,
That big ole green field behind the outhouse is now the Liberty Range... 100' long shooting line and a brandy new roof to boot. Come see us again sometime!
I'll even spring for banana chips...
MacMcM
Quote from: MacMcM on November 22, 2010, 02:15:13 PM
Hey Mike,
That big ole green field behind the outhouse is now the Liberty Range... 100' long shooting line and a brandy new roof to boot. Come see us again sometime!
I'll even spring for banana chips...
MacMcM
I definitely want to make a trip up this Spring. I really liked the range and everyone up there.
Mike
Excellent Report! great pictures, and you do need to lock that range in for 2011. nice, really nice. Isn't it fun to read about Appleseeds and the rewards everyone gets from the day? Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah! O0
Quote from: Earl on November 22, 2010, 03:25:21 PM
Excellent Report! great pictures, and you do need to lock that range in for 2011. nice, really nice. Isn't it fun to read about Appleseeds and the rewards everyone gets from the day? Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah! O0
Earl, I sleep with the Gun Club President's wife @) ... It's locked in.
Mac
Putnam County Gun Club President
and AS IIT3 (PC4 submitted)
Congrats everybody.
What a handsome group of American Shooters.
We just finished our first winterseed in Gunnison, Co. And it great to see the feelings of optimism shared by your group as well.
Keep it up. Book more events. Patch more shooters. Award more orange hats. Make them red, then green. Repeat as necessary until the whole of America feels like we do.
Al smith
Although I wasn't there, I echo the excitement and joy expressed by the WVIC, who had the privilege to work this special event. My deepest gratitude goes out to all of you. Also a big "Thank You" to the "furriners" who made the long trek down here, for your much needed support. O0
When reading this particular report, it really touched my heart in a special way. This is the very reason why I wanted to see Appleseed develop in the Mountain State; to lay a solid foundation beneath the youth who will perpetuate the spirit of Liberty for this nation. I believe this event was a grand step in that direction and hopefully a trend-setter for future events throughout the state. Hats off to the Home Schoolers for breaking the ice on these new "organization-specific" venues! ^:)^
Very nice photos vanrichten, and that Liberty Range is looking better all the time Mac. I'm glad we're locked-in for 2011; due in no small part to your bedroom antics! >:D
It was a day I will remember fondly for a long time. Life offers few rewards better than working with a group of highly motivated individuals to accomplish a worthy goal. It sounds like the students went home more than satisfied, which is a tribute to the hard-working WV crew (some of them literally bustin' their britches to accomplish the mission :-[ ).
Quote(some of them literally bustin' their britches to accomplish the mission ).
Ahahah, yep! We have photographic evidence of duct-taped britches somewhere, too.
I just have to say it one more time in case I didn't get around to you all. You. Guys. ROCK. Seriously one of the best, most worthwhile things we've ever done. I've been bitten HARD by the Appleseed bug! :) I had to go over and post a little in the "Women of Appleseed Stories from Appleseed Weekends" thread.
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4577.msg150444#msg150444 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4577.msg150444#msg150444)
Crystal
Quote from: savagerabbit on November 23, 2010, 11:23:11 PM
I just have to say it one more time in case I didn't get around to you all. You. Guys. ROCK. Seriously one of the best, most worthwhile things we've ever done. I've been bitten HARD by the Appleseed bug! :) I had to go over and post a little in the "Women of Appleseed Stories from Appleseed Weekends" thread.
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4577.msg150444#msg150444 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4577.msg150444#msg150444)
Crystal
Crystal, welcome to the forums! And welcome to Appleseed. And thank you so very much for coordinating this whole shoot.
Crystal,
Great post and welcome to Appleseed!
After talking with Siglite the other night (he was still pumped!) I do believe the Appleseed crew wouldn't mind a repeat...
HH