Coupeville, WA April 20-21, 2013 Patriot's Weekend

[George Hacker]

Wow!!!  What a wonderful event we had this Patriot's Day weekend at Central Whidbey Sportsmen's Association in Coupeville, Washington on Whidbey Island.  Thank you to the club for hosting this event and seeing what Project Appleseed was about.

The weather was great.  We only got some serious rain on Sunday morning.  We had wind all weekend.  On the good side of the weather vane most of the time it was overcast and dry, but it finished beautifully with sun and blue sky on Sunday afternoon.

Shooters, thank you for coming out and spending the weekend with us.  You all had a teachable attitude and were a pleasure to work with.  We had many families shooting together.  Quite a few of them were inexperienced when they started on Saturday, but we fixed that quickly enough.  One of our shooters, Travis, shot a solid rifleman's score on his first AQT on Saturday afternoon.  He was planning on shooting both days, but he told me he was going to bow out Sunday because he will be deployed to the Middle East later this week.  He had already invited his buddies from the naval base next door to the range, but they were suddenly deployed earlier in the week.  He was thankful he could come and we were glad he was able.  Thank you, Travis, for your service for our country.  We missed you on Sunday and hope you come home soon and safe.

Emily was the first person to shoot a rifleman score on Sunday and she did it repeatedly.  She had earned her patch the weekend before at the Poulsbo, Washington shoot.  I first met her at Ariel and it was great seeing her again.

Troy also earned his patch.  I first met him at Ariel as well and he continued to persist, as riflemen do.  I talked to him as he was leaving the shoot and he intends to come back again with the children.

John was our last rifleman to earn his patch.  When I asked him if he wanted a tan or forest green patch, he asked for a purple one.  I told him we normally didn't issue purple patch to men until he explained that his mother had passed away from cancer 6 months ago.  She used to say "everything goes better with purple" so John understands, all too well, what that purple patch represents.  It will hold much special significance on his shooting jacket.

Our group's marksmanship was much improved.  Many of our shooters were in the 190's and low 200's - they were knocking at the door of becoming riflemen.  All I can say is persist.  Keep dry practicing.  Occasionally go to the range and make every shot count as you confirm what you have learned.  I hope to see each one of you at another Appleseed event in the future.

Thank you to all of my instructors for making this weekend a smashing success!  First, we had Cooper border raid from Wisconsin.  She did a brilliant first-person edition of the 2nd Strike.  It was a treat seeing her spend the weekend together with her daughter, Lena.  RL and Earl were both a lot of fun to work with.  Thank you, you two, for your wisdom and advice and we put our heads together to solve shoot boss issues at a new range where we tried some new things.  Huzzah to paulw for earning his red hat.  He is a real asset to the program.  Fyrediver, Tracey_B, and Chronos, you kept things safe and it was nice to see your confidence in your ability to instruct improve.

The liberty volley was a very special time.  Earl was the line boss so he got us all coordinated on the line.  Because of his coaching all of our rounds were fired on time and in unison with the rest of the Appleseed shooters nationwide.  It was the first volley I had participated in as a shooter and it was very special.  The president of the gun club also joined us on the line for the volley.

Everyone was safe.  Everyone had fun.  Many smiles were seen with the occasional tear.  I think this Appleseed event was a success.  Modern politics did not come up, but many spoke of liberty.  The spark of liberty has been flamed in many hearts this weekend.

Finally, I'd like to thank those who helped make this event possible.  Without their efforts, we wouldn't have been in Coupeville this past weekend.  First, thank you, Island Kelly, for joining the club and lobbying them to invite us to tell them what Project Appleseed is all about.  Thank you, RL and fyrediver, for driving an hour and a half to present what we are to the club.  Thank you, Prescott, for following up with another meeting with the club leadership.  Thank you, Tracey_B, to you and the rest of your family for acting as a liaison to the club.

