Despite the great Colorado winter weather of late, it was nice to kick off the year with an indoor event out of the elements. A big thank you to the club for their hospitality and the great facilities. As always, space was a little cramped behind the equipment line for instruction, but we figured out ways to make it work and be relatively comfortable.
10 participants signed up and 9 showed up on both Saturday and Sunday. The participants were a good mix of men, woman, and minors (11 yo Benjamin, 11yo Crew, and 9yo Case). Taildragger acted as shoot boss, with instruction help from Codefogey, Happy Camper, Humongous, Swojak, and Corsair12.
On Saturday, we made it through sitting position before lunch, with some historical context to April 19 thrown in during breaks. At lunch, Humongous and Taildragger enthralled the group with stories of the first two Strikes of the Match. In the afternoon, we made it through standing position and the transitions by early afternoon after which Codefogey gave the riveting story of the third Strike. The participants got to shoot first two AQTs on Saturday, on which participants Gregg, Lily, and Corey requalified as rifleman, after having attended a few Appleseed events prior. Significant progress on the Red Coat targets was noted between morning and afternoon, and Taildragger closed the day with a brief benediction.
On Sunday, participant Elizabeth elected not to return, and IIT Swojak elected to take her spot on the line. After a review of the marksmanship fundamentals and a very helpful ball and dummy drill, Taildragger gave a KD presentation in the afternoon as a break between AQTs. In the afternoon, the instructors also took turns telling stories of Dangerous Old Men and Dames during other breaks. During the ensuring AQT grind, participant Jon scored distinguished with his bolt action, iron sighted 22 on his first Appleseed, and participant Taylor earned a Rifleman score at his first Appleseed.
By the closing red coat target, marksmanship was outstanding. 7/9 hit the 400m silhouette, 8/9 hit Morgan's Shingle, and 6/9 cleared the target. Taildragger again closed out the day with a benediction, including handing out two orange hats to enthusiastic new volunteers.