Oh man oh man it is so nice to luxuriate, getting caught up on so much lost sleep of late.
Feel like pac man having devoured a feast of pac man pellets or should I say a sumptious
Thanksgiving turkey dinner with our family. I feel so much more enegized.
Having this time to ruminate about our last Illinois shoot of the year I am mindful of so much
to be thankful for. 2010 has been a hard charging Appleseed year for both Patrioit Gal and I
and Bonfield reprsented a high note on the shooting line to end the year.
Got to bed Friday night about 1:30 Am. Got up at 4:00AM showered, packed the van
and our gear and drove two hours to get to the Bonfield range on time. Well almost ,
we were five minutes late to help set the range and all the paraphenelia up. Tired we were.
No sooner than we had got out of our cars and greeted Gopher Boy, he discovered he had
driven over a piece of plastic pipe buried vertically in the ground and punctured his left 'new'
front steer tire of his SUV. Oh my
But his did not distract the 'G' Man. Forward we
rushed to get the event staged without missing a beat. Focus, focus. Or is that focus pocus?
We had some 16 or 18 shooters? Seven of whom were LEOs, some who brought their family
members. The statistical average of only five out of one hundred soldiers actually achieve
marksmanship status as riflemen seems to ring true as we got one LEO (Rudy) who earned
the coveted riflemans badge. Several other officers were on the cusp of shooting expert.
If only we could get them back a second time. What a great bunch of guys.
They were a hoot and they all had a great time.
Some had more teachable attitudes than others (we known why) and some were hungry to
succeed on the range, eager for our help. Others felt restricted to their own previous learning
but they certainly saw the results of Rudy who shot rifleman not one time but repeated two more
times with even higher scores. My comments to them were that which we teach can be taken
to add to their tool box of skills as it will make them better, especially for distance and accuracy.
When Gopher Boy had everyone sit down into a seated position there were some groans from
a few but he surprised them to learn that they were now in a new shooting position which was
already familiar to them. Simply sitting crossed legged. Rudy mumbled......"this is not happening man"
as he groaned while attempting to get comfortable. Someone joked in the background about eating
too many donuts. We all chuckled. "If I can do this Rudy, so can you" I whispered, while smiling at him.
Later that day Rudy rushed up to me and said, "man, you know sitting is my best shooting position!."
When we get done with you Rudy they will all be your best shooting position, I remarked, delighted
that we were making a difference. Later one, while laying in prone position with him I wispered....
"Rudy, you are dragging wood." "WHAT?" Rudy said as he turned his head sideways to look at me,
"What does that mean?" "This I said as I inserted my finger down between his trigger finger and rifle
reciever, opening the much desired gap to produce the much talked about "C-shaped" finger.
I continued to work with this trigger control and he got it!!! He just got better and better and better
as we continued to work with the other shooters on line. They were a great bunch of guys and they
endevored to persist. When Rudy earned his Rifleman's patch he had asked also for a purple patch
as he knew the significance of that patch. He also asked for a tan patch. I asked what's going on?"
He said, I am putting this on my uniform he said." He was so proud of what the patch stands for.
Down on the other side of the line was another young officer "David" who brought his father "Gus"
who struggled but persisted with a small 10/22 that was not appropriate for his aged eye sight.
Pappy was Johnny on the spot working and consoling Gus over his frustrations which led us to implement
Pappy's suggestion of giving him a loaner rifle with scope. Patriot Gal was eager to do so as this was something
we had talked about Satuday night and she presented Gus with her beautiful 10/22 with a Vortex scope.
Gus enjoyed Sunday's round of shooting very much. He persisted like an American with dogged determination
while shooting besides his son David who ran an AR platform. David was another who had a splendid teachable
attitude and is on the very cusp of shooting rifleman.
M1D brought his wife , first time shooter, for one day. It was a pleasure to have met her. I hope she comes again
and found the one day experience rewarding. It is nice that IIT's bring family members to include them in what
we do and share what we are all about in Appleseed. It would sure be nice for her to shoot rifleman, as a full two day
event would prosper her greatly, I have no doubt.
Congratulations to Chris for shooting Rifleman. You were fun to work with and you were such a quick learner.
You soaked up everything we had to teach like a sponge. Great job!! I sure hope we get to see you again
at another shoot real soon.
