Colorado Introductions

[al smith]

welcome kim and mike.  Al Smith here from up Gunnison way.  Thank you both for taking the orange hat.  I have found that Appleseed is the best way to volunteer time in a cause that will make our community safer, stronger and more able and willing to guide the elected leaders to do what is best for present and future generations.  In short, it gives me hope.

Everytime I meet another group of AS folks I am encouraged to continue.  Thank you for being a part of it all.

al smith

[Prone to Knit]

Al, thanks for such a warm welcome. I just served on my first event as an orange hat this past weekend at Ramah (where friend Mike took the orange hat) and my husband (oneshot_onehole) earned his red hat. What a great experience. I'm sure it will become richer as I become more experienced.

My husband and I are thinking of doing one of your Valley Forge events but I guess November isn't cold enough. We really want to tough it out  (at least Jim is and I'm willing to go along provided we get the right clothing!).  B-r-r-r-r-r...

Craziness, I tell you.

Kim

[Colorado Pete]

Craziness indeed! Been to a couple of "Blizzardseeds". Very different in snow and cold and six layers of clothing!
A "warming shed" and plenty of hot chocolate or decaf coffee (no jittery caffeine!) are necessary. Numb fingers can't prep mags very well.

[JFQuest]

Greetings to all...
Moved out here to Colorado (from Ohio) in the end of July and have finally managed to make the time to get out for an AS next weekend (Brighton, CO) and can't wait to meet up with the folks out here.  I went to a number of shoots in OH and made some great friendships and have no doubt that will happen here as well!
I am planning on camping out next weekend and was wondering how many folks out here usually camp (typically all the instructors and usually a few students would camp at the OH shoots)?
See you all there!
--jf

[Prone to Knit]

JF, welcome to Colorado!

My husband says at the Brighton location there are plenty of places to stake a tent or pull in a trailer. It will just be a spot in the sand, no facilities. If the wind blows (which happens a lot as you've seen) sand in everything might not be a lot of fun and it might be cold. We like to take our trailer to shoots but are opting for a hotel room on this one.

We'll see you there.

Kim
Prone to Knit with Jim, oneshot_one hole

[Colorado Pete]

JFQ, see ya at Brighton!

[cognitive dissonance]

Hey, everyone - my name's Fred.  I attended the RBC at Ramah last spring, made Rifleman, took an orange hat and then fell off the map for the summer!  I've been in contact with Franktown Kid now and then, but other than that I've been out of the loop until now.

[Colorado Pete]

Hey there Fred, welcome back! Thought you got abducted by aliens!
Just got home from the Brighton shoot. Very chilly. We'll have to get you out to the range some time soon!

[cognitive dissonance]

Hey, Pete!  Actually, I was abducted by life!  Big changes afoot and may even be leaving Colorado.      You have my e-mail - please send me your phone # or PM it here...

Just wondering - do you guys bring a fire pit or two to these winter shoots?

Also, what do I need to do to get access to the instructor portion of this site?

[Colorado Pete]

Fred, to get on the instructor sections you need to have the shoot boss from your Appleseed back in June send an email to the appropriate person. Not sure but the SB might have been Alan Jolley (Long Rifle on the forum). Sometimes these things fall through Appleseed's cracks, so send him a PM with all the pertinent details of yourself and the shoot/boot camp and your AQT score if you remember it. If he was not the shoot boss he will remember who was.

Hope you're not leaving CO! If so let's get together and burn some gunpowder before you leave!


Good to hear from you again!

Pete

[frontrange]

Hello all, might as well keep this going (since it is a great idea). My name is Jeff, I live northwest of Denver in Arvada. I attended the AS about three years ago in Canon City; had a great time and met some great people. I had been an avid shooter for several years before the Canon City shoot, but I learned something pretty important at the shoot: having your rifle outside for 10 hours, in temperatures from around 35 degrees to 75 degrees and direct sun, is a lot different than going to the range for a few hours in the mid-morning. On the second day, I noticed my groups started to really open up - I couldn't figure it out, until I noticed that my scope would move back and forth about .125" if I touched it. The expansion and contraction had loosened the scope mount, in a way that I couldn't repair on the range. I may have missed that Rifleman patch, but I still learned a valuable lesson about real combat conditions and how to prepare your equipment. Just another one of the many advantages of the AS.

Best wishes to you all, as you are the best of us!

-Frontrange

[KellyH]

Since I'm catching up on all the other threads. Hi there everyone, I'm KellyH (obviously) and I'm an pistol/rifle instructor (non Appleseed) in the Denver metro area. My primary focus is coaching the US Air Force Academy's "Combat Shooting Team" down in the Springs but it looks like the program there will be expanding soon.  I also teach a (small) handful of civ classes on various subjects. I also occasionally work with some LE projects but the Academy is my primary focus. Glad to be here, great to learn!

[esaabye]

Hi Kelly, glad you joined up.  Looking forward to working with you shortly.