We had a wonderful group of 14 Trail Life dads and sons from Johnson City, hosted by Wears Valley Ranch. What a pleasure it is to work with the Trail Life folks! Project Appleseed hopes to continue to develop a a strong relationship nationally with Trail Life. Although we were able to only shoot one AQT at this one-day event, all left happy, safe and eager to sign up for a two-day Appleseed. Much progress was observed during the course of the day. It was a slower than normal day due to the age of some of the participants, some of whom had shot nothing more than a B-B gun. Also, there were functional issues with some of the rifles borrowed from granddad and others. The majority of rifles also had open sights, and a few adults decided their eyes were in need of a scope. So rifle swaps and repairs happened during the day. However, everyone maintained a positive, enthusiastic, teachable attitude, and the day was a lot of fun for all. Eleven year old Noah, according to dad, did have a short bit of frustration from not getting close to a square. But, after the pleasure of shooting a couple of balloons, his sighting improved and you became a "happy camper"...way to hang in there, Noah!
Thanks to all for really engaging during the history segments. Because of your interest, including the indulging mom who was kind enough to volunteer to sweep up at the end of the day, we shared a bit more history than usual for a one-day event. I hope the instructors' passion for Liberty came through. Thanks to Stewart for driving from Ashville to practice with us. Since you shot Distinguished Rifleman at a previous Appleseed, we hope to see you in Blue Ridge to accept an Orange Hat on March 28th. And, we will be happy to work with you to get some ranges in the Ashville area as you requested. Anderson, you demonstrated that you could apply what you learned during the day. And thanks for your feedback at the end of the day with the instructor corps.
Michael, so happy to have you and your dad join us from the Ranch! And sister, Katie, came just for the history! Huzzah!
Nice to have the COO observe how we continue to enjoy the hospitality of Wears Valley Ranch and for him to be able to use this event to inform others about the mission of the Ranch.
A big thank you to all the instructors and to Black Knight for helping at this event. You really made a difference in this being a safe, successful and enjoyable event for everyone. Stockbreaker, you did a great job of applying what you learned at the recent IBC.
It's always a pleasure to be at Wears Valley Ranch and enjoy the nice facilities there. The men of Trail Life (both the young ones and the more experienced ones) were a pleasure to teach and to be around. The attitudes were positive, even when fatigue and frustration occasionally set in. Everyone was attentive and eager to learn, and everyone improved their skills dramatically. I look forward to seeing each of you again at another Appleseed.
I enjoyed working with everyone. I hope to see you again soon! I always enjoy spending time at the ranch.
Great venue, great instructor corps, great group of shooters. All around a fantastic event. Glad to have been a part of it!
Great time meeting everyone, had a blast. Was great to meet the Trail Life crew and see them progress. Thanks for all the volunteers and staff, they deserve a big round of applause for keeping their eye on everyone and still passing instructions off and keeping the youths interest, not the easiest task.
Quote from: PisgahProject on March 11, 2020, 02:33:26 PM
Great time meeting everyone, had a blast. Was great to meet the Trail Life crew and see them progress. Thanks for all the volunteers and staff, they deserve a big round of applause for keeping their eye on everyone and still passing instructions off and keeping the youths interest, not the easiest task.
Now we just have to get you in a "hat". ~~:)
This was a great shoot and the enthusiasm of the Trail Life young men was truly inspirational! It was a genuine pleasure to participate in this shoot.