Great shoot, great people, both shooters and instructors!
Thanks to the Holland family for once again welcoming us, feeding us, and otherwise just being the Holland family.
I'll post some pictures and comments later, but everyone else, have at it!
The Editor
First, rolling in early Saturday morning, I saw our wonderful hosts, the Hollands (headed by new Orange Hat "Smilin' Bob" Bob Holland) had set up the range down to a tables, a marked firing line, fancy target stands, porta-potty, trash cans, the works. It was nicer than some bonafide ranges I've been to. The grass was freshly mowed and they had sprayed to keep the bugs down and were fogging for skeeters as I was parking. They even cooked lunch for everyone (burger or dog, chips, dessert, etc. for $5.)
Folks, the facilities there were as good or better than some state parks. Pretty, well manicured and zero bugs. (Instructors, if you don't sign up for McLean next year, you're a fool. This is like a plum teaching location... probably better than Hawaii).
They also have shelters, too. Lots of 'em.
Random thoughts:
Yellow House Jake was a remarkable instructor from Kentuck... er, I mean Indiana. Good to have an out-of-state flavor added to the mix. His wife Niecie (sp?) was wonderful as the first "Blue Hat" I've had occasion to work with. I could really get used to the blue hats being around.
We had about ten or twelve instructors which made teaching easy and fun and the attendees got lots of individualized attention - it was excellent. The instructors were also well-prepared in materials to cover any contingency, so it was excellent from that perspective as well for those rifles needed TLC.
It was a great weekend. Tried something new: some fans. Especially Saturday, they helped keep the shooters and instructors cooler on a windless, warm day. Ran one of those Harbor Freight equivalent 1000w gensets that you can pick up for $89 with a coupon. Drank about a quart an hour of gas (needed fuel-oil mix) and ran four good-sized high-velocity fans. Genset was about 80' behind the line (on the other side of the porta-john) and the fans were "louder" than the genset noise, so it wasn't bad.
Got some aerial shots (coming soon, compliments of Mrs. YHJ) from Sunday morning. Sure looked decent on the camera. We'll see what they look like full-sized.
Shooting was good. More women and kids than men (always a huge plus), especially on Saturday, thanks to the C family from the Lincoln area. They are Appleseed veterans and they have a remarkable family. The college-age daughter brought her boyfriend who has enlisted and will be going off to basic training soon. We instructors found it quite rewarding helping him with his marksmanship which might someday save his life or that of some of his fellow soldiers. We told him to share what he's learned with them as well.
YHJ gave the best Garand presentation I've ever heard, bar none. Nice tie-in to Ft. McHenry. This should be disseminated nationwide as the Appleseed standard.
With the exception of Mr. Naese's car getting bumped, it was a dream Appleseed event.
John
Also a big thank you to the Holland family. They do have a sweet range setup and were wonderful hosts.
YHJ thank you for the use of your stapler. Sorry we all forgot it until we were packing up and you were already gone. :slap:
Not only has Appleseed increased rimfire ammo sales, I have no doubt that stapler sales have also directly benefitted. :))
Thanks to our instuctors, hosts and participants for making it a fun day. Now where did I put that Ibuprofen...
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend!!! Looking forward to the pictures!!
Thanks,
Patriot Gal
BEST WEEKEND EVER
I hope everyone enjoyed my ice water baptism for shooting a 210 score. ^:)^ Cause I sure did. Nothing beats a hot, tiring day, shooting AQT after AQT, like a 210 score! :bow: Thank you, The Editor, and every one else there! There are so many of y'all, I don't want to leave anyone out. It was the "BEST WEEKEND EVER!"
Even my kids, Olivia, Josh and Celeste (Nightingale) loved this Appleseed. My son has now caught the fever, and wants his Rifleman Patch. He was the last holdout in the family. If Josh and Olivia succeed, we will have a family of five Rifleman, who can spread the Mission.
Thank you, Everyone. We had a great time and hope to see everyone again at another event soon.
You go Josh! As a matter of fact if you shoot Rifleman on your next Applessed, I'm buying you a box of .22 ammo! Hold me to it!
The Comstock family also had a proverbial... "blast" :--- at the Hollands! I shot my new Mini-14... just not as well as I would have liked to. Got 195 on AQT.
Challenge to Josh,.... let's see who can get Rifleman first! You in???? Last one is is a rotten egg!
Thanks again to the Hollands and more importantl, all of the Appleseed Volunteers! You ALL made it possible!
Brother_COM
What a great weekend. Wonderful Americans to spend the weekend with, gracious and generous hosts to provide such a fantastic place to be, and near perfect weather to boot.