The club sent 4 RSOs to watch over us and make sure we were safe.  Each of them saw Appleseed in action.  They saw our discipline.  They saw the smiles and heard the stories.  They saw the Appleseed magic.  I have a good feeling that we will be coming to Coupeville again.

ShadowMan

[jimmythegeek]

Great to see you ShadowMan!

We had great weather...apart from a Stage 1 where the wind was bumping me around.  Talk about your inadvertent NPOA shift...

I was next to ShadowMan during the Volley for the Fallen, both of us with M1s.  He loaded a second clip fast enough to stay in cadence.  When he grows up he'll be a Dangerous Old Man, for sure!  And what's better than an M1? A pair of them!  It was a little humbling to see a young guy around 12 years old rocking one at the extra credit AQT.  Sorry - I forgot his name.  I can only remember about 30 names total, and my advanced age has nothing to do with it.  I was always this way.

I still have a lot to learn about the prone position, iron sights, and centerfire rifles.  I think my scoped .22LRs led me down the garden path.  They are too forgiving and let me get away with a lot without telling me how much I was getting away with.  I got great coaching from everybody, Earl as always.  RL got down and dirty, and our ringer from MN, Cooper, helped me see what it was I was trying to get away with.  I like her "knock the zombie off your leg" approach to the Hasty.  My partner in the Ball and Dummy spotted a lot of muzzle movement - thanks!

Central Whidbey Sportsman's Assoc. was a great host!  What a venue!

Personal note: I stayed at my cousin's house, first visit since she and her husband moved to Whidbey from Texas last summer.  We looked through a box of letters she had that my great-great-grandfather wrote while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War.  The sacrifices didn't end at Yorktown, that's for sure.

[colycat]

The Appleseed nation is waiting for the report

[Earl]

I feel so guilty, talked so much, coached and cheered on the shooters and leaned into the wind, admiring the beautiful soaring birds of prey above me.... I returned home to a fine pizza and salad, one favorite television show and some picture cropping and labeling and into the rack for needed sleep. Now someone is telling me they want the story. Shoot Boss has the details I will share the pictures, shooting relays on first day, fearing rain on second, which turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon. The LORD loves a Rifleman.

http://earl-earlsview.blogspot.com/2013/04/well-i-went-away-and-found-some-fine.html

[George Hacker]

I revised this thread to put all of my thoughts in the first post.

One last thing, as I concluded the benediction on Saturday, one of our new Youth Patriot Patch wearers said, "Too many words."  (Thanks, Earl. )  Seems I still have more growing to do as well.

Thanks, again, to everyone involved in the Coupeville, Washington event last weekend.  I hated to see it come to an end.

ShadowMan

[PP]

I am John Hines.  I want to take a moment to thank everyone who was involved in setting up and executing the Coupeville event.  I had a great time, and I learned enough to make my head spin.  It is still spinning. 

I want to tell this story about my mother, just this one time.  I wasn't raised to be too sentimental, but it meant a lot to me that ShadowMan obliged my request for the Purple Patch.  (My new forum nickname is PP.)  So, I'll tell this story about her, and then I won't bring it up again.  I just want it recorded somewhere.   

Cancer sucks.  If you want to help in the fight, please consider signing up for the CPS-3 at the link below.  It's a one-time appointment with a blood draw, and then a series of surveys every few years for the next few decades.  CPS-1 and 2 helped find all sorts of causes of cancer we didn't know about, or only suspected. 

http://www.cancer.org/research/researchprogramsfunding/epidemiology-cancerpreventionstudies/cancerpreventionstudy-3/index

If you don't read anything below this line, you won't miss anything important.  It's cool to skip this story.  It's more for me than for you. 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I grew up in rural East Texas, and hunting was a big part of our lives.  And shooting.  I learned to shoot before I can clearly remember, starting with .22s, sitting in my father's lap, with the buttplate against his shoulder, scrunching my face up to try and get a sight picture.  Good times. 

