A special Patriot's weekend event at the Erie County Conservation League outside of Sandusky, OH. The 12 shooters who showed up for this event were a good mix of new and returning attendees.
Special because this area (the counties of Erie and Huron) have a direct relationship to the Revolutionary War. These 2 counties were part of Connecticut's original land charter called the Warren Western Reserve. Huron and Erie counties are on the far western edge and were designated as the "Firelands" area due to the land grants that were given by the colony of Connecticut to families that had suffered loss when the British sailed up rivers and burned their towns. If you look at maps of this area and Connecticut, you will find towns, and townships that share the same name.
We started Saturday morning with the normal welcome, introductions and moved to the safety briefing. Rifles were brought to the line and the Saturday morning Red Coat was shot. Results showed we had a great bunch of shooters. We had 7 of 12 shooters good at 100, 5 at 200, 4 at 300, 2 at 400, and 3 joined Daniel Morgan. We also had 1 cleared Red Coat.
We moved on to the steady hold factors in prone, followed by the six steps and NPOA instructions. Related drills were shot in between the points of instruction and groups began to shrink. Codebook made the IMC presentation on how to adjust sights and then broke for lunch and the First Strike.
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After lunch we shot confirming groups and moved on to the steady hold factors in seated which were followed by related drills. The Second Strike was presented by Meadow at the afternoon break.
This was followed by presentation of the standing steady hold factors and the afternoon Red Coat. The Saturday afternoon Red Coat had results which showed improvement over the morning effort. Of the 12 shooters, we had 9 at 100, 8 at 200, 6 at 300, 3 at 400 and 3 joined Daniel Morgan.
This was followed by the Third Strike and the Saturday call to Action.
Sunday started overcast and cool, but with the promise of rising temps during the day. We started the day with a review of the safety rules and the POI's from Saturday. Rifles were brought to the line and the Sunday morning Red Coat was shot. It was very encouraging. Usually there is a little drop on Sunday morning but this group knew very well what they were about. We had 10 of 11 at 100, 5 at 200, 2 at 300, 2 at 400, and 4 joined Daniel Morgan.
We confirmed zero's from the day before and performed some NPOA drills and then broke for lunch. The KD lecture was presented as well as Meadow presenting Sam Whittmore and the shoot boss doing David Lamson and Hezekiah Wyman.
We then started on the AQT grind and on our first AQT of the day, Quinlin showed he knew very well what he was about by scoring a 214 and earning the special full color Patriot's Day rifleman's patch. Not to be out done, our IIT2 orange hat Aliquippa earned her full color patch by shooting a very respectable 225. Congratulations to both.
We got in 2 AQT's before our Patriot's memorial day volley. I would like to give a special shout out to Chico, who performed the reading of the names of the fallen, while providing the accompanying music of the bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace". It was a very moving experience.
We continued with 2 more AQT's and ended the day with the Sunday afternoon Redcoat. We had 10 of 11 at 100, 5 at 200, 2 at 300, 3 at 400, and 3 joined Daniel Morgan.
Although we did not add any new rifleman after the first AQT, we had several shooters with solid scores and getting on the porch knocking on the door. To those people - remember a rifleman persists!
I want to thank the Erie County Conservation League for allowing Appleseed access to their fabulous facility. Without clubs like these, we have no program. Also, I would like to thank my instructors Meadow, Codebook, SlowbutSure, Aliquippa and Chico. You made my task easier by your effort and professionalism.
A few photos to prove it happened. I know others have photos. Please Post
Quinn earns his Rifleman patch. ^:)^Lots of good instruction from Codebook, no doubt.
Here's Quinn!
Aliquippa . . . Wooo Hoooo ! . . . 225 . . . Way to go! You represented the Cadre extremely well - thanks from all of us ! :bow: :snipersmi
Sounds like an awesome event with little weather interference! Great job all!