Project Appleseed

 - Placeholder for Dinky's Report & YHJ's Pictures -

My personal Report from yesterday (I put up the placeholder for Dinky's report so as not to steal her thunder!).  But I do want to share about my family's visit to the shoot:

So this weekend was Indiana's first All Women Shoot.  Women from all over Indiana and instructors from as far away as California came to Cloverdale to spend two days learning fundamentals of firearm marksmanship as well to hear the history of our country's founding and the women & men that made it happen.

I had asked specific permission of the Shoot Boss that I be able to bring my two daughters (age 8 & 5) and let them see women shooting, teaching, and having a ball.  Dinky said that would be just fine and so on Saturday we headed out to Cloverdale with three kids, the camera, and four signed liability waivers.

When we got there the class was doing an indoor classroom portion of instruction but soon they came out and got down to business.  My daughters (& son) got to watch from a safe distance:







The women instructors and students had a bunch to do and were really working hard and we did our best to not distract them:







Once the event was over for the day, we stuck around and I offered one of the instructors a chance to shoot my suppressed AR-22.  She is from California so I brought it thinking she might like the chance to shoot something she otherwise will never see.  She was excited to take up the opportunity:



YouTube - DSCN2901

As soon as the instructor took up the prone position, my daughters mimic'ed her with superb prone positions of their own from behind the equipment line.  My daughters asked if they could shoot like the other women and I decided to let the elder have her first chance.  I mean, what better place for her first time shooting than at an Appleseed All Women event?!

So she came up to the line and her younger sister took up position as spotter:



Now, my middle daughter is a bit noise sensitive and when I got the can I had hoped it would work well to ease her into shooting with comfort (as opposed to the boy who I started by nuking a watermelon with a 12 ga.).  I really hoped this would go well as the first impression would effect her entire shooting future (yeah, she's like that).  So we went at it:

YouTube - 8 Year Old Daughter's First Time Shooting!

When we were done she said she loved it and when we grabbed up her target she was ecstatic:



We went up to say goodbye to the instructor staff who was having a post-event review session.  My daughter immediately said she wanted to come back the next day as she "loved shooting!" to much applause.

Happiness and joy.

And another great day at a 'seed....




Techres,
Very Happy Dad

Quote from: techres on May 23, 2010, 12:47:07 PM
[...]As soon as the instructor took up the prone position, my daughters mimic'ed her with superb prone positions of their own from behind the equipment line.  My daughters asked if they could shoot like the other women and I decided to let the elder have her first chance.  I mean, what better place for her first time shooting than at an Appleseed All Women event?!

So she came up to the line and her younger sister took up position as spotter:



[...]
When we were done she said she loved it and when we grabbed up her target she was ecstatic:



We went up to say goodbye to the instructor staff who was having a post-event review session.  My daughter immediately said she wanted to come back the next day as she "loved shooting!" to much applause.

Happiness and joy.

[...]
Techres,
Very Happy Dad

WHAT is this??? Elbow not under the rifle? No sling present to use? BIPOD? ? ? ? ?

<tch tch tch>

Of course I'm only kidding. I am very happy for you, Techres, that your young lady showed the interest got down on the ground, and enjoyed. the. HELL out of it, judging by the look on her face.

Just curious... How long you figure it would have been before you came to if she'd shot Rifleman?

Give that young lady a hug and tell her that her daddy is not the only one she made proud.

Blessings,
Bill

That smile says it all.

Thanks for sharing, Techres.

No pictures yet, though we downloaded them off the card last night and they all look great.

I have to say the women were a joy to work with, I will BOTG for you girls anytime. The weather was great (hot but clear), and the fine ladies who attended all seemed to have a good time. I certainly hope we Hoosiers (that means you now West) showed them our best in hospitality.  I was thrilled to see Molly get her score, and take a pink hat. Welcome Molly, your smiling face will be a pleasant addition to any Indiana Appleseed.

Where is Bio Granny? I was thrilled to see her finally get her Rifleman score after so many tries. Though I didn't get a chance to hug her because she was so busy trying to call Mudcat and tell him the good news, anyone who knows Donna knows she has been a Rifleman in every sense of the word for quite a while now.

My wife atttended her first Appleseed with the ladies and finished the weekend one shot from cleaning her Sunday RedCoat. I got a brief glimpse of it before she literally ran over to show Bill3 and Hawkhavn, giddy as a schoolgirl. Her RedCoat hangs on the fridge now. Finally... I am proud, very proud, to say my wife has asked to take a pink hat at the women's shoot, so look for "Niecie" as I suspect that is the forum name she will choose. Once she is registered on the forum the pictures will follow.

YHJ

Very glad to hear that this past weekend's Indiana shoot went so well.  I hope that very soon I will have two of my own women to introduce to the Project, my Sister and Aunt.

QuoteI certainly hope we Hoosiers (that means you now West) showed them our best in hospitality.

Darn, I thought I was going to slide by for a little while longer.  I mean, just moved from Delaware to Delaware County.. does that count?  Besides, I've been claimed by WV, PA, NY, and now OH.  What to do what to do...

Congratulations all.

West

Thought it might be nice for a woman to post about the women's shoot. 

Congrats to Molly and BioGranny!! 
It was so exciting to see Molly easily place the shots time and time again.  This was only her 2nd Appleseed, but it looked like her 10th.  Good Job!  And all this while needling her daughter.  heehee

I was so happy to see BioGranny on Sunday morning.  We met at Knob Creek last month and i was looking forward to working with her again.  HOWEVER, no work was needed!  I sat with her for a few strings, but soon realized there was no need.  She was in the bubble and knocking it out of the park.  She won both games, then Rifleman was a breeze!  98 on the 4th stage. Whew!  I was honored to present her with her patch in Mudcat's absence.  So wish he could have been there.  She was smokin'. 

