I want to thank all the shooters for coming out to the June 10-11, 2011 shoot. Compared to the Winterseed last March, the two-days' weather was perfect. Only nine shooters had pre-registered, but three additional walk-ons came on Friday and those three and two more on Saturday.
Joshua and Robert (father and son) came in with some heavy barrelled .22 Rugers and shot well, but did not get Rifleman. Their scores definitely improved by the second day. Joshua, about 14 years old, took home a Luther Blanchard patch. They waited until we could do Friday and Saturday shoots before they came and shows that in Utah the Friday/Saturday shoots will achieve better participation for the local religious populace.
Barry and Jesse, also father and son, had only expected to stay only Friday but ended up liking it so much they came back for the second day so Jesse could continue the course. Jesse was a very mature, responsible young man of very small stature who stuck with it both days full time. I recall him scoring somewhere around 190 and significantly improved during the course.
Kevin was brought in to the program by Sling Up, one of our newest Orange Hats. Kevin came with basically zero shooting experience. He learned a lot and his groups got tighter throughout the day. He even stuck around to socialize with the instructors and other shooters who stayed late. He had kind words about the program. He took the core message of the program seriously, and we'll likely be seeing him again, perhaps as an orange hat.
Nathan, Jay's son, came on Friday, and both came on Saturday. Nathan kept pushing through despite having scraped his elbow. And Jay became our newest orange hat on Saturday. Jay had earned a Winterseed patch last March. We anticipate seeing a lot of Jay and Nathan in upcoming shoots and look forward to their help.
Asha, Amber and Shandon were young ladies who all three stuck through the entire program with smiles and increasingly improved scores. Their grandmother brought them and she stayed with them through both days. We were unsuccessful in convincing Grandma to join in the fun. They were the happiest people we've seen on the line in a long time. All three earned Luther Blanchard patches. One of these girls had serious difficulties even getting on the paper on Friday, but by Saturday she had tightened up her groups significantly. Despite not scoring Rifleman, they could tell they had improved markedly and went away very happy. Two of them had even scored head shots on the final Redcoat.
Lynn came to the program having done his research. He had read Fred's Guide to Becoming a Rifleman and had watched Youtube videos on shooting. His skills and the personal coaching from the Utah instructor team helped him score two Rifleman scores, the second of which was a 220. He too went away very happy. He intends to be an orange hat, but not until October because of scheduling constraints.
Kelsey, one of our bright young students from the University of Utah, was introduced by Sharp-eyed-Fire-Child to the program. Kelsey shot very well despite being very very tired because of her recent lack of sleep. Kelsey suffered from a brass burn on the inside of her elbow which was more of a battle scar than anything else. She had a great attitude and improved her scores considerably.
Sling Up contributed wonderfully to the shoot, learning the line commands and RSO duties. He's preparing himself to teach some of the topics next time and intends to do some of the history as well.
Buzz, also a new Orange hat who earned his rifleman on last Sept. 17-18 Kaysville shoot, brought his "down-under" flair to the shoot. He helped with RSO and Line bossing.
Snipercat and Sharp-eyed-Fire-Child came as a mother/daughter orange hat team to help out as well. Shipercat came clear from Las Vegas to help out with RSO'ing and Line-bossing. She helped to model/demo the first day and had a great attitude in encouraging the shooters to improve. Sharp-Eyed took on several of the Saturday Patriot Women stories, including a moving presentation of the Wedding that Never Happened. She's intelligent, hard working, and we anticipate seeing a red hat on her as well as a shoot boss hat in the not too distant future. Sharp-eyed-fire-child has now been advanced to IIT4.
V came out once again from California to assist. V has greatly sacrificed to create a better America by coming to Utah to get it up and running. He did a great job in ensuring that all of our instructors stayed on topic and covered the material. He also did a great third strike and as always he was a pleasure to have here.
Leonidas also came out from California to assist. He did great at assisting in the instruction and demoing. The students really took to him, as he delivered in a style that spoke of authority and competence. Leonidas did the second strike and Hezekiah Wyman.