Grumpy/Sleepy a young eleven year old boy, novice first time shooting a rifle (a 10/22)
and young Noble a young ten year old
boy, never having fired a rifle before having brought a tube fed rifle, were another highlight of the weekend.
Let me tell you that the continence of these two boys changed dramatically as every instructor made their mark
on them as they were coached through a learning curve that was brand new to them. A learning curve that
was experienced in the context of this being an adult experience. Pappy's vast boy scout experience with
working with kids really showed and these boys responded. Come Sunday, Noble was graciously loaned a 10/22
by Clark another great shooter. This made all the difference in th world for Noble as his skill set developed
remarkably as he got better and better. Grumpy/Sleepy was a real gamer with the adults as he showed
great focus and concentration. There was a different look and an air of confidence that exuded from these
two young boys who were about to get the surprise of their lives.
Rudy the LEO stood towering over young Grumpy/Sleepy and smiling down at him said..."would you like to
shoot my rifle?" The young boy looked up into the face of his 6'3" frame, eyes as big as saucers and said
in disbelief and wonderous excitement...."really?" "Absolutley" said Rudy, smiling down at him as he handed
boy wonder a loaded magazine for his work rifle. This was a Kodak moment! It really was. As I looked over to my
right I saw Noble with an AR15 in his hands as he was getting into prone. WOW I thought this is so cool.
Following the cease fire command the two boys got up, having made their rifles safe and stood before us
presenting glowing faces I will never forget. " I want to be a marksman said Grumpy/Sleepy,
"I want to be a marksman'
I want to be a marksman soooooo bad!!!" The two boys were so excited. Noble was near speachless.
Do you remember the history I asked? Oh yes, said Grumpy/Sleepy. We are just starting the revolutionary war
in my history class next week he said. Be nice to your teacher I said.. you may know more than she does,
as we all laughed. Gopher Boy did a splendid job before the LEOs and for sure Gopher Boys transparency got through
with integrity, truthfulness and passion. What we teach, I witnessed was recieved in the hearts of one and all.
We are not teachers of history as the Guy said.....we are preachers of history. The alter call was well received.
Several officers took memberships in the RWVA.
Someone once said
....."we learn more by example than we learn by precept!" This is so true in life. A police officer
who could have made poster cover of the year for what he did. The lives of two boys changed from such a wonderful
Appleseed weekend.
The LEOs stayed behind after, as did many shooters who helped clean up the range and visit before they left.
I believe this will not be the last we see of these LEOs as they enjoyed themselves very much.
I took opportunity to call the Manhatten Police department a few days ago and expressed to their chief of police
what a tremendous, fine group of men that he has working for him and what a pleasure it was for us to have
been able to work with them. "Oh yes he said... everyone there has been talking about their weekend".
I said, we would welcome them to come on board as instructors with if they could. The chief said several
had been speaking about doing so and are looking forward to coming out to Waterman in the new year.
I also mentioned their joy and high fives having shot the TV out of the couch and the incredible amount of
fire power that was sent down range for some two minutes, incuding the smoking barrels that could have ignited
their shooting matts. They had so much fun. "Oh yes, he said, I heard all about that too
smiling on the end of the phone.
Patriot Gal and I visited with four Bradly Police officers Sunday morning as we were leaving the hotel and siezed opportunity to tell them what we were doing. Evidently our shooting jackets caught their attention as we walked by as they looked
respectfully, saying good morning to us. It turned out they know Patriot Gal's brother (former Sheriff) and the next thing we know we are convincing them to come out to an Appleseed event, having made mention of the Jolliet and Manhatten officers
that were on our line this weekend. I chased Gopher Boy out to his SUV to grab some brochures and promptly returned to
hand them out as Patriot Gal stayed with them talking. The brochures were well recieved and the idea of putting together
a shoot for them is an idea that may very well gain traction for us in the near future. They seemed very impressed and warm to the idea that is for sure.
Great weekend, great people, great crew of instructors and great learning with an All Star Cast:
GOPHER BOY** PAPPY** G69** PATRIOT GAL** CASTLE MOUNTAIN** WESS***M1D
APPLESEED ROCKS!!
What a great way to end the year. Such a fine shoot!
Comeon Patriot Gal get those pictures up eh?
CASTLE MOUNTAIN
