I was hoping to hear from someone by now regarding the Reno Appleseed. Although I was unable to shoot, I did volunteer to help, as I believe in the Appleseed program. Wow, how the program has changed since my first one, where 'manly' men and big guns were the way it was..Now we have people of all sorts showing up to shoot. Even a family of six who came with no guns, no ammo, and no clue! Thanks to KC (AZredhawk44), they were able to shoot the whole day.Things moved along quickly, as time was restricted to the range hours, but it got done! I had the most fun helping a young shooter by the name of James, with his little cricket .22 - Well, I didn't make it back for Sunday, but I'm sure those that did had a wonderful time. Just wanted to post the pics I shot for those that wanted them, as promised...http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m265/WarHall/Reno%20Appleseed/
This was a great event. I brought my 2 sons and the learned alot.
I think we will try to attend the Bridgeport ca event for some more learning.
The instructors were very helpful and informative.
Thanks.
QuoteNow we have people of all sorts showing up to shoot. Even a family of six who came with no guns, no ammo, and no clue! Thanks to KC (AZredhawk44), they were able to shoot the whole day.
Actually... thanks to the entire instructor corps. This Appleseed actually tested the limits (to put it euphemistically) of the practicability of loaner rifles. I loaned out my two, DesertDog and Arashi loaned out several, Gromit had at least one of his out, and I'm not sure on the status of the other instructors' loaner LTR's.
This was a neat event. We had six total instructors, and for Saturday we had about 35 shooters. We cut the line into two sections since our primary firing line was 100 feet wide and a bit too small to accomodate all 35. Ran 14 on one smaller line, and 21 on the larger one. Predictably, the smaller line got a few more rounds down range and a couple extra drills in as the day progressed (hooray us!), and the performance of this line on the Redcoat target was amazing. Saturday AM had 14 shooters that resulted in 1 400 yard marksman, 4 100 yard marksmen and 1 MRC shooter. We only had 7 shoot the final redcoat (not sure what happened here... we paused for 5 minutes to take down a sun shade threatening to blow away and suddenly a bunch of shooters started clearing gear and we couldn't re-herd the cats! ;)), but we ended with 1 @ 300, 3 @ 200 and 3 @ 100 (All 7 shooters!), with 1 MRC rifleman. Didn't get to score the 1 AQT we shot but we still had sunday. I think there might have been a rifleman score there, but we produced 3 Riflemen on the combined line on Sunday when we merged both lines (there were several Saturday only shooters).
This was my first Appleseed, & it was outstanding. I was there with my father-in-law Mike for both days.
I had purchased Fred's guide to becoming a Rifleman last year & have been trying to come to an Appleseed for awhile, but was never able to. I've read the guide several times, & tried to put the steps into practice whenever I'd go to the range, but mostly floundered when I would try to practice what it talked about.
This weekend, I got a chance to really learn how to go to the range with a goal in mind, & really absorbed a lot of the things the guide says, like how to properly setup and use a loop sling, or get into better shooting positions. The guide helped me to understand what NPOA was, but the instructors helped me to learn how to get it.
Thanks to their help & positive attitudes, I shot rifleman with a 224 on Sunday!
I was really impressed by a young man I met on Sunday named Charles. He is 11 years old, & only missed achieving a rifleman's score by 10 points! When I told him I know professional soldiers & cops who can't shoot that well, a look of surprise & pride appeared, & the look in his eyes seemed to change from frustrated to determined.
Thanks to all the instructors that were there to help us out. I'm already trying to figure out how to try & get to the next ones in Reno, in July & September!
Chris
Quote from: WarHall on May 26, 2009, 11:29:51 AM
I was hoping to hear from someone by now regarding the Reno Appleseed. Although I was unable to shoot, I did volunteer to help, as I believe in the Appleseed program.
Thanks for asking to help WarHall, you are a good example of someone wanting to help and even though not shooting or instructing, we have tons of stuff you can do to help.
I will contact the SB for the Reno shoot and I am sure they will be glad to put you to work.
WarHall, when I tell you thanks, I am not shining you or schmoozing you, I am telling you Thanks!!!! Without folks like you seeing the need for the program and willing to help from the get go, we would not be where we are now.
Thanks ;)
Scout
Another fine learning experience in Reno putting principles into action with a fine group of individuals! Three Riflemen were revealed,Rifleman Chris,Rifleman Jim and Rifleman Al! There are plenty of potential Riflemen and Riflewomen in this group who will become Riflemen and Riflewomen through personal persistence and practicing principles-safety,teachable attitude,understanding the significance of our heritage and the six steps in this group!It was a privilege to serve as an instructor and work with fellow outstanding instructors to such a great group.