With the first red coat the instructors noticed this would be a good weekend.  And even with the good start, we saw great improvement.  Congrats to all the shooters for teachable attitudes, your smiles and laughter. 

I have a few pics to load, but really hope Patriot Gal and Kira get theirs up.

Sorry I haven't posted a message sooner, but I was so excited I don't think I

knew what to put.  Dinky I was glad to finally meet you. I could tell that you
are totally dedicated to the Appleseed Project.  You are a great role model for
all women in Appleseed.  Momma bear and Cookies I enjoyed meeting you
and all the other Instructors. Thanks to my son Greg (Mudcat) for giving me
the encouragement and having faith in me.  He asked me to shoot
Mother'sDay.  I shot with him and Sindy along with Gregory and Amber.  Thanks to all of you along with my husband Don for encouraging me each
step of the way.  Believe me, I got no special treatment from them. 


Yellowhousejake thanks for encouraging me also.  It really helped.  I knew
I had people that believed in me and I couldn'et let them down. I thought
maybe I was too old to shoot (63) let alone make Rifleman.  You all proved
me wrong.

Kyjam what can I say? I truly believe you were meant to step in for Mudcat
Sunday since hecouldnt be there. I had a bad case of nerves there for a
while and you had me take some deep breaths which helped.  Thanks so
much for helping me and presenting me with my patch.

Dinky thanks for the book.  I love it. 

For everyone out there beginning to shoot don't give up!   Greg told me
that he could tell that a light went off and I finally understood on Mother's
Day.  What a present!

I wish I could have been there but I was under the impression that the shoot was for ladies only, seems like everyone knew this but me. 

I am so glad that my mother finally got to shoot Rifleman. She started her journey nearly a year ago and I have lost track of how many shoots it has been. So may times she would call me and ask me questions during the day or on the weekend saying that she was practicing. Never a bother always a joy. She persisted more than any other Rifleman I have ever knew. She would not give up. I am so proud of her for that!

We went to the range on Mothers day and I took some AQTs for us to shoot. I worked with her through a couple of 5 square targets and really worked on NPOA. Then we did an AQT where she scored her highest to date 207. I knew she would make the 210 and blow it out of the water with ease this weekend. Thanks to all that helped her this weekend and along the way. She now tells me that she wants to become an IIT and start down that road. So I will have to get her an orange hat to go with her new purple Rifleman patch.


Techres looks like those girls are going to start down the road to Rifleman with or without you. I suspect that they will be at the next Appleseed with you?

Quote from: Mudcat on May 25, 2010, 12:29:42 PM
her new purple Rifleman patch.

Looks like a great weekend!  If I hadn't had to work, I would've been there.

But I will be there in June...so what's this about a purple Rifleman patch???  I'm determined to get my patch next time, so I'll hope mine is purple, too! 

What a civilized state  , a suppressed 22 no less   
Nice shoot ladies ^5
JA

Quote from: Johnnyappleseed on May 27, 2010, 01:26:19 AM
What a civilized state  , a suppressed 22 no less  
Nice shoot ladies ^5
JA

Not only suppressed, but one of those   eeeeeeevil black rifles , too... and I bet the mag takes more than 10 rounds!

Dey's ob de debbil, I tells ya!

(and when I get my dedicated .22LR upper, you'll be welcome to take a few shots with it yourself anytime you're out this way.)

Semper Fi, sir.

Blessings,
Bill

Congratulations to Biogranny and Molly (I think her new name is Molly Jam) on shooting Rifleman! Molly took a pink hat too!

Also, special thanks to Dinky and all the wonderful instructors! What a great two days. They were definitely enhanced by the fantastic BOTG (aka manservants) Bill 3 and YellowhouseJake! Thank you so much for all you did - especially the popsicles. I can't wait until the next shoot!

I have some pictures that YellowhouseJake took for us:

Three cheers for Hawkhavn who generously supplied the covered firing line!!

A most welcomed treat!

Dinky being her cheerful self.

Biogranny earned her Rifleman patch and Kentucky Jam couldn't be happier.

Biogranny wins the fun shoot. Romeo's Hero always smiling.

.5 giving great instruction.

A great time was had by all.

Perfect form!

Girls dig Garands!

Awesome pictures!  Thanks for the followup writeup!

It was great to see you all working so hard and having so much fun.  Thank you again to everyone who came and participated.

Hi all, I had the best time at that shoot!  And sooo proud of my daughter, and daughter in law, and that purple patch!
All the instructors were so helpful, and made sure we towed the line!  I told you all you were tougher than the men at the Oct. 09 event! It was really nice to have so much one on one instruction too! 

not sure how to navigate the forum yet....but Dave, let me know what I can do to help out.  Am working on our younger son, to get him at an event before he heads back to college.

mollyjam

Ladies ,

It was a pleasure to have all of you at Cloverdale.  I'm Thankful we were able to put together a date on our calender.  Please come back .......  and bring the guys

Man, oh man, did the MO instructor corps have a great time at this shoot!  It was a sincere pleasure to meet all the ladies who came out and pushed through even though it was incredibly HOT and muggy.  You all did an amazing job and you took the instruction so well and that reminded me why I LOVE working with women shooters....You LISTEN! 
I was super-proud that we made not one, but TWO new Riflewomen! Great job to 'bofem 

Mollyjam!!  You used the nickname! I am touched    Ya know, I've tried to give nicknames to people before and I'm not naming any names, but KIRA didn't like any of my suggestions!  I am happy to see you on the forums!

Thanks to everyone who posted pictures- I love seeing them any chance I can get!

I look forward to seeing each and every one of you again on the trail!

MB