We all felt that both the history and instruction were covered well and with feeling. Students definitely went away motivated and possessing significantly improved rifle skills. It was a pleasure to serve all of the students and we hope they'll all come back to obtain their Rifleman badges and orange hats!
Thanks again, students, for your patriotic participation and perseverance in saving our country!
And thanks to all the instructors that assisted in making this such a great shoot.
Thank you to all the shooters, this group of shooters were polite courteous and safe.
Lynn, I cant say enough about your persistence and how you truly brought a teachable attitude. Thanks for persisting. Robert and Joshua, thank you for coming out you guys stuck it out and I hope to see you at more shoots. By far for me the most impressive shooter of this shoot was little Nathan. He had the poise and confidence of a true Rifleman, I'm sure his score and patch will soon come. Asha, Amber, and Shandon were truly a joy. There energy and shooting abilities gave me a positive impression of our next generation of RifleWomen, Thanks you ladies. I can not put into words how great our instructor team was, with V and Rifleman 2000 at the helm I felt our shoot was bound to be a success. Snipercat, and Sharpeyed firechild were another example of how the women of our program are the absolute backbone of our organization. With their watchful eye neither a line command or POI had a word out of place, O0 awesome job and I hope to see you girls again soon (UCSD maybe??). Rifleman2000, I owe you such a debt of gratitude. You and your family were such gracious Hosts and absolute life savers, I wish upon you blessings of liberty. Also keep up your fight, you are doing nothing short of saving the country.
Thank You Utah!!!!!! ;D
Just wanted to say thank you again to all the instructors and shooters at this Appleseed event. I truly had a wonderful time (if not for the brass burns and the raw elbows (yes, I'll be bringing long sleeves next time, Leonidas)), met some great people and improved my rifleman skills considerably. Even though I didn't score Rifleman, I was extremely pleased about going from not 'qualifying' at all on the first Red Coat to clearing 400yds and the head shot on my last Red Coat. Another shout out to Sharpeyed firechild, your attention to detail is outstanding. I'm planning on training this summer ( ;) Rifleman2000) and hope to see some of you again in October, bolt and all (although maybe with a little glass thrown on, eyes aren't what they used to be).
Thanks again!
Nate
;D Appleseed was amazing for us! Me and two of my sisters, Shandon Storm Jessup, and Amber Jessup, all went to the one in june a few weeks ago. The coaches were amazing! They showed us exactly how to use our guns, how to load, unload, make them safe, aim, and so much more! I believe Steve and Jeff and all of the women coaches helped us throughout the entire project! we learned so much, especially about out heritage. The history lessons were by FAR my favorite part of the project. We just wanted to thank them all for doing such a good job.
Love,
the Jessup girls
You are all more than welcome and so glad that you enjoyed your birthday present. ;)
See you again soon
Cheers
Phil "V"
Quote from: asha on June 23, 2011, 12:18:17 PM
;D Appleseed was amazing for us! Me and two of my sisters, Shandon Storm Jessup, and Amber Jessup, all went to the one in june a few weeks ago. The coaches were amazing! They showed us exactly how to use our guns, how to load, unload, make them safe, aim, and so much more! I believe Steve and Jeff and all of the women coaches helped us throughout the entire project! we learned so much, especially about out heritage. The history lessons were by FAR my favorite part of the project. We just wanted to thank them all for doing such a good job.
Love,
the Jessup girls
This was my first event and Appleseed is addictive. Great people, marksmanship training, guns, and true stories of real life heroes. I'm hooked. A special thanks to Joe for his attention and coaching. Thanks to "V" and Dave also. Great job.
Libertatem et Libertas Semper
Thank you soooooo much for all your help and encouragement. Appleseed is by-far one of the funnest thing I've ever done in my life! I'd especially like to thank V for all his help on Friday. You really stuck by me and helped me=D I really appreciate it! I would also like to thank Bobbi, Chelsea, and David. On Saturday you really helped us=D A special thank you to David for ledding me your gun=> And to V for encouraging us to keep going on the last redcoat targets. I wouldn't have been able to get that head shot without you=D
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH EVERYONE ;D
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