Best Regards
Howdy Appleseeders,
Many thanks to all who came together to help this event take place. Joe for setting it up with the range itself and smoothing out some of the initial friction. All of the instructors, AZRedhawk44, DesertDog, Arashi, James E and Pat. Having 6 instructors total on the line was the best coverage I've ever worked with and has probably spoiled me for future Appleseeds in how much attention we could give to the participants.
Saturday morning saw a total of 35 shooters show up from folks without any shooting experience to one shooter who was in Elko just the previous weekend. Splitting the line in two on Saturday allowed our IIT crew to get plenty of practice in instructing while letting the red hats get to monitor them closely in order to promote them up the ladder. No riflemen were forged on Saturday, but plenty of instruction was passed along and all of the participants agreed that it was like drinking from a fire hose of info.
Sunday saw 20 returnees which we put on a single line so that 6 instructors could give much closer personal attention to everyone. Congratulations to the 3 riflemen, Jim (Nevada Smith) with a 219, Al (al smith) with a 214 and Chris (Chris_Hodges) with the record for the weekend of 224. Jim and Al took on the Orange Hat along with their badge and Chris will keep getting the pressure to do the same O0
With 5 instructors working or calling the line on Sunday, I was actually able to take some pictures of the event, something that I very rarely get the opportunity to do. They will be posted next.
Northern NV is definitely up and coming with many more events scheduled, including two at this range.
Persist!
AZG
Pictures from Sunday.
Quote from: Chris_Hodges on May 26, 2009, 04:03:36 PM
Charles. He is 11 years old, & only missed achieving a rifleman's score by 10 points! When I told him I know professional soldiers & cops who can't shoot that well, a look of surprise & pride appeared, & the look in his eyes seemed to change from frustrated to determined.
And Charles had a bolt .22, a stretchy neoprene sling, a scope that was hastily mounted while on the line that morning, and a faulty fixed ejector (too low). He had to remove the empties with his finger every shot.
Charles is one impressive, determined young man who knows what he's about. His brother Barrett was shooting great too.
Thank you Warhall for helping with James. I was able to spend more time with his older sisters and they showed great improvement. They all told me that they really liked the event and would like to come back. To bad they were Saturday only.
It is promising to see so many determined young shooters.
Thank you for the AZ crew! Now I know a lot of synomyns for the "F" word and "L" word... I am glad the .308 tax was not imposed last weekend... It would have been "Intolerable" and would have forced me to dump the ammo into Pyramid lake.
Thank you everyone.
Photo album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Western.Nevada.Pistol.League/AppleseedRenoNevadaMay2009?feat=directlink
Slide show of same:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Western.Nevada.Pistol.League/AppleseedRenoNevadaMay2009#slideshow/5340317402274881650
Videos of the three newly minted Riflemen:
http://tinyurl.com/RenoNevadaMay2009
Note: click the "HQ" button for High Quality video. It is located on the right side of the control bar that is attached to the bottom of the video area.
Shooters! Why was Paul Revere so successful in getting the word out?
Because he had developed connections and a plan ahead of time.
You have a chance to do the same. Cabela's in Reno generously gave me coupons for our shooters for $10 off of a $25 purchase. They did that because they want to support the Appleseed program. We need someone local to follow up with Jim and Dan of the gun sales staff, and with Jamie the events manager. I have sent a "thank you" letter to the events manager, but it is the gun sales staff that can really make a difference in attendance at the next Reno shoot. We need someone to maintain face to face contact with these folks. To see if we can get a poster up, to print and put out fliers, to tell them what a great time you had at Appleseed, to get them to the next Appleseed. This will be a great way to get going on the seventh step. The ice has already been broken. PM me for more info.
James E
Great weekend with great people!
Charles is indeed a great kid, along with Barrett. Not only did he struggle with his ejections all weekend, he NEVER complained about it. The kids that show up at Appleseeds are the most well behaved kids I see. Same with Conor, he struggled with sticky mags, but kept his rifle running the whole time! They restore my faith in the next generation.
Getting 3 Rifleman and 2 new IIT's was awesome! Northern Nevada is starting to boom. With shoots in Reno, Fallon, Elko and Minden getting ready to come on board. CA needs some competition ;D
I'm always impressed with the lack of whining overall at Appleseed shoots. Anytime there is a glitch, ie target wires getting shot, or someone shooting the wrong target, everybody just laughs it off!
It's been good working with the NV and AZ guys. I definitely learned some things that I will be implementing at future shoots.
Thanks for the pictures everyone posted.