Niecie and I had a ball. We enjoyed working with everyone, instructors included **)
I understand Scott pulled the AQT out just after we left. I wish I had stayed just a little longer to see it. I am sure Decca will manage it soon as well. If any one wants to watch perfect trigger control and SHF, just call up Joe and watch him shoot, he has them both in spades.
Ethan, you made my weekend. You and your COOLEST aunt were great to work with. You be nice to her, she takes you to Appleseeds!
I am certain we will be back, so where are the pictures? ;D
YHJ
Another great Appleseed weekend. The Holland range is top notch. Just need to mark off a special parking spot for Bonnie next year ;).
I have to echo templar's comment that the number of instructor's was awesome. Special thanks to shooter and yhj for the tips and words of encouragement.
Also have to mention the youngest Orange hat that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Nightingale started a little quiet, but by the end of Sunday, she was definitely running the line.
Hope to see you all on the trail again.
Another successful Appleseed at a great location! The Holland's are always gracious and the food is/was excellent (Thank you). McLean is one of the best kept secrets in AS. Hopefully, soon it won't be a secret.
Really enjoyed the shooter's attitudes and effort. And the ratio of instructors made it great for learning and fun for both shooters and instructors. YHJ and Neicie, thanks for the raid. I learned a lot from you both. I really understand the value now that the "blue hats" are bringing to Appleseed O0 and I agree with Templar223 that YHJ's presentation of CMP should be the standard for AS. Also, enjoyed the the 1st strike very much. :bow:
Congratulations to all the shooters on their improvement. Congratulations to our 5 new Riflemen! ^:)^
Amberwaves, great job and way to persist. 8) :cool2:
Thanks to all for making this memorable, safe, and fun. I felt inspired and I hope you did too. TheEditor, you always run a great shoot. I learned something from every instructor and a lot from the shooters as well. Hope to see you along the trail again soon.
I'll post a few pictures and look forward to other's pictures.
--Tornado
I have to say this Appleseed was Amazing! We had great weather, not to hot not too cold. Several instructors and very optimistic shooters.
We even had five new Riflemen. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! And a new orange hat!! It was a great weekend working with shooters and learning history. The Holland Farm is a great place to hold shoots. They made lunch($5) sprayed for bugs, and we even had our own mascots. The dogs were great. The kids loved them, as did I.
Olivia, my sister, is just knocking on the door for her Rifleman's patch. And Josh, who had previously not been interested in the program, wants to come back and learn more. We also had shooters from the previous McLean Appleseed come again. It was great to see them there with their families. I enjoyed working with Linda, who I hope to see again at another Appleseed.
-Nightingale
I still haven't dug out my notes (I'll do the IAAR Wednesday; have to work for a living Monday and Tuesday.
But - briefly, ditto to all the above.
Lots of new things and good things here:
Amber Waves making Rifleman! 3 out of 5 of that family are Riflemen; the other two are closing in; and Amber Waves and youngest daughter Olivia turned in PCS and applications for Blue Hats as Applecore! Whoever SB's their next shoot, please bring Bue Hats for them. Congratulations! That will be 4 out of 5 family members wearing RWVA hats (Tornado and Nightingale, orange (Tornado soon to be red, I'm sure), and Amber Waves and Oliva in Blue.
Welcome aboard to Smilin' Bob (until he picks his own screen name, he's Smilin' Bob) as a new IIT. Bob, our landowner host, shot Rifleman at the last McLean AS, and agreed to take the Orange Hat. He was presented with said Hat Saturday morning, and got right to work, coaching on the line, doing ball and dummy with shooters, etc. Thanks, Bob.
More in the next post. Here's a picture or two.
The Editor
Notice in the two pictures from my last post: the group photo from Saturday shows everyone SMILING! I really believe both shooters and instructors were having a blast. In the other picture, Linda (the shooter) shows great Steady Hold Factors - left leg extended, right knee up, elbow under the rifle, indexed about 30 degrees to the target - while Nightingale coaches.
More good things - Welcome to ANOTHER new Orange Hat - Reverend Ehud! He really is a Reverend, and he came close to Rifleman on Saturday. but he couldn't be there on Sunday morning. But he came back Sunday afternoon, shot Rifleman, and agreed to become an Instructor in Training. Congratulations and welcome aboard. (We handed him an Orange Hat for the picture, but he will need to be presented with his own hat at the first AS he attends as an IIT.) His picture is below, with Red hat Shooter 30-06 handing him the hat.
More later or tomorrow, as duty calls.
The Editor
As Editor noted, the McLean shoots hosted by the Holland family are special. Congratulations to Bob on his new Orange hat. From the way that family shoots (even the dogs can probably shoot Rifleman) I suspect Bob has been teaching marksmanship for quite a while.
