How are you celebrating Patriot's Day?

[Google]

Hello Fellow Appleseeders,

Patriot's Day is upon us.  How are you commemorating the occasion?  Did you make it to the range for a Memorial Volley, shoot a Redcoat, or maybe find another way? 

Post your pics here!

In Liberty,
Google

[Mrs. Smith]

There's a remote spot in the desert we go to frequently for long range stuff. Five instructors are meeting there tomorrow for a picnic (on our respective tailgates), Three Strikes, and volley.  I'll post pics after. 

We made it an "event" on Facebook for New Mexico, virtually, asking folks to join us from home to honor our fallen Patriots.

https://facebook.com/events/s/patriots-day-virtual-memorial-/272988423867274/

[Tennessee Beast]

I'm at Hot Springs,  AR.  I got to shoot a cannon yesterday!    I plan to participate in the Liberty Volley at 3 CDT.

[CarrollMS]

April morning movie yesterday.  Sons of Liberty mini series
, volley + backyard Appleseed planned today, also fast from tea! I wish I had a Sam Adams but a Yuengling Lager (Americas oldest) will suffice with Boston Baked Beans

[colonial shooter]

Today I am recovering from over doing it yesterday at the AS in Laramie. Great day ! Will read the names and do a dry fire volley at 2pm MDT.

[T. WOLF]

A small group of Michigan instructors will be assembling at our local club this afternoon for a victory volley.  I hope Gov Whitmer can hear us in Lansing.  Pics to follow.

Let freedom ring!

[CarrollMS]

Singing the Concord Hymn as originally sung at the dedication of the monument to the Metical Hymn "Old 100" commonly used in the Massachusetts Bay Colony would be appropriate for today's memorial and as a Sunday Hymn . Here is is with the Old 100
https://youtu.be/W1ApkEnMCwc

[raggedyedge]

Virtual Volley...

https://youtu.be/KrLX-C_cvSw

[Gator0246]

I just watched Raggedyedge's virtual volley and it was great.

[CarrollMS]

Volley in backyard

[mrsurplus]

Couldn't make it out with the other Michigan instructors, so I did a backyard volley on my own

[Quinncannon]

Fortunately, I have a couple of different ranges on my property, one for sidearms and rimfires and one for centerfire rifle. I unlimbered one of my bolt action CZ 452 UL's with Nikon EFR scope and shot three AQT's. scores were, 241, 242, 242. Shot per the rules.

I had been planning on attending the Hot Springs, Arkansas shoot, but things came up to alter my plans! Oh well, I look forward to the next shoot!

Hand salute rendered to our Forefathers!

[Maximum Ordinate]

The Alabama cadre is at the range shooting the newly revised AQTs.

We'll go to the KD range shortly for our volley.

[azmule]

Ranges are closed here - air rifle's gonna have to do.

[cwcdl79]

Backyard, socially distanced.

[RebelScum]

Took today to join other patriots and rebels on Old North Bridge.  Yes, that North Bridge.  The Declaration of Independence was read aloud along with the names of all the signers.  Despite government orders barring gatherings, we exercised our rights as free Americans on these hallowed grounds to honor the sacrifices of those that came before us - and to once again speak of freedom. 

[Meadow]

Happy Patriots Day & our Heritage is strong.  Shores of Lake Erie are totally socially distanced.
Range was watched over by a soaring eagle as I shot this red coat. (need more practice)

[Appleseed Dad]

Happy Patriot's Day fellow Patriots!!!

My kids and I had a wonderful day today by Adapting, Improvising, and Overcoming the Coronavirus-induced cancellation of our beloved Appleseed Patriot's Day weekend.

There were seven of us on the line on our little range back behind the barn.  We ran two shooters at at time and we all got through at least one AQT each.  We had a couple equipment issues with a few stovepipes that dropped some points.  But, we had some pretty good scores!  224, 210, 208, 204, 200, 196 and a couple a little lower than that.

Then at 3p CDT, we did a memorial volley - we had an AR in there for good measure and some more noise!!  We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Tonight, we are going to watch the old 1957 Disney movie Johnny Tremain.  It is a family favorite of ours.  And does a pretty good job of sticking to the facts of April 19 when those scenes unfold.

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!  We are looking forward to being together soon on the Appleseed Trail!

[Sheepdog87]

Took my second son out for his first real shooting session. Used a copy of the 100m AQT.

[Reckless Rick]

Last night we cut loose some fireworks in honor of what our forefather's started 245 years ago. Today I had  a solo volley at 300 yards with dismal results...practice and persistence always pays off

[Pepper Spray]

Captain America and I each shot a AQT. We thought it was essential to honor our forefathers and the sacrifice they made. Captain America scored a beautiful 212. I scored a 227. It just felt right to be yelling the line commands again. I was even tempted to miss the early mornings that accompany Appleseeds.

[JoeZ]

Had some people over and we honed up on CQB. Used some pistols and 22LR on steel and then airsoft pvp. This martial law light is has bummed me out but at least I get to shoot on Patriot's Day for once.

[Bullet]

First Patriot's Day with the stepkids. They already know fairly well what they are about but didn't know details of the April 19 story so we went through the 3 strikes today.

I haven't told it in years. It felt good! After all the Covid stuff is over I'm hoping to get back to actually teaching Appleseeds.

I wrote out a version to share on fb -- similar to how I told it at Appleseeds, but a bit condensed. It's attached. Feel free to recycle and repurpose.

Happy Patriot's Day . . . never forget April 19.

[Maximum Ordinate]

you can find more info in the AAR... but here are some pics.

Alabama's motto


Staging steel on Saturday


Do you see that on the left?  HISR range flies our flag even when it's not an AS weekend!


The private KD event in Alabama got cancelled earlier this month.  The group was less than enthused and made a patch to commemorate it.


Everyone pitches in.


Social distancing.


Zooming in at 380 yards.


Recovering steel.  That's a long haul in the marsh at 380 yards.  Just saying.


Social distancing, Part II.

[D.O.M.]

A low-key secretive Patriot's Day in Northeast Michigan! Shhhh! don't tell the gov'nr 

Special guest, D.O.M. and Fly-Boy

[glock1911]

MY SON AND I SPENT THE AFTERNOON AT THE RANGE SHOOTING BLACK POWDER GUNS AND RECORDING A PATRIOT'S DAY VIDEO
https://youtu.be/K2-P3tnmx8E

[Tennessee Beast]

This poem was read aloud at the shoot I attended in Hot Springs , AR. 


Ode to a Rifleman
By Big Papa (Steve Anderson) September 24, 2008

A Rifleman is not born but is cast in the Rifleman's mold by other Riflemen. These are mentors of great character, who encourage him to accept the honor, sacrifice and duty to defend those things most dear to patriots. A Rifleman learns that not all battles require a rifle, but he is to be ready on a moments notice should one be required.

A Rifleman comprehends that the war for liberty is never won, but that battles must be fought and won every day. He obtains the foresight to know that the battle today is of utmost importance and tomorrow there will be another battle of equal importance. He gains awareness that the interest of his country, liberty and freedom should be foremost in his life.

A Rifleman becomes as knowledgeable of his rifle and gear as he is of his enemy.  He grows proficient with the tools provided and is constantly striving to improve. He