Birmingham AL OCT 10-11

[jmdavis]

We started with a Red Coat and we wrapped up with a Red Coat as well. Between the two, we had rain, mud, motivated shooters and hard working instructors.

Aaron, Anthony, CZNUT, Dane and Hanz proved to all that they "know well what they are about." CZNUT, Aaron, Dane and Anthony also took on an Orange Hat. I believe that if he were not about to deploy Hanz would have taken an Orange hat is well.

The entire line of shooters that returned for Sunday showed consistent improvement. On the split line Saturday, the Red Coat results for the long side (21 shooters) were 100-10, 200-5 250-1, 300-0, 400-0. Sunday morning on a shorter line (17 shooters), they shot: 100-10, 200-6, 250-5, 300-4, and 400-4 and two shooters cleaned the target. After the normal Sunday afternoon attrition, an exhausted group of die hard shooters (7) did their best to on the closing red coat resulting in 100-3, 200-3, 250-0, 300-1, and 400-0. We even had a couple of shooters take the opportunity to see the results of a weekend of Appleseed training on the 500 yard KD range.

Tracey, Derek, Bradon, Darrel, Mark, Gary, and Freidenmesiter, all worked hard to give the shooters the best Appleseed that we could. Derek showed up Saturday morning after a week at Ft. Stewart and a sleepless night driving back to Alabama. Everyone had a chance to call the line. Tracey and Brandon both did a great job on the First and Second Strikes, and Darrel was there on Sunday after a week at Fort Stewart to help with the line and tell us about the "Dangerous Old Men."

I don't have any photos.  We did have some of the instructors and shooters take some photos. I hope that they will post these.

For the Instructor team, the Birmingham Shoot was a success. Five shooters became riflemen. The number of Alabama Orange hats almost doubled. And,  all of the shooters improved over the weekend. I was proud to be there.

[cznut]

I would like to offer a BIG "Thank You" to the whole crew of instructors.  Your willingness to work hard and help others is amazing!

It was a great weekend and even though we were wet and muddy on Saturday, the weather on Sunday more than made up for it.  We were not planning to return Sunday, but driving home Saturday evening (after being held captive by the unresponsive gate), Gordon begged to come back on Sunday.  I just couldn't think of any reason not to come back, and I'm so glad we did.

[Brandon1]

Thanks to all shooters that came with a teachable attitude.   You are the payment that the instructors get. At the end of the day seeing smiling faces makes the long hours worth it! It is the motivating force for all instructors.

I really cant explain the way I feel after a shoot. Part of me feels good kinda like I am making a difference. The other part of me makes me want to do more for the cause. I just wish that my work schedule was more Appleseed friendly. 

Anyhow thanks to everyone that drove the many miles to be here. See yall at the next shoot!

[tlawley]

 Thanks to all the shooters who braved the weather to participate in this Appleseed. Don't let this be your last Appleseed and bring friends and family next time. A special thank you to jmdavis for travelling a long distance on short notice to be SB. Thanks to hammerhead and freidenmeister for their hard work.
This was my first Appleseed as IIT and it is amazing to see all the work which goes on to set up a shoot and the dedication of the instructors. I am proud to be a part of this.
  There were a few "Rifleman" patches earned both days and improvement by all shooters was evident. I am very proud of my oldest brother,Dane,and his son,Aaron, for scoring "Rifleman on Sunday. I am also very proud of my "other brother", Darrell for the well done job of IIT. I also want to thank him for introducing me to Project Applseed. Also brother Dane and son took orange hats.
Thanks to Bama for setting up this shoot and brandon1 for his help and dedication. Great job on 1st Strike.
  Although I have yet to attend a dry Appleseed I am looking forward to the next one. I learn something at each one as a shooter and IIT.

