Project Appleseed

Went to our first Appleseed shoot in Myakka, Fl this weekend. I want to thank all involved in making the event happen. We had a great time. This was a very well run shoot.

The best part was the reactions of my 11 year old grandson to the history of April 19, 1775. He tells me none of this is taught in his school. We talked about what he had heard and he commented that owning a rifle gives one responsibility's.

On Friday he was all over the target, me too, but Sunday he got two hits at 300 yds.  Still a COOK, but there is an event in April Now he knows the right way to shoot and we can practice.

Douglas,

I believe I speak for all of the instructors present when I say that the pleasure was all our own.  It was an honor to help your grandson, and he was a quick study.  Once he settles down a bit, he'll get the hang of it.  We do this for his generation, and for the generations after; without their staunch support, without our constant vigilance, our freedoms will continue to erode until the ideals our founding fathers fought and died to protect, are mere whispers in the wind.

That his school does not teach these aspects of our history does not come as a surprise.. It would honestly surprise me if he *had* been taught this subject in school.  Such a travesty that we are so quick to forget those who laid all on the line, in order to secure the freedom and liberties that we now take for granted.

With his enthusiasm, and your kind tutelage, I am sure we will notice a dramatic difference in accuracy at his next Appleseed.  Coach him through dry-fire practice a couple times a week, focusing on the six steps, and he'll do fine.

ITSAN-Awesome shoot! Had a great time and learned a ton. First DF exercise is tonight for me. Putting the word out on AS near and far. Will be in touch. Douglas, all the best to you and yours.

Semper Paratus,

Pete on the PTR (aka BamBam)

Doug and Pete,
Great to see you on the forum!  And what a great shoot it was--because of the wonderful attendees we had.  You folks make our job worthwhile; we don't do it for the munificent salary.

I've read lots of after-action reports mentioning the beautiful scenery at Appleseed shoots.  Myakka shoots do not fall in that category: our range normally hosts machine-gun shoots and is almost as lovely as no-mans-land.  But the shooters don't complain!

ColyCat came all the way from Wisconson to be our shoot boss.  ItsanSKS, TNTimberwright, Brian, and I rounded out the instructor roster.

The weather was less than perfect.  On Saturday the wind got so strong that we had to reinforce the line.  Then the frame of the awning began to go to pieces.  We had to stop the shoot and everyone pitched in.  Attendees brought tools and tiedowns from their vehicles and, with a few scrap metal stakes, we had the darn thing reinforced and stable.

Then the line fell down.

The wind was so strong that some of the metal fence posts sheared off at ground level!  Once again the shooters jumped in and helped us get things back together so the marksmanship could continue.

On Sunday there was little wind but it rained most of the day.  The shooters thought it was a vast improvement.

The entire weekend I didn't hear one complaint.

We had 24 attendees on Saturday and 20 on Sunday.  Three gentlemen and one lady shot to rifleman standards and were awarded the coveted patch.  One woman, attending her first Appleseed, had both equipment and eyesight problems.  She only managed to shoot a 25 on Saturday.  By Sunday she was up to 75.  Late in the afternoon she said, "I'm going to the eye doctor tommorrow.  When's the next Appleseed?"

I'm still a little stunned by the quality of the people we had attending the Myakka Appleseed.  There IS hope for our country.

RickB

Quote from: RickB on April 03, 2009, 08:03:18 AM
I'm still a little stunned by the quality of the people we had attending the Myakka Appleseed.  There IS hope for our country.

   Rick, that's a feeling that may not go away. After 50+ Appleseeds, I still get that feeling. It's why Appleseed is HOPE.

      And good story about "the Appleseed engineers" - volunteer Americans - "improvising, adapting, and overcoming" on your range.

      +1 to all!

Fred,

I have an inkling of what you mean.  I was at RBC1--you might remeber me since you quoted me rather extensively in Shotgun News.  I remember what tremendous fellowship we had with the great group of people there.  Afterwards I dropped out of sight for a year and a half--to lose 70 pounds!  I figured if I wanted to be a rifleman I'd better shape up!

In the last 15 months I've attended (as shooter or IIT) 9 Appleseeds and I'm still impressed.  What great folks.

RickB (aka "Rick in St. Petersburg" on the old forum)

Hi all from Wisconsin.

Thanks go out to everyone at the Myakka shoot that made me feel very welcome.  Although it was very windy and then it rained,  the temps were a wonderful respite for this northern boy.  All the Shooters were very attentive and eager to improve.  Congratulations to the new Riflemen and to Chris for stepping up to the instructor core.  Florida is in good hands with the instructors  from this area.

One of my personal goals with every AS is to have people still thinking about it on Wednesday or Thursday.  Any one still thinking about last weekend?

Chris, Christa took some pictures.  Can you get some of them posted?  Email me if needed and I will post them.  lbries@centurytel.net

Its been a honor to be at this event, hope to see you all soon.

Colycat

Y'all might check out this thread from another forum:
http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=54978&highlight=Appleseed

Think you'll see some familiar faces. 
Colycat your fame is spreading...

These folks have been very welcoming the the Appleseed message and we picked up an Arkansas range through here as well.  The Appleseed schedule thread has had more than 350 views.

HH

What range in Arkansas?

Relax, smle - I'm pretty sure HH is talking about me and your's and mine meet weeks ago, but I don't see it on the 2009 schedule yet???