St. Joseph, IL IBC AAR

[Patriot Gal]

What a great IBC weekend this was!  We had 23 IIT/IT/SB show up at Wurstmacher's place in the country.  A perfect situation and accommodations for the weekend.   

We met in a large, brightly lit shed with heat and lots of windows for excellent light and comfort.  Dond, as SB, led the group through the Instructor Manual, adding wisdom from his experience over his years in Appleseed.  Throughout the weekend, we broke into 4 working groups to go over SHF, IMC, Line commands and history presentations.  All the instructors worked together to improve their instructing skills for the upcoming year of Appleseeding. This was the first experience for some of the IITs to present some or all of these items to a group.  They all rose to the occasion to the delight and admiration of the RH overseeing the groups!   

Following the instruction for the day, several instructors engaged in a show and tell of scopes, cheek pads, slings, sling buckles and other new ideas for future use on the line. Great time of sharing.

Wurstmacher supplied a perfect venue for the instruction and, speaking of hospitality...He and wife, M.E. provided a wonderful selection of homemade food to keep hungry instructors satisfied. Thanks to all the Stites and to Mrs. dond, who helped out in the food department. Your help and hospitality is greatly appreciated!!   And thanks to everyone who brought snacks for the "in between" time. 

On Sunday, we ended the IBC with a mock Appleseed!  It was a lot of fun as the RH tried to stump the IITs to catch incorrect SHF, instruct on the 6 steps and watch out for unsafe rifles.  It was really hard to fool them!!!  In addition, they were given a bit of experience in how to deal with responses a student might give in response to our instruction.  An example being: "I like my sling on wrong because it works for me!" (or something like that). 

I would say, we have an excellent instructor cadre in Illinois, and if the weekend is an example of how the year will roll out, we will have a stellar year for Appleseed in Illinois!!! 

Thanks to everyone who attended and for all your hard work! 
See you all on the trail!
Patriot Gal