Norman, OK April 9-10, 2022

[henschman]

It was good to be back at the Tri-City Gun Club for the first time since the pandemic!  The crowd was small but high quality, which was very nice on the instructor side.  It was an unexpected pleasure to have our old Shoot Boss Oldgrunt on the line!  Sid was practicing for his Instructor Progress Check, so I had it easy as Shoot Boss.  Nancy shot a new personal best of 233, and earned a sweet full color Rifleman patch... Yours Truly had to get on the line and earn one too.    Aaron and Eli were a father/son team both shooting iron sights.  Eli had the best attitude of any kid I've seen on the line in a long time, and did some great shooting.  Jeff fought through some physical issues to make some serious improvement, and we helped him get a handle on some things to work on.  Looking forward to Tishomingo in 2 weeks!

[Mrs. Smith]

Woo hoo! Welcome back, Oklahoma!!

Oh and, by the way...

[Gus]

I was a member of Tri City back in '83/'84.  Good to see it's still around and the people there are still going great things!

In Liberty,

Gus

[Boomerang]

@Mrs. Smith: rumor has it pics are pending per Henschman 

[Captain]

Sounds like Oklahoma had a great event to kick off the 2022 Appleseed season. I can't wait for Tishomingo in two weeks!!

[Mrs. Smith]

@Mrs. Smith: rumor has it pics are pending per Henschman 

That's what I like to hear 

[Lead Sled]

So glad to see things picking up in Oklahoma! What a great way to start off the 2022 season!

[henschman]

Don't look at me... Will's got all the pics!

[Scarecrow]

TWO PIC's anyway
Great to see Chris (OG) again.
David has the group pictures from Saturday
TriCity facility has greatly improved and still a work in progress.

[PersistentMisterJ]

There is nothing in the world quite like having five instructors focus on helping me work through my issues! You guys are awesome, I can't wait to learn from you again! 

Working with you has convinced me beyond the shadow of a doubt that I can earn my Rifelman score despite my particular situation.  I cannot thank you enough, Daniel, Sid, Robb, David, and Nancy, for sharing your wisdom and exepertise not only with the rifle, but also with the history of 4/19/1775, so extensively during the Norman Appleseed!

I hope to see you all at Tishomingo!  I'll be there with an additional 2 weeks of daily NPOA practice in the techniques that y'all spent time teaching me.  I've used the moa calculations we learned about to setup up a teensy target with the space I have available -- all of 3 yds of it, lol  (a 1" square at 25yds translates to 0.12" at this small distance, so i had to use calipers to make something reasonably accurate.), and I am also in the process of setting up a new 10/22 with tech sights.

See you in Tishomingo!    

[Boomerang]

Great to be back at Tri City Gun Club, after a too-long hiatus!

While attendance was light, quality of attendants was exceptional: Aaron and Eli, father-son duo, were both willing and capable students, and had a schedule conflict not forced their early departure Sunday afternoon, would likely both have been at least within striking distance, very possibly even scoring Rifleman!  In my experience, Eli was the most well-mannered, receptive, attentive, and disciplined 12 year old I've had the pleasure of being around and working with in years, and he had a consistently upbeat, cheerful, and positive attitude to boot; no mystery where that originated, as the same outlook was consistently modeled throughout the weekend by his dad, Aaron, as well.  The importance of great parent example cannot be overstated, and it was easy to see it in action throughout the weekend.  I'm eagerly anticipating getting to work with them both at future events!

Jeff epitomizes the qualities required of a Rifleman; persistence, diligence, and initiative, resulting in the ability to "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome".  I found Jeff's choice of forum name to be both intriguing and descriptive:  "PersistentMisterJ".  Well, PersistentMisterJ, I can't wait to see the results of your self-imposed dry-fire drill at Tishomingo!  Huzzah!

Nancy is always a pleasure to work with, and consistently displays critical qualities of precision rifle marksmanship:  picture-perfect shooting positions and sling use, resulting in her earning, to the best of my knowledge the very first Full-color Rifleman Patch to be awarded in Oklahoma, and a new Personal Best re-qualification score of 233!  Nancy's current goals are Distinguished Rifleman (>=240), and Perfect AQT (250), and I have no doubt that she will achieve these goals.  Even more significantly, Nancy took time out from shooting in pursuit of these lofty goals to resurrect a bit of her Orange Hat qualities in sharing with Jeff some of her Rifleman Wisdom; assisting him not just in his pursuit of a Rifleman score, but also encouraging him in his quest to develop all Rifleman qualities; not just marksmanship.

The segments of April 19, 1775, History related at this "reactivating" AS revealed not just facts, but the depth of emotions felt by the tellers, as they allowed themselves to become both transparent and vulnerable to their listeners, in connecting them to the sacrifices of those who willingly gave up everything they held dear for "posterity"; which is us, folks!

Special thanks to Will and David, in helping set up the range the evening before, to simplify and expedite the registration and "getting started" process Saturday morning, so that time spent instructing, shooting, and telling/listening to History could be maximized.  Another special thanks to all who were present willingly participating in the "Brass Party" and other event cleanup without even a low-key request being made to do so!  Thank you, all!

My heartfelt gratitude to and respect for every participant in this Appleseed, whether student, instructor, or combination thereof, in making this event a success, and in helping reconnect me to my "why".  I can't wait for our next "reactivating" AS at Tishomingo next Saturday, April 23!

Sid/"Boomerang"

[Boomerang]

And now, the "Cleanup Round"!  I forgot at least 3 things:

(1) It was such an honor to meet Chris ("Oldgrunt"), former SB, and one third of the Chris/Daniel/Will team of "Three Musketeers"!  Looking forward to getting to see you again, and PLEASE take a hat - we need you! 

(2) @Gus, PLEASE come out to our next TCGC event - we'd all love to meet you, even if you just want to stand around and "kibbutz"!

(3) Special mention of Daniel, as SB:  I am always in awe of your ability to keep an event running smoothly, to fill in the gaps in my instruction in an effective, low-key way, and to tell any block of History in an accurate and moving way at the drop of a hat (of any color;-)  ).

My (Orange) Hat is off to you all!

Sid/"Boomerang"