Project Appleseed

Shreveport, LA  Inaugural Appleseed
May 22-23, 2010

Another WOW!  They just keep getting better.   

Instructors:
Alonso, POP, McPeek, DoubleLL, K98AL, Johnny, Don
1 Rifleman - Congratulations to our Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Bodcau Rifle Range Manager on scoring 229.  He is our main contact for scheduling Appleseed Events at the Shreveport Bodcau Rifle Range.

Several other Appleseeders were knocking on the door and have promised to be back to earn that coveted Patch.  I heard comments from most of the shooters such as "Man, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be" or "I'll be back and I'm bringing my friends."

We had several upgrades in IIT status.
And, we had one upgrade to Red Hat.  Congratulations and Thank You to DoubleLL who did a Lion's share of the instruction and, did it well. That Red Hat really looks good on her.  She celebrated by being the first to properly retire her Orange Hat at a distance of 180 Yds with her new Garand, "Lydia."  Afterwards, Alonso, Johnny, Don, K98AL, McPeek, and Johnny's Son added to the festivities.  I have to say here, though, that we missed Starfox.

And, on another bright note, this inaugural Shreveport event was graced with 9 youth.  8 came back Sunday and shot for another day in the hot Cajun Sun.  These earned their youth Patch.

And, our Texan from Dallassville, Oldfart, also provided Appleseed with another first.  No, not that.    Oldfart brought his homemade, battery powered, radio controlled, twin engine, airplane.  Oh, did I mention it is equipped with Radio Controlled Camera for Aerial Photography?

In the photos from this morning (I will get them uploaded shortly, having some difficulty right now) you can see shooters at 0800 setting up, bringing gear to the line.  Visible from the air is the 25 meter range that Appleseed shot, and the 200 yd range that is open to the public.  Thank you Oldfart for the pics, and for being part of another Appleseed first.

Well, Folks, that's about it for tonight.  Fortunately I had only a 30 minute drive to my father-in-law's home in shreveport.  And, Johnny and Don also live locally.  But, for Alonso, K98AL, DoubleLL, and spmcpeek, they all had significant drives ahead of them.  We pray for safe journey.  And, we thank them for their dedication to our cause.

One more thing, 3 of my grandkids from Alexandria shot with us this weekend.  Two shot LTRs of mine.  The other shot her digital camera.  Her official job for the weekend was SC, Shoot Cameraman ... er Camerawoman.  She did an excellent job of keeping up with what was happening, and shooting the good stuff such as our New Rifleman Receiving his patch, DoubleLL receiving her new Red Hat, or the youth receiving their patches.   

POP

Aerial recon!  Neat!

TE

Congrats to Lauren/DoubleLL on the Red Hat !!! I knew you would do it !!!!

As a first time Appleseeder and the oldest guy on the line, I was impressed with the instruction and the history lessons. Mainly I was impressed with how much harder the course is than I expected it to be. With my military training (50 years ago) and 30 years in police work, I'm not without experience with firearms, and I expected to knock out the Rifleman Patch with no sweat. WRONG! LOTS of SWEAT!!!! Sorry to report that I wimped out after lunch on Sunday and dragged my droopy tail home.

On a brighter note, I'm also the pilot of the 'aerial recon'. Here are the two best photos from Sunday's flight.





Thanks to all concerned for a good time.


John

Ah!  Aerial views of an Appleseed.  Excellent!

Mogs

Gorgeous range and fine aerial photos!!

Thanks olfart, for posting your fantastic aerial photos.
I think you have made a hit from the air.  Keep up the dry firing and come back to another appleseed and score on the ground.  There is a patch in your future.

When I get the grandkids back to Alexandria today we will look at all the pics our 'little' camerawoman took.  She does have some of you  and you aerial recon aircraft.

More later.
PROP ... er POP

Quote from: olfart on May 24, 2010, 08:58:32 AM
As a first time Appleseeder and the oldest guy on the line, I was impressed with the instruction and the history lessons. Mainly I was impressed with how much harder the course is than I expected it to be. With my military training (50 years ago) and 30 years in police work, I'm not without experience with firearms, and I expected to knock out the Rifleman Patch with no sweat. WRONG! LOTS of SWEAT!!!! Sorry to report that I wimped out after lunch on Sunday and dragged my droopy tail home.