DD
Quote from: DesertDog on May 27, 2009, 07:30:27 PM
Getting 3 Rifleman and 2 new IIT's was awesome! Northern Nevada is starting to boom. With shoots in Reno, Fallon, Elko and Minden getting ready to come on board. CA needs some competition ;D
Minden? Nevada?! I live 3 miles south of it! When, & at what location?
I'm seriously considering taking an orange hat, but feel a need to go to at least a 2nd Appleseed first. In the meantime, I've got three people interested in coming to one of the next Reno shoots with me, and I'm sharing about the Appleseed program anytime the opportunity comes up.
Chris
Quote from: Chris_Hodges on May 28, 2009, 01:38:00 AM
Quote from: DesertDog on May 27, 2009, 07:30:27 PM
Getting 3 Rifleman and 2 new IIT's was awesome! Northern Nevada is starting to boom. With shoots in Reno, Fallon, Elko and Minden getting ready to come on board. CA needs some competition ;D
Minden? Nevada?! I live 3 miles south of it! When, & at what location?
See this thread:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=6351.0
The tentative dates are August 29-30
Quote from: Chris_Hodges on May 28, 2009, 01:38:00 AM
Quote from: DesertDog on May 27, 2009, 07:30:27 PM
Getting 3 Rifleman and 2 new IIT's was awesome! Northern Nevada is starting to boom. With shoots in Reno, Fallon, Elko and Minden getting ready to come on board. CA needs some competition ;D
Minden? Nevada?! I live 3 miles south of it! When, & at what location?
I'm seriously considering taking an orange hat, but feel a need to go to at least a 2nd Appleseed first. In the meantime, I've got three people interested in coming to one of the next Reno shoots with me, and I'm sharing about the Appleseed program anytime the opportunity comes up.
Chris
Attending a second Appleseed is definitely recommended. You'd be an asset to the instructor corps. Helping shooters get better and telling the history is more gratifying than shooting Rifleman.
Hey All....
Finally got in yesterday am....then sit at the 'puta to get things reorganized since I left...... :P
I have to say, the Nevada shoots are really becoming a true thing of beauty.....great ranges (cover!!YES!!), awesome folks, and an Instructor corps that simply does not know the meaning of the word "quit"......
The wife & I were in Reno/Tahoe for the weekend, "getting away from it all".......Sunday am, I left her alone to "sleep in", & boogied on up to the Washoe Regional Range, which is a pretty impressive shooting range, compared to what we have out here in the IE......
Arriving just in time for lunch, & listening to the DOM tales by the red hats in attendance, I was able to finally put faces to some names I have only known previously on the forum.....good folks, all......
Gromit & Pat I already knew from the Boulder event we worked together a few months ago, and seeing them again brought a smile..... :)
Since I have not done any of the NorCal shoots, most of those instructors are new to me, so it was good to spend a bit of time with them to cover promotion thoughts we have shared online....I can talk a whole lot faster than I can type, lemme tell ya..... ;D
James E. & I have a thought we have been working on, that should show some results here shortly....stay posted for June @ Corona.....I'll see if I can make it happen....Desert Dog is always a welcome addition to any shoot.....as usual, the perfect poster guy for the term "laconic"..... O0
Also finally got a chance to meet Redhawk44 & Arashi as well.....great guys!!
And, to top it all off, one of our attendees from last weeks Elko shoot, had gotten out to this shoot, done his number, -AND- taken up the orange hat of destiny!!
Congratulations Jim!! We knew you could do it!! Just needed to work the bolt a little more quickly!! ^-^ O0
Also, Al was another Rifleman who stepped up, and Chris, who will really want to when he sees the range just 3 miles from his house......(See, when you look around, there's Riflemen -everywhere-!!!) :~ <:) BTW, re-check the link from FeatherBlue...I posted a pix MrBill & I took out there of the basic range on our way back from Elko...) @@)
Anyway, I had to get back to the hotel before my wife wondered if I had gotten "lost" (her usual expression for this), so after taking some pix, bid everyone a farewell, & scooted back into town.....wonderful thing to be able to Appleseed while on vacation...even for just a little while....
So, here's some of the pix.....how was your weekend?
LLP
Thanks, Laylopro, for the walkon. My personal Appleseed trail will surely include a visit to your area of operations. I just noticed that your sig. line includes a quote from Dave Grossman. An interesting author with a serious biography. I just finished reading his book, "On Killing." Worth reading.
Nevada Smith has stepped up to persist with the Cabela's contact. No one should be surprised that he did. As much as all of the Reno instructor team would like to take some credit, he had Laylopro instruct him at Elko the week before. 'Nuff said. The rest of you Reno folks, if you liked the quality of instruction, step up and promote the program. If you get more people to Appleseed, you get more shoots. Simple as that.
