Sept. 19, 2015 Pelham, TN One-day Appleseed

[Regulator]

The day started bright, sunny and beautiful at Elk River Training Center in Pelham, TN. We had a total of 12 shooters and 7 instructors, including the veteran SI Ramblin' Wreck, Overmountain man, Johnny Reb, NBF, Buck & Ball, Osok, and yours truly as SB. This was NBF's second event as an IIT and the first for Buck & Ball and Osok. They did a great job!

Since this was a one-day event, we had to hit the ground running. The shooters were very attentive as Ramblin' Wreck started the day with the First Strike, and absorbed all the instruction we threw at them. By mid-day, group sizes were beginning to shrink. We broke at noon and found the only shade tree on our section of the sprawling range to eat our sandwiches and listen to Overmountain Man tell the Second Strike of the Match. Ramblin' Wreck gave a brief KD talk and we were back on the line by 1:00.

The early afternoon was an unseasonably warm 92 degrees, without a breath of wind blowing! Kinda hot for mid-September in Tennessee! The heat sapped everyone's energy, but these potential riflemen persisted. We put up the only pop-up canopy we had behind the firing line for a little shade while prepping mags, and we used the shade tree for teaching the sitting and standing positions. Johnny Reb told the Third Strike, and we shot our first AQT of the day at around 3:00. Thankfully, we had some cloud cover move in, making the afternoon much more pleasant.

Several shooters did well on the AQT, but it was evident that George T. came to get a patch! He scored a back-to-back 221 and 226 on the two AQTS of the day! Huzzah! He has already expressed interest in becoming an Orange Hat after he attends another event! 
Overmountain Man re-qualified with a modest 246. 
Our young shooters, Jacob, Jesse, and Coleman shot well and each of them received the Luther Blanchard patch.

We ended the day with my rendition of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech, and Ramblin' Wreck exhorted the shooters one more time with the principles of liberty and self-government that those of our Founding generation were willing to die for. It was a great day for liberty! If you have pics, please post them.

[Regulator]

Shoot Boss stuff! 

[Regulator]

Overmountain Man giving Buck & Ball some one-on-one coaching on teaching sling use.



Ramblin' Wreck telling the First Strike of the Match





Buck & Ball demonstrating sling use.









Overmountain Man and Osok teaching the Six Steps to Firing the Shot.



The floggings will continue until marksmanship improves!



I know there's a bullet hole there somewhere!



Yes, that is 5 bullet holes!



Overmountian Man telling the Second Strike.



Our young men.



Regulator and NBF teaching the kneeling position.





About to melt!



Little brother catching a ride from the target line to the firing line. Lol!



Johnny Reb telling the Third Strike.



Payday! Huzzah George!



It was a gorgeous day!

[Ramblin' Wreck]

It was another great event at Elk River Training Center. This facility will be a valuable location for Appleseed 25 meter and KD events for a long time.


Thanks to Regulator for running the event and the rest of the instructor team for providing first class instruction for a bunch of shooters who brought the one thing we ask at an event, a teachable attitude.


Congratulations to the shooters and thanks again to range manager Paul Granda.


Hope to see everyone again back at Elk River on October 17-18 at the KD.


Ramblin' Wreck