Fredericksburg, TX April 17-18

[dragit]

Well I will get this one started.  What a great group of shooters and instructors.  Scout, BDG, zonkertx, ormandj and labrat, it was an honor.  As usual I learned from instructors as well as the shooters.  Everyone in attendance helped out to make this an opening shoot to remember for Fredericksburg.

We had 32-36 on the line Saturday and Sunday, and with the forecast these were not fair weather patriots.  Although God blessed us with partly cloudy skies both days after an initial shower Saturday morning.

The shooters improved from Saturday morning to Sunday evening and I think most will be returning.  It was nice to see lightbulbs go off when they understood instruction even if they were not able to put it all together at one time.  I think quite a few of the women will be challenging their not-so-better halves in the near future.

Congrats to Rodger Glenn for obtaining that coveted purple patch.  I hope he realizes in the future its significance within the Appleseed family, and those who wear it will always be recognized for the weekend they obtained it.

Take care and see you on the trail.

Ron, Angela and Tanya thanks for the hospitality.  Gabriel is knocking at the door.

[zonkertx]

Thanks indeed to Ron, Angela and Tonya for the hard work they did for this shoot.  I highly recommend the hot dogs!

This was my 2nd AS, 1st time as an orange hat.  I think I learned even more with the hat on than last time.  Many new shooters, all showed noticeable improvement.  Thanks to the instructors that showed me the way and I am looking forward to working many more events in the future!

Everett

[BDG]

I'll post my AAR info tomorrow, but for now, my pix from this shoot are uploaded to my gallery at http://kevinramsey.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=22361

Rodger got the purple patch after we took the pictures!

[ormandj]

This was my second Appleseed, as well, and I had a great time! I am continually impressed by all of those who attend. On to the photos...

[ormandj]

A few more...

[BDG]

excellent pics there dude! great camera, great cameraman, great pics...

Thanks to the new Orange Hats and of course LabRat and Scout. I ended up doing this shoot instead of Corpus Christi with POP because of the numbers at this location. I hope I had a positive impact on the shooters.

We were originally scheduled for some 60-70 shooters, but the rain scared most of them away! We ended up with I think 32 come Saturday morning with a few late shows. It worked out perfectly because the line couldn't actually hold the numbers that pre-regged. It had some concerned, but ended wonderfully.

Thanks especially go out to Tonya, Ron, & Angela. The work they put into hosting the event was a big deal. Thanks also to POP for scouting the location and getting it set up with us internally.

I rolled in shortly before nightfall and checked out the range, then left to meet with Ron in town and grab some dinner. He was gracious enough to loan the use of his bunkhouse to the Instructors for sleeping quarters. Scout joined in later that evening. We headed out in the morning and LabRat joined us shortly thereafter at the range along with our newest Orange Hats. You guys did a great job, and I look forward to working with you again. We're establishing a great core for South Texas (is San Antonio really South Texas when it's 4 hours north of me?) and I think we'll be going forward very strongly in the future with the program here in the great Lone Star State.

We only had brief showers Saturday morning then the clouds started to thin out a bit and stayed partly cloudy the rest of the weekend. We got going on the line after getting everybody organized and enjoyed a nice hotdog lunch provided by Ron. Lot os dogs and sodas were available for everyone both days! Saturday rounded out as expected. Sunday came in with a few less shooters and 2 groups of shooters later; one a few hours late and the second well after lunch. They required some extra attention to stick with shooting squares while everyone else was already shooting AQTs.

A great many of the shooters were highly inexperienced, with either no knowledge of rifles or very limited knowledge. This slowed us down some to keep everybody interested in the program. Starting out with many sub-100 scores, we saw some marked improvement in many shooters over the course of Sunday, despite the fatigue that had set in. The grind was certainly grinding for several shooters, but I still saw a positive outlook and attitude amongst many of them. We rounded out the day with one brand spanking new Rifleman. He was greatly pleased with getting a purple patch and already had a jacket reserved with a spot on it for the patch. I think we'll be seeing him again.

The turnout of Fredericksburg was great, with over 30 shooters to inaugurate the weekend and the range. Based on the turnout, it seems clear to me that the location is viable for several future AS shoots and that we will have many repeat shooters. We had some of the admin people sweating a bit at points of uncertainty, but I think we got everything worked out to our satisfaction for the scenario.

See you guys on the 'Trail next time.

[Sir Not Appearing In This Film]

I can't help but think of Enchanted Rock State Park in this area.

What a great shoot! Congratulations to our new Rifleman!

[Eleanor of AQT]

What a great shoot.  Congratulations everyone!