[4merUSMC1803]

Although it was mentioned above, I too, would like to give a special THANK YOU to jmdavis (SB) and Friedenmeister (Red Hat) for traveling a long way to make the Birmingham Appleseed a success; and a special thanks to Bama (SC) for scheduling and coordinating this event.  Congrats to the attendees who earned their Rifleman patches!  I'm proud of all of you.  It was my pleasure to meet all the new Alabama Appleseeders and re-acquaint with the returning Appleseeders.  To reiterate what Brandon1 said, above, thanks to ALL of you for bringing a "teachable attitude" this weekend.

Even though I was "dragging at the place covered by hip pockets"  on Sunday, standing among the determined shooters, (especially Becky and her persistence to achieve the coveted Rifleman title! Hang in there, Lady, it's just around the corner.) and enthusiastic instructors, rejuvenated me enough to turn it up a notch and make it through the day. 

Finally, for those of you who have donned orange hats and "taken up buckets", I can attest that you'll experience immense personal growth and satisfaction while instructing future generations of Riflemen!  I know I have.

   

Darrell L

[cockybamagirl]

Where do I start to describe my Appleseed experience? It started out as being something different to do one weekend. The husband was going, and he asked if I would like to go, afterall, he was going, and it would cost nothing but the cost of the ammo for me to tag along.  Boy was he wrong with that assumption. Since that first appleseed, I have talked him into buying me my own 22, sling, swivel hooks, various other accessories, and boxes and boxes of ammo.  Not to mention the cost of traveling to 3 more appleseeds and I'm not done yet!!!

At my first Appleseed I went from being a complete novice (does the hour of instruction from the husband the week before count?).  At that Appleseed I shot a whopping 56 (as my best AQT)!  It was a day filled with frustration and the night filled with tears as this old body not only ached, it hurt!!! But somehow the seed was planted, and I decided that no matter what it took, I was going to redeem myself and earn that coveted fifty cent patch. 

This weekend was my fourth Appleseed.  It won't be my last, as although I improve with each Appleseed, that 210 has so far been just out of reach.  But not out of reach for the lack of instruction or encouragement that I have received from each and every red hat and orange hat that I have run across. 

It would take me forever to mention all the men who have inspired me along the way.  They have inspired me not only with instruction on markmanship, but they have inspired me with their knowledge of what really happened on April 19, 1775, their patriotism, and their belief in the appleseed mission. 

At the risk of not giving credit to everyone who has helped me along the way, let me mention just a few.

Flattop was my first shoot boss.  His patience and encouragement that day was incredible.  I remember that "walk of shame" going to look at my target, and here comes flat top.....looks at my target and asks,"What happened?"  I wanted to say, "What do you mean what happened, I suck."  He wouldn't hear of it, he made me think.

Derek (Bama) was there, as he has been at all of my Appleseeds.  I can't begin to tell you what a source of inspiration and encouragement he has been.  Always looking for some way to up my score "just a tad more."

At my third Appleseed, Ron (Son of Martha), literally laid in a puddle of rain next to me through at least 2 AQT's, encouraging and instructing, trying to get me to burst that bubble.

I have to mention Brandon and Darrell.  They both gave their first "talks" this weekend.  I'm glad I was there.  I could tell that they spoke from the heart.  Both of them have been a source of encouragement and I have learned from them both.

This weekend, I think my biggest source of encouragement came from an unexpected source.  One of the newest orange hats, Gary, came up to me late on Sunday afternoon and told me he had been watching me all weekend.  He pointed out that he knew I could score rifleman.  That I always did well on the "fun" targets, but didn't do so well when "it counted" and we were shooting an AQT.  He told me that I needed to just relax, have fun, and shoot without putting pressure on myself.  Not that Derek and the rest of the guys hadn't told me that a million times already, but Gary just drove it home.  Although I was already half exhausted from the long weekend, I proceeded to shoot my best Appleseed score of 188.  Not quite enough, but a vast improvement over that 56!!!

I have to admit I was terribly disappointed for not scoring rifleman this weekend, but like I told Derek when we were saying our goodbyes, I'll just have to work harder.  I'll be back.  Perhaps 5th time is the charm?   

[Bama]

It appears that we did not get any photos on Saturday, but here's what we have of Sunday.