What a great event held here at the Flagler Gun and Archery Club in Bunnell, Florida. Our thanks go out to Steve Canfield, Club President, for being such a strong supporter of our program.
After having our bodies acclimatized from suffering through another brutal Florida winter (there were weeks when the temperature never rose above 75!) The returning 90+ heat and humidity during the weekend was a bit of a shock.
Despite the heat the shooters turned out for a "sold out" event. There was a full age range of shooters from Chloe 14, to Butch 81, and also included two adaptive attendees. A big thank you to instructor "rambo granny", the Appleseed Forum's Adaptive Appleseed Program moderator, for all her work.
Many of the new shooters came with new rifles and/or scopes that required adjusting and some tinkering to get things working just right. Some of the initial AQT scores reflected their struggles but they all showed significant progress by Sunday afternoon. It's always rewarding to see shooters continue to improve and, quite frankly, this is the way in which we instructors receive our "payment" for coaching and participating in the program.
Bill, Paul and Steve were knocking at the Rifleman door with scores in the 200s; great work! The best scores of the weekend belonged to Rick. 204, 206 with a 217 and 235 giving him his Rifleman's patch! Congratulations Rick. Marianne, Gary and Bud were right behind in 190s.
And congratulations too, to all the other participants that worked hard and showed their persistence by continuing to improve their performance despite some frustrating moments.
In addition to the Three Strikes of the Match presentations, in order to celebrate the April memorial shoot, "edree" made a presentation showing how a flint lock muzzle loader worked and "rambo granny" made a special presentation honoring Prudence Wright and the women that contributed to the cause of liberty during the war. (BTW, there will be a special "Ladyseed" event here in Bunnell held exclusively for women in October.)
The traditional Appleseed Memorial Volley was shot at 4PM Sunday and was a very moving experience shared by all. What a shame it is that keeping alive the spirit of those that gave their all for our benefit is all too often forgotten or ignored by so many in our present times.
Please don't forget to share what it was like to participate in an Appleseed with your friends and relatives and encourage them to sign up for an event.
Again, thank you all for attending this weekend and a special thanks to the instructors, FLawyer (Glenn), 9mm4545 (Bruce), rambo granny (Janet), Grunt (Dix), edree (Ed), Red Feather (Mike) and B.C. (Chris) that made this event a success.
Best to all, Heavyduty77 (Pete)
An honor to work with our patriot students and dedicated instructors celebrating Americas real birthday when common men stood against tyranny for the cause of Liberty.
What a wonderful idea to have a Florida Appleseed without rain! The heat could have been eliminated as well but you can't ask for everything!
Great group of students and a real pleasure to spend a weekend with at the range. I was impressed at the performance of everyone but especially those who had no experience whatsoever with rifles.
Perfect dry practice will lead to remarkable results and persistence will be key.
Our efforts on this Patriot's Day weekend surely would have pleased those brave souls who we commemorate.
O0 Good times!
Bunnell is an awesome venue and the crew there never disappoints the students. Good job!
Sounds like Lady Liberty was smiling all weekend long! Congratulations to all on a job well done.