My mother was quiet.  Shy.  Reserved.  Short.  Overweight.  Unsure of herself.  Filled with self-doubt.  She was also the best shot in our family.  She was the best shot of anyone I knew.  Better than my father, which caused no small amount of friction in our patriarchal family.  Because she was so insecure, she never bragged, never boasted, never even admitted she was good.  I know for a fact that she used to miss targets intentionally when other people were around, so my father wouldn't be embarrassed.  (She'd make a ragged-hole group, an inch low and and an inch left--she missed the bullseye, but hit where she was aiming, and although it saved face for him, my father knew what she'd done.)

After they divorced when I was 12, my mother stopped shooting.  She didn't retain any of the guns from their marriage, and being poor-ish, there were other things which needed the money.  She never talked about it, and I was so wrapped up in my own experiences with their divorce that it never occurred to me that she might miss it.  It dropped out of her life.

When she married my step-dad, her life took other directions, and she developed new interests, and things went on.  I still shot with my father, and never even thought about my mother as a shooter any longer.  It would have seemed weird to see her on the firing line. 

When I was 16, maybe 17, I was reminded that my mother's inner life was deeper than I imagined or remembered.  We were at a cookout with some friends, and the men in the group where shooting a .22 rifle, and a Ruger Mark II.  Someone got the idea to put a bottle cap along the bottom rail of the target stand they were using.  They were taking turns, trying to shoot it from maybe ten yards.  Rifle and pistol, they all failed.  I took my turn, and also missed.  There was laughter as the gun was passed from hand to hand, and no one could hit the target.  I missed again.  And again.

"I want to try."  It was a small voice, but one I knew.  The men turned to look at my mother, who was standing slightly behind them.  They parted, and she stepped up to the table.  No one made fun of her, but I think it was a close thing.  One guy did ask, "Do you know how it works?"  She assured him she did.  She picked up the Mark II, flipped the safety off, and drilled the bottle cap first shot.  She calmly laid the gun back on the table, nodded in the direction of the target, turned and walked away.  She caught my eye as she left, and I could see the little amused twinkle in it.  She left them semi-speechless, and was laughing on the inside.  It was the first shot she'd fired in four or five years. 

My mother was still the best shot I knew.

In 2011, she was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, which is a big, scary word for "cancer of the bile duct."  She fought it until the end, but there is no cure or effective treatment for this rare tumor.  A little chemo to slow the growth, but that is all that can be done.  She had two favorites in terms of fashion.  Butterflies and purple.  (When we cleaned out her closest, about half of her shirts had purple butterflies on them--we laughed so hard we were crying by the time we got done.) 

If given a choice of color, my mother would always choose purple.  Flip-flops?  Purple.  Cheap sunglasses?  Purple.  Gimme cap?  Purple.  "Mom, why do you always choose purple?" 

"Purple goes with everything." 

One of the last choices she made was the color of her casket.  She picked it herself, because she didn't want any of us to have to make those choices, to have to face those tasks.  She didn't want to be an inconvenience.  Even in death.  She was annoyed to find there was no purple option.  She settled for dark green, and then made all the other choices, too.

But she missed one choice.  After she was gone, the funeral director called.  He apologized, but there was a question which he hadn't asked my mother before it was too late.  "What color should the flowers on the casket be?"

"Purple," I said. 

"Are you sure?  The casket is green."

"Of course," I said.  "Purple goes with everything."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

That's the end of my story.  I will now wear a purple patch, in memory of my mother.  If anyone asks me, that's what I'll answer.  I don't want to make a big deal out of it.  I just wanted it recorded here. 

[JetNoise]

Shadowman - thank you for the opportunity to hear the stories about April 19th 1775 as well as an opportunity to shoot.  I forwarded some comments about the Appleseed to the current elected CWSA board and hopefully they will support more shoots in the future.   Regardless, I will try and recruit some new shooters as well as encourage my wife and daughter to attend an Appleseed sometime this coming fall.

