Please don't take this as complaining but I really wanted to use my opportunity Card to shoot rifleman this year, but sadly the shoots were kind of rare this year and none was with in 300 miles of me to attend ( I usually attend Bates City).
Do we have any plans next year to expand ?, it seems like the word on Appleseed is fading and not as many people are talking about it as they used to.
Lowglow, far from "Wish[ing] the we had the same amount of shoots in Missouri as we did Last year", I wish we were having twice as many, as the program continues its rapid expansion.
However, we went thru a divisive moment last year, and unfortunately for you guys in MO, MO was impacted more than any other state, as unhappy instructors left the program.
While Appleseed continues growing strongly across this great nation, there is a temporary vacuum of sorts in MO which we are trying to get filled.
It may take a year or more to rebuild AS in MO - maybe less, if our remaining few stalwart instructors pick up the torch with the sense of "urgency" which should suffuse everyone in this program. The irony is that MO was not the center of the uproar, and that IL, the geographic center, has rebounded very nicely.
I hope some of our MO instructors will read your post and be motivated to make MO the growing powerhouse in Appleseed which it once was. They can make it happen.
I hope you will have plenty of opportunities to go to Appleseeds in MO, in the future.
I live in St Louis and plan to step up and take an orange hat at my second shoot sometime next month. I caught the fever when I made Rifleman in June and it hasn't subsided yet. ;D I will help as much as I can. I frequently travel for work, which brings up a question. Are instructors (or IITs) tied to their specific state or can they help in other states? If I can line up my work trips with Appleseed shoots, it would be a good thing.
Unfortunately, I will only be in MO for about another year before I move back to Alaska. Therefore, my time to help here is limited.
It would be a good thing indeed, Pete! One of the greatest things about being a AS instructor is working in other states and meeting and making friends with the best people in the country. So, by all means, schedule your shoots where you are at.
And when you get back to AK, ItsansSks will be waiting for you O0
Sweet! O0
I spent my high school years in Neosho, Missouri. I've facebooking about Appleseed to friends and acquaintances who are still in the area. I know some folks have read and made positive comments. If there is ever one in that part of the state I will do my best to come down.
Stop in at some gun clubs, shooting ranges, or find someone with enough property and ask them if they would be willing to host one. I convinced our club back in March to host one in July. At the July Board of Directors meeting I got 2 more approved.
Don't forget to check border states.
Another option is to bring someone to an AS to get them sold on it. Sharing expenses and driving could make a longer distance easier.
We have a shoot newly scheduled for thanks giving weekend at Rosebud, MO.