On a brighter note, I'm also the pilot of the 'aerial recon'. Here are the two best photos from Sunday's flight.





Thanks to all concerned for a good time.


John

Man I am sorry I had to miss the fun this weekend.  I will be at the next one though. 

I wonder if the range manager happens to run a hunting lease?  If so congrats MB!

Awesome photography olfart.  Looks like you had a great shoot everyone.  Congrats DoubleLL on your Red Hat 

BOTG pics please? 


Surely there is at least one picture of doubleLL receiving her well earned RH?


The VERY FIRST Red Hat Texas Madame?

What a great time I had at our 1st shoot @ Bod Cau, Thanks again to ALL the instructors for coming out and helping us get Appleseed started here in north Louisiana.I am looking foward to our next shoot,hopefully if scheduling permits it will be some time late June, guess we will just have to see how it works out.Every shooter I spoke with was impressed with the level of instruction and very excited about the Appleseed program,I believe we have a great oppertunity to share our convictions with many Americans. Thanks for the pics Oldfart, that was very impressive(wish I was flying the plane),by the way Oldfart built that plane.I also would like to thank Steve Hines,Gralen Mangum,& Salley Hunt for their help promoting the Appleseed event here.Looking foward to the next shoot.

BOTG Pics coming soon. 
Yes, DoubleLL did a great job on her PC teaching.
That Red Hat really looks good on her.
We have one shot of our new RH sitting with a great big smile on her face, holding her old OH after it got all shot up.

And, I'm trying to get our new aerial photographer, olfart, to come to the Davilla November RBC.

POP

Quote from: voortrekker on May 24, 2010, 11:32:43 PM
BOTG pics please? 


Surely there is at least one picture of doubleLL receiving her well earned RH?


The VERY FIRST Red Hat Texas Madame?

This was a fantastic shoot - all the shooters were dedicated, focused folks, especially on Sunday, hammering out the AQTs. Thank you to all the other instructors for making this one of the most enjoyable AS weekends I've had. The range was just unbelievably nice, the people that run the range were very enthusiastic. The weather was great - some would say a little warm, but hey - it wasn't raining!

Great job, Lauren! Great to see you get to "ventilate" that orange hat. The history was great, from you and the other instructors.

I think you're gonna see a bunch of repeat shooters at the next Shreveport Appleseed - and probably get a bunch of Riflemen then as well. I saw so many shooters getting close, I know they're going to take home the things they learned and practice, then come back and beat that AQT.

I really hope when they do come back they bring a friend or three!

Two words- All Smiles!
I want to first express my appreciation for the shooters who toughed it out in the hot sun and persevered on through 9 total AQT's. I know the pace was quick on Saturday and we went through A LOT of instruction, however everyone had smiles. We smiled through the sun burned skin, sweat, frustration, sore muscles and heat.  The range was outstanding; the folks were generous and friendly. I am looking forward to coming back to Shreveport.  The kids were enthusiastic and kept on trying never giving up.      

Driving home I thought about the weekend and what draws us crazy orange and red hats out every week. For me it is about sharing the history and teaching, I remember a few shooters on the line when their smile came from finally understanding the 6 steps and everything coming together. As an instructor those smiles keep me coming back.  

To my fellow orange and red hats- Thank you for sharing with me my promotion to red hat.      POP, Steve and Alonso are three top notch instructors who leave big shoes to fill. Their devotion and love for the program inspire me to do more and give back as much as I can.

Yes- After checking the instructor list, I believe I am the first Lady Red Hat for the big state of TEXAS!!  Starfox didn't let that go unnoticed he treated me to a nice dinner wonderful home cooked meal made from scratch on Monday to celebrate. (and yes I smiled all the way home!)

Thanks to everyone for making this a great shoot.

Congratulations to DoubleLL on her Red Hat!

More Pictures

What a weekend indeed!