Very Respectfully,
Travis

[PP]

My wife is inspired by my stories of the fun and learning from this weekend.  She's ready to go, as well.  I'm looking at the schedule now for a shoot that matches her schedule. 

--PP

[edogg]

John, thank you for sharing your story.  You just put a lump in my throat and made my eyes watery.

I, too, lost a loved one to cancer.  Long story short, my best friend and I met when I was 4 and he was 5.  We were very close for our entire lives.  He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and after battling it for about 7 years, he passed away in December.

I thought of him a lot this weekend.  He would have loved Appleseed as a lover of liberty and a lover of marksmanship.  He was always a better shot than I and it would have been a lot of fun to compare AQT scores even though I'm sure he'd beat me.

Cancer sucks...

Anyway, back to Appleseed...

This was my first Appleseed.  And won't be my last - I want to earn a Rifleman patch, dammit!

The instructors were amazing!  They were all patient and were very clear in their instruction.  Moreover, they were all very approachable with questions.  So a big THANK YOU to the instructors and IITs!  And thank you for sharing the 3 strikes of the match.

I've already dropped an email to the CWSA Project Appleseed coordinator to say thanks.  What a great range!  I hope that they host more Appleseed events there.

Thanks for teaching me the 6 steps.  I'm taking the 7th step by sharing my Appleseed experience and reminding those I talk to about how important our liberties are.  I wrote a little more about my experience on Northwest Firearms if you're interested in reading:
http://www.northwestfirearms.com/strategies-tactics-training/134119-my-first-appleseed.html#post868091

My brain became pretty full over the weekend and I can't remember the details of the 3 Strikes of the Match as much as I'd like to.  There was a lot more to the story than what I'm finding on the Appleseed site.  Where can I read more about it?

[George Hacker]

My brain became pretty full over the weekend and I can't remember the details of the 3 Strikes of the Match as much as I'd like to.  There was a lot more to the story than what I'm finding on the Appleseed site.  Where can I read more about it?

Thanks for helping to get the word out, edogg.  The primary textbook we use with our instructor corps is "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer.  It is still in print and available in the Project Appleseed Home Range Store (http://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page11.html).

It was a pleasure having you join us to celebrate Patriot's Day - probably the most important American holiday that very few know about.

ShadowMan

[PP]

I found "Paul Revere's Ride" in the 'new' Appleseed store, listed under "New Items." 

http://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page11.html

I was a little confused by the two stores.  Is one replacing the other?  Or will they continue to run side-by-side?  Just curious.

[paulw]

edogg - Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fisher - http://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page11.html
Wow! PP & Shadowman are quick...

I had a blast sharing the line with you all this weekend - new range, lots of new Appleseeders, some co-workers & family on the line, great dinner at the Blanchard's and some new red clothes .
Thanks to you all for being there....I always feel better after an Appleseed weekend.

[George Hacker]

I found "Paul Revere's Ride" in the 'new' Appleseed store, listed under "New Items." 

http://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page11.html

I was a little confused by the two stores.  Is one replacing the other?  Or will they continue to run side-by-side?  Just curious.

PP,

I stand corrected and updated my post above.  The Home Range Store is the place to go.  The link I posted earlier is obsolete.

ShadowMan

[edogg]

Wow, you guys are on it!  Thanks for the links!  I'll order up a copy or two.

Can't wait to give the Sam the Minuteman book I picked up over the weekend to my nephews.  I remember reading it when I was a kid.

[ItsanSKS]

John-

I want to thank you for relating the story of your mother.  As someone who worked with Jacqui Welles, AKA "mlle.yotnottin", the woman who inspired the Purple Patch, the story of your mother sounds very familiar.  Wear that purple patch with pride. 

[PP]

Thanks, ItsanSKS. 

I have searched for information on Jacqui Welles, but I can't find much online.  Has anyone ever seen her story online?  I love stories about people. 