Next, let me congratulate our five new Rifleman Jack, Kendall, Joe, Amber, and Scott. Scott also took an Orange hat and will be a great addition to the Instructor program (even if you did throw brass all over me!). You are going to discover that helping students get their badge is just about as big a thrill as earning it yourself.
I finally want to thank all my fellow Instructors. You were all great to work with.
What an amazing weekend! Thank you to all the instructors and participants that remind me every weekend why I do this, and LOVE it! Special thanks to the Holland family for their generous support and wonderful lunches.
Jack and templar223 took some extra special photos for us. Many many thanks :D Here they are and I will post some other photos shortly.
Niecie
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/aerial/IMGP4753.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/aerial/IMGP4755.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/aerial/IMGP4762.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/aerial/IMGP4764.jpg)
Quote from: templar223 on August 22, 2011, 12:36:54 PM
YHJ gave the best Garand presentation I've ever heard, bar none. Nice tie-in to Ft. McHenry. This should be disseminated nationwide as the Appleseed standard.
SPQR came up with the tie in to Fort McHenry recently. I liked it enough, I stole it outright.
YHJ
Okay, I was not there when Scott made Rifleman, but I am SO glad he did! Congratulations to all of the riflemen this past weekend O0 Way to go! I imagine Amberwaves enjoyed her ice water bath for making 210. The weather was awesome, but a cool down is of course refreshing... Here some pics of the instructors hard at work:
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4712.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4715.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4719.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4730.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4735.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/instructors/IMGP4802.jpg)
And of course the shooters hard at work, too...
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4698.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4700.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4717.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4723.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4724.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4725.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4726.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4727.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP469x.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4731.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4815.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4816.jpg)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/shooters/IMGP4728.jpg)
Last ones I promise ;) You all were so fun to photograph. Everyone was working hard and having a great time. And of course the atmosphere was cloud 9. Here are the "pics that make you say awe"
Thank you again to all, especially our host family. And thanks to all for the insight on how you do things. We really enjoyed learning with the entire group.
Until next time,
Niecie
I thought I would include a group photo with YellowHouseJake... ::)
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4742.jpg)
Outta Ammo and Plenty o Ammo have brought many folks to an Appleseed!
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4830.jpg)
Sundays are long days...
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4820.jpg)
Deka agrees >:D
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4832.jpg)
Olivia makes friends quick!
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4833.jpg)
The Wedding Portrait that never was...
(http://pixelhammer.com/appleseed/mclean/aaaaawwweee/IMGP4838.jpg)
O0
Great pictures!!!
Well done everyone!!! O0
Here is one of those situations where you wish you could be present at two events at that same time. O0 O0 O0
Gosh you guys had a splendid weekend. Nice range, great people, beautiful weather, awesome instructor corps.
Story and pictures tell it all.
3-Cheers,
CM
It was a fun shoot, hosted by some great folks.
I was at the June appleseed at Darnall's last year. Even though I had only been shooting for a couple months at that time, I thought I was a decent shot. Well, needless to say I didn't shoot well enough to get a patch. But I was driven to become better. Over a year later and thousands of .22lrs my shooting did improve, but there was still more room for improvement.
Once again I found the instruction to be top notch at this seed and appreciated the one on one coaching that several of the instructors gave me. My first AQT wasn't quite enough and the second of the day was shot well, but I put my second mag of 8 into the Templar's target right next to mine...DOH! :wb: (Though that stage looked really impressive on that target) Had I shot the right target I think I would have qualified. But you can't miss (or hit the wrong target) well enough to win. Long story short, after church on Sunday I made it back down to the range and shot a couple more AQTs and finally cleared one well enough to earn the Rifleman patch.
I did decide to join the ranks of the hats. I'm looking forward to helping with a great cause as well as helping others to shoot well (plus I figure I'll get better by doing it as well :) )
Again thanks to the Hats, Shooter, YHJ, Templar, Editor, and the others, we'll see you on the line soon.
Rev. E.
Great photos Niecie!
I will just echo everyone else because its all true. It was a great weekend. I love this location. The Holland family are wonderful hosts. They even grilled lunch for us both days. The weather was great. We had severak riflemen and orange hats. It doesn't get much better. Niecie, thanks for taking all the pictures. They are fun to see. It was great to meet new and returning shooters and to work with a great bunch of instructors. Thank you everyone.
Quote from: Reverend Ehud on August 24, 2011, 04:34:54 PM
...I was at the June appleseed at Darnall's last year...
Rev. E.
I did not remember that. That was my first Appleseed as well. ^:)^ :~ :---