Project Appleseed

We had a truly amazing two day event in Sturgis. A special thanks to Newell for making this all possible and providing a camper for the instructors to stay in.

As for the order of events and what we covered, it was a fairly standard shoot both days. We covered all of the basics and all three strikes on Friday, culminating in one AQT. I hope to update this when I take my notes out of the car for the number of patches and students, but it was very impressive! We had such a great group of people and it was an honor to work with them.  On Saturday we got in a thorough review of everything, followed by several AQT's  and several more patches handed out. In addition to the patches, we had a whole lot of honorable mentions of students who had never shot before at one of our events and were getting encouragingly close to that coveted rifleman's  score.
For me personally, it arguably represented one of the most meaningful events I have ever worked at. It was really the culmination of all that I have learned and grown so far with our program, and I will never forget this weekend.

Our students were absolutely top notch Americans that were a joy to be around. Victoria, who I hope to see as a future orange hat, even volunteered to model during our SHF review on Sunday.

The instructor Crew was second to none, and this event could not have been successful without them.  I had never had the pleasure of working with Mr. Zeke before, but if you haven't heard his rendition of Emerson it's worth volunteering for a weekend just to hear that.

All in all, we all had a safe, fun, and effective time. I can't wait to come back to Sturgis!

It was a weekend full of great students and instructors….

Without pictures it didn't happen so here they are!

Volunteering is a fun family event!


New rifleman and repeat riflemen!












So close to rifleman!



Cleared the Red Coat!




Steel challenge & the winners!




On the line:





















Instruction:





New green hat looks good on Captain America!



Saturday Instructors ( forgot to take the picture before two of us with a long drive left, so we drew them into the picture… not quitting our day jobs to become artists anytime soon.  )

Great to see pictures and get the report from SJCCC and Sturgis Michigan Appleseed shoot. I went to high school in Sturgis and I still have family in the area. There's a plaque on one of the trap houses dedicated to my dad. Needless to say I love the place and all the great Appleseed events that they put on there. Keep up the good work, liberty

Great event, the crew did a great job of instruction and making it fun while keeping things moving. It was wonderful to see the number of both young as well as new shooters!

Another great weekend with some phenomenal shooters.  They soaked up the instruction and their groups proved the results.  Good as the shooting was, I dare say they took to the history even more. 

Sturgis certainly spoils us, the covered firing line, facilities, indoor classroom area,  and even instructor quarters (thanks for the trailer Newell).

My first event working with Oz and Cap, and you each have well earned reputations.  I can't wait to work with you again.

An excellent weekend at the Sturgis Appleseed. We had a great group of participants with a "never say quit" attitude. Our first time Appleseeder's showed their understanding of drinking from the firehose of Project Appleseed instruction as their shot groups shrank while our returning Rifleman quickly showed that they "have men and women amongst them who know very well what they are about ".
Everyone drank up our history presentations and a few brave souls stayed late on Saturday to try their new found skills on the 30 caliber rifles ( M1 and an M1A).
It was a great crew of hats that volunteered to work this event and a big thank you to Newell for the great work at keeping the rifles running and providing loaner mats, rifles, ammo and safety equipment as well as a great travel trailer for the longer distance instructors to overnight in.
I look forward to working the next event held here.

It was a great weekend.  A wonderful facility, with such nice (and skilled!) students and a great instructor crew.

--Megan and Emma-leigh, it was great to have you on the line, and I really appreciate how much you helped with the whole event!

--Lucy, thank you for coming; I hope you had fun with your aunt and enjoyed the day!

--Bruce and Chris, it was great to see you again, and I love seeing experienced high-power shooters showing what they do. 

--Lori, you showed me what you could do.  You were a great student; I know a patch is waiting for you.   

--Hope, you shot some genuinely amazing groups--I do not qualify that with "for a first-time student" or "for a young shooter," you shot amazing groups, period.  Come on back and practice with us, and you'll see them more and more often. 

--Victoria, a couple of things.  First, shooting a 200 with Tech-sights at your first event is fantastic.  I might be even more impressed with your volunteer position modeling, though.  I've seen folks who "soaked up the instruction" before, but the way you echoed it back the next day was incredible! 

--Matt, congratulations on requalifying, and Jesse, if I'd had a nickel, I'd have bet you'd have had one too.  That you didn't (this time) is just the universe's way of nudging us that we should get to work with you for another weekend to finish the job!

--Dan, congratulations on your Rifleman patch!  Rosey, you did some excellent work with great aim and good trigger control!

--Charlie, you paid such careful attention to the instruction and did well.  Practice at home, and I hope you see us again.  (Pass word through my wife if you want to go practice at a range in our home area sometime.)

--Isaac, Gunner, and Mason, thank you for coming out with gusto.  I hope you saw we have some excellent instruction on traditional rifle marksmanship, and that we can get you out on the line again to really dig into that!

--Sarah and Chris, you were great students and showed a lot of sound judgment and heart and improved.  I'm glad to have worked with you.

--Rob, you did great on the line, and I loved how much you knew and were into the history!

--George, your enthusiasm was much appreciated (and was especially evident when we made it to the centerfire rifles!)

--Heather, you certainly "got your steps in" for the weekend just being congratulated for shooting Rifleman scores!  Outstanding shooting, you put on a clinic.

--Faith and Kayleigh, you both paid so much attention to working on getting positions and techniques right.

--Noel, fantastic shooting.  That distinguished patch is waiting.

Props to Kayleigh, George, Heather, Victoria, Hope, and Dan for staying late on Sunday to test out the M1 and M1A!  (I'm missing someone!  There were 7 shots fired.  Who am I missing?)  Thanks to Captain America and MI-copperhead for providing the rifles and ammo!

I can't say thank you enough to Newell for everything he did to make this event a success and to the St. Joseph County Conservation Club for allowing us to use this wonderful facility. 

Working with this instructor crew was humbling.  Your knowledge, skill, commitment, humility, and grace were evident.  I got to work with old friends and to meet and work for the first time with other incredible volunteers.  MrZeke, Macula Mamma, Dave Rose, it was more than a pleasure; you folks are top-notch.  SteelThunder, Fidget, MI-copperhead, it was another great weekend.  I will be awfully happy to work with each of you again.  Finally, Captain America, it has been a privilege to see your journey from your first event as a student all the way through to earning your green hat, and I can't wait to work for you. 

Everyone--thank you again, practice, and please come see us again!  Oz / John

Huzzah on a great event!!!!  Looks like a great event.  Congrats to the entire AS team, well done.  Corvette

Our group had a GREAT time in Sturgis.  Our sincere thank you goes out to all the amazing instructors and those who helped organize the event.  We appreciate you so much!  We'll be back for sure.  See you at the next event!