Did I mention that you should be dry firing at home? Every day? I raised my AQT score by 69 points by ONLY dry firing at home, EVERY DAY, between my first and second Appleseeds. Not one trip to the range.
A Rifleman adapts, improvises, and overcomes. A Rifleman PERSISTS!
James E
This event worked out very well.
However, if they are going to continue, grow, and expand, a strong local instructor and management group needs to be developed. We can't expect all the instructors to continually come from out of town or out of state. We can't expect just 1 or 2 people to setup, promote, and organise events. We are going to need people with all sorts of skills and capabilities to step up here in northwest Nevada.
Are you going to be one?
What are you waiting for?
The next Reno Appleseed is July 25 & 26. Not that far away. Also a possible event in the Minden/Gardnerville area in August plus otheres in Middlegate!
Joe
Well, I guess I killed this thread............ !@#)
Here's a picture of the six-foot table set-up inside Cabela's in Reno:
(http://i41.tinypic.com/29lbqqb.jpg)
I had an impromptu, bare-bones banner made up the day before (total cost: $72) -- unfortunately it's a bit tall for the table.
On the table top are various flyers (Reno; Gardnerville; LTR; What To Bring; etc.) And a couple of books.
There is also a 19" LCD monitor (and a PC underneath the table) running a slideshow of photos I took at the Elko and Reno shoots, plus a bunch of photos downloaded from this forum. Most of the folks I spoke with asked about kids--and I was able to show them actual pictures of boys and girls at various Appleseeds. (Mentioning that kids shoot for free helped too!)
One guy stopped because he just happened to see "Gardnerville" on a flyer--turns out he lives minutes away from featherblue's neck of the woods!
Jim,
for a "bare bones" setup, I gotta say.....that looks pretty impressive!! <:)
You did really good with that!
I'm not surprised, as you strike me as a "first cabin" kind of guy, but that is a really nice attractive display. O0
I'm sure you'll get some good local response out of that....esp. if you start advertising that AS is the answer to high ammo costs, by making every shot count. ;)
Keep doing what you're doing, it looks great!
LLP
Excellent! O0
Saturday was busier*** than Friday (as expected)--I ended up being at Cabela's from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m.
One important lesson learned: have flyers for California! Seemed like 1/2 of the one-on-one contacts were from California. E.T.A.: Print out regional--and full U.S.--map (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107205457411595070370.0004670c19bef130c16b7&z=3)(s) of Appleseed locations--it create an impressive visual impact of the extent of Appleseed.
And, like Friday, most people stopped by to ask about doing it for their children or grand kids.
Well it's time for me to print some flyers for California and more LTR's (ran out of those) before I head back to Cabela's.
***While I was engaging passersby I ended up selling one "guest" (as Cabela's likes to call their customers) a box of self-defense ammo and another guest a soft case for his shotgun. ("Where's my sales commission?" Ha ha.)
And I directed two women to the restrooms on separate occassions and another gal to the women's clothing department. ("Adapt! Improvise! Overcome!") I suppose mentioning "women" is redundant because as we all know, "men" would never stop and ask for directions!
All this while wearing the Appleseed t-shirt--imagine what I could have accomplished with a Cabela's shirt. On second thought, I'll keep the Appleseed shirt on--the sense of accomplishment is far greater.
Hey NS,
Most excellent work to get northern NV up and running!
AZG
Was at Cabela's on Sunday from 10 a.m. -- 3 p.m.
Lots of people in the store--although not as many as Saturday--but only about a half-dozen actually stopped to chat about Appleseed.
In the future I think a Saturday-only gig is sufficient.
The Appleseed map was a good idea because there were a lot of out-of-town "guests" in the store--now they know to check the web site for one near them.
Kudos to Jamie Klund (Retail Events Coordinator) for Cabela's Reno for graciously donating the table, table cloth, chair, power outlet, and prominent aisle space. Cabela's is definitely pro-Appleseed!
BTW: I suggested to Jamie that Cabela's ought to do a Cabela's labeled LTR--they have sufficient buying power to broker the deal with Ruger and etc.
And kudos to James E for the idea, and for making the initial, in-person contact with Cabela's! Way to go, James E!
Jim,
I appreciate the kudos, but all I did was set the table. It was you that did the shopping, prepared the meal, and served it up.
Good job Nevada Smith!
James E
Another shining example of teamwork, gentlemen!! O0 O0
Well done to both of you!! O0 O0
What we can do individually is not of much import, but working together, we accomplish so much....... @) :) <:)
Another lovely day promoting Appleseed......
LLP