I tell you there is something about the Louisiana crowd.  As stated before, we had all types of folks, young guys and gals to DOM's.  The shooters did a great job, I recognized some return customers as well as plenty of new folk.

Congratulations to our new Rifleman and well done to all the shooters who endured the weather this past weekend

I gave Pop free reign of the shoot and he ran it nice and smooth.  I think Corpus Christi will have it's very own SB, very soon.

It was nice to see Johnny and Don again.  SpMcpeek is old news now, seems I see him all the time...because he's out on the Appleseed Trail

I also had the pleasure to meet K98AL, he's a good Instructor and we have other interest in common.  I'll see you in Oklahoma later this year.

So what do y'all think about Lauren?!  How about that?  This January was her first shoot as an ITT in Austin, Texas.  Now she's already a Red Hat!  I tell you Appleseed really did good when we got her and Andrew(Starfox, the hubby).  Both of them are great Instructors, dedicated to the program, and they are willing to travel to spread the good word.  Boy, what I'd give to have a few more Lauren's.

Until next time, keep those actions clear and I'll see you on the beach.

                                                                                                                Mark

Quote from: alonso1 on May 27, 2010, 04:05:46 PM
So what do y'all think about Lauren?!  How about that?  This January was her first shoot as an ITT in Austin, Texas.  Now she's already a Red Hat!  I tell you Appleseed really did good when we got her and Andrew(Starfox, the hubby).  Both of them are great Instructors, dedicated to the program, and they are willing to travel to spread the good word.  Boy, what I'd give to have a few more Lauren's.

Thanks very much for the high praise Mark.  Of course, we had an excellent guide, instructor, and mentor on our path!!

And trust me, having one Lauren around is more than most can handle!   

Quote from: starfox on May 27, 2010, 04:55:03 PM

And trust me, having one Lauren around is more than most can handle!   

That was good

Quote from: alonso1 on May 27, 2010, 04:05:46 PM
What a weekend indeed!

I tell you there is something about the Louisiana crowd.  As stated before, we had all types of folks, young guys and gals to DOM's. 

HEY! I resemble that remark, you whippersnapper! Just because I'll never see the bottom side of 68 again and couldn't hold up to the heat and the pace out there doesn't make me a DOM... Oh. Yeah, I guess it does. Well, I had a good time anyway.

I enjoyed your spirited stories of the birth of our nation. All of you red/orange hats did a great job out there.

Keep up the good work!

John

Quote from: alonso1 on May 27, 2010, 04:05:46 PM

Until next time, keep those actions clear and I'll see you on the beach.

Yer absolutely right you will see us on the beach.  I'm working on an Appleseed in a range in the beach sand dunes.  But, before that I may put on an IBC (unofficial if that's what I have to do) our thar so, when break time comes we just go hit the breakers and cool off.  I bet Fred the Friendly would even come to Texas for that.   

I just spent half a day with the grandaughter in Alexandria, LA, you know, the Camera Girl.  I have 3 CDs of photos to look through, cut down, and figure out which ones to post.   Lets see, there's the one with DoubleLL wearing her new Red Hat ... and holding her Holy Orange Hat. and of olfart and his aerial reconnaissance aircraft.  and many pics of the shooters / and instructors doing their thing on the line. 

Many thanks to Camera Girl.   

It'll be a couple of days getting them posted.  I'm leaving for Austin Friday and then on to Corpus Wednesday.   Valero and Shell love me.

POP

well said, and congrats to Lauren for earning her RH! Good shoot there y'all.

More photos from the first Shreveport shoot, courtesy of Camera Girl (one of POP's granddaughters)...



Here's Lauren with her recently-retired holey orange hat...



And olfart with the aerial recon plane...



POP does a pre-flight inspection.



NPOA exercise (How do you expect me to shoot what I can't see? )

olfart, thank you for posting these pics.  My granddaughter enjoys shooting pictures.  This was no exception.

The next events at Shreveport Bodcau are:
21-22 August and another in October.

The June event last weekend was not as hot as this May shoot, honest.
Really there was more cloud cover, more wind, and we took more breaks.

See you in August.   

POP