AAR: Wilmington, NC, April 30 - May 1

[Lawrence]

Perfect weather was the hallmark of our second Appleseed in Wilmington, NC on April 30th and May 1st. Clear mornings in the 60's reaching the mid 70.'s with light breezes and clear sky's throughout the afternoons, plus no mosquitos or nats.

Our host's, The New Hanover County Law Enforcement Officers, facility is shared with the Boy Scouts of America. While the scouts had a  weekend camping event on another part of the facility, we had the range to ourselves. It is a beautiful and efficient layout, perfectly level with tough centipede grass between concrete walks primarily for pistol competitions but well suited for Appleseed.

Promotion for this event was accomplish entirely by our local IIT3,John (resonant1), who is a range member. He spent the previous Saturday of Easter weekend walking the annual NHCLEO gun show, passing out over 300 fliers. He also secured the initial introduction for AS to this location and worked closely with Stimey to develop and secure the inaugural Wilmington Appleseed last year.

Of the 11 participants who arrived Saturday morning, we had four father and son pairs. Despite my best efforts, only one father registered to shoot, with the others choosing just to watch, one for medical reasons and the others to economize on the weekends expenses. Except for one family (Clay & sons),this was every ones first AS. Interestingly, Clay had been a drummer in the Colonial Williamsburg fife and drum corps. His older son shot the whole event with stock 10/22 sights and produced the best groups I have ever seen with factory sights.

The morning's instruction went quickly without incident. At lunch we gathered everyone for John to begin the history presentation. Everything went smoothly through the afternoon with John completing the "Three Strikes". His style was clear, engaging and included all details necessary to understand the uniqueness of that extraordinary day in our history. Upon receipt of his written PC 4 he will be promoted to IIT4.

One father & son could not return on Sunday but another pair, both previous Appleseeders, took their place so our attendance remained the same for both days. Congratulations to Pablo and Ed who earned their Rifleman patches. As the younger participants grow, we look forward to many more Riflemen for this area.

Many thanks to Max (Toshbar IIT3), a regular at Ramseur, for making the drive to help at this event.

Sincere thanks to all the range members who attended and to those who brought their sons. Several agreed to endorse Appleseed at the next meeting of the membership, so there is great hope that we will be able to secure additional dates for Wilmington.

As always, meeting those who are willing to learn and participate and sharing an Appleseed weekend with genuine Americans perpetually renews my faith and hope for the future of our country.

Thanks to each and all! Please post photos, as I forgot my camera (sorry!)

Lawrence

[Toshbar]

Photos as promised. 

Guys, that was a great shoot. I plan to come down again when the time comes.















And our two new Riflemen, Pablo and Ed: Congratulations guys!




These are just a few of the 28 photos I took. The rest can be viewed here: http://s741.photobucket.com/albums/xx51/toshbar/Appleseed/Wilmington%20May%201/


-Max