[George Hacker]

I have searched for information on Jacqui Welles, but I can't find much online.  Has anyone ever seen her story online?  I love stories about people.

Here is a thread that has some of her story and letters from people who knew her: http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=14087.0

[Tracey_B]

PP,

I have the letter and write up that came with my purple patch. It's a letter from a shooter who was touched by her and a tribute written by  ItsanSKS .I can make a copy and mail it to you if you would like. Just send me a PM. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I will forever think "purple goes with everything" when I wear my patch.

I had a great weekend! Thanks to all who were part of my first "working" Appleseed.  I hope to see all of you again with family and friends in tow.

Tracey_B

[Miller]

Wow...
This thread got awful dusty.....

PP, thank you for sharing your mother's story.

I'm sure someone at your shoot mentioned becoming an Instructor in Training.  In fact, seeing one of my favorite Minnesotans on the instructor roster I can guarantee it.  I don't know if you are eligible to take an orange hat yet (if this was your first 'seed you'll need another...) but based on what I'm reading I think you'd make a darned good instructor.  You can tell a story amazingly well, you're already looking at bringing others to learn the story of our birth as a people, and you obviously understand that we are about more than just teaching folks to punch holes from a distance.  By now you've had a bit of time to decompress and let some more of that "firehose" settle in.  I would strongly suggest....no....I would ask that you take a good look at joining us as an IIT.  I don't know anything about your schedule and other demands on your life but I have little doubt that by the end of the summer you'd be sporting a red hat and be being gently nudged into a green one.

Just the $0.02 of a guy half a continent away.

[PP]

Just the $0.02 of a guy half a continent away.

Thanks, Miller.  I will require one additional shoot before I can make any moves in that direction.  :-)  I have given it some thought, and I was (as you suspected) approached about putting on the orange hat.  I have work commitments for the next several months which will preclude that action, but it is something I look forward to.  In the interim, I am spreading the word, and trying to get my friends involved.

It was also suggested to me that I might want a blue hat in the meantime.  If there is stuff I can do remotely, I would like to contribute.  Now that my head has stopped spinning, I'm able to consider all of this rationally.  I would like to help where I can.

--PP

[Miller]

Just the $0.02 of a guy half a continent away.

Thanks, Miller.  I will require one additional shoot before I can make any moves in that direction.  :-)  I have given it some thought, and I was (as you suspected) approached about putting on the orange hat.  I have work commitments for the next several months which will preclude that action, but it is something I look forward to.  In the interim, I am spreading the word, and trying to get my friends involved.

It was also suggested to me that I might want a blue hat in the meantime.  If there is stuff I can do remotely, I would like to contribute.  Now that my head has stopped spinning, I'm able to consider all of this rationally.  I would like to help where I can.

--PP

Fair 'nuff.
Hope to meet you on the trail at some point.

[scuzzy]

John-

I want to thank you for relating the story of your mother.  As someone who worked with Jacqui Welles, AKA "mlle.yotnottin", the woman who inspired the Purple Patch, the story of your mother sounds very familiar.  Wear that purple patch with pride.

Thanks John for the story. Your mom sounds like one great lady. I lost my mom last year although not from cancer - just plain old age.

And SK' - man I was trying to remember the name of Jacqui yotnottin, the reason for the purple patch when I read your post. That's because I have the purple patch too.

[Cooper]

My camera broke on the way home from Coupeville, and I neglected to pull the card and put it into my replacement camera.

PaulW reminded me that I had taken a few photos, so I went back and downloaded them:

[Cooper]

Found a couple more....  A CLEARED REDCOAT !!!   

[Cooper]

Video of the National Volley from Coupeville/Poulsbro can be seen at:

http://youtu.be/ST2jUiDBYZk

The random shoots where from the adjacent bay, not from our line...

Cooper

[Tracey_B]

Well I know these are extremely late, but I just figured out how to post pictures...So here is the link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/103938554850868586630/CoupevillePatriotsDayShoot