Winter in Southern Nevada, what beautiful time to be at an Appleseed.
The morning sun rose over a barren white and sterile winter landscape. The sky was so blue it was almost painful to behold. The air temperature an invigorating 20 degrees. The harsh wind cooled it even further for warm blooded creatures. Freshly fallen snow covered the ground and presented a surreal contrast to the desert xeriscape.
It was Applessed Weekend in Boulder City, Nevada
Weather always plays a role in Applessed events and this one was no different.
Good news and bad news.
The good news is that snow was at higher elevations and made a beautiful backdrop to the days activities.
The bad news is that we couldn't hand out any nifty "Winterseed" Rifleman patches. The temperature at 8:30 am was a cool 55 degree's in the valley. A full 60 degree cooler than what it will be this summer.
Seven Shooters joined us for the event to partake in Rifle marksmanship and to revisit their heritage as Americans and Rifle owners.
The instructor corp Shoot boss DesertDog, Redhats Xeyed and Trebleshooter. It also marked the return of Southern Nevada's first Red hat Pat, who has returned to Southern Nevada after a two year journey which took him to the other side of the world. Welcome Back Pat. And last but certainly not least our Orange hat Snipercat
The event progressed in the normal fashion as the firehose of knowledge drenched the students with the safety Rules, Six Steps and the events of April 19 1775.
At the end of the weekend, all students had learned to shoot better and had a better understanding of the sacrifices made on our behalf.
In the midst of all this a student pulled all the teachings together and combined it with a smooth performance to shoot his qualifying score. This being his second event, he promptly demonstrated that he had been listening to more than the marksmanship instruction and stepped forward to claim his Orange Hat. For the lack of a forum name, he will temporarily be referred to as as the Rifleman known as Steve.
The seed of marksmanship and heritage was sown into good soil. The attendee's were charged with nurturing and growing that seed by sharing what they had learned with others.
All too soon the final shot was fired and the last words echoed into the ever present silence of the desert.
The camaraderie shared by the company of Riflemen was seen in the smiles and eyes of everyone as they drove off into the sunset.
QuoteFor the lack of a forum name, he will temporarily be referred to as as the Rifleman known as Steve.
Sounds like a good forum name to me..... :P
Good to hear you had a great shoot!
It was a great weekend indeed. To be fair, I believe Pat was the first Red Hat in Nevada. It was a pleasure to have him back, I forgot what a great instructor he is. You wouldn't have guessed that he had been gone for almost 2 years. He was on his game right away. I was thinking of the Aerosmith song "Back in the Saddle" when he was working the line Sat morning ;D
My highlight of the weekend was presenting Xeyed with his well deserved Green Hat.
I sure would like to get the member range one day for KD. Hitting 850 steel with a full value wind is one of the funnest things I've done. :---
I agree on his screenname. Now we should let him know :)
Rifleman known as Steve. He is a welcome addition to the instructor corp down here.
It was a GREAT weekend. Had two returning shooters, and a few new faces who will hopefully be returning shooters.
It was a pleasure, folks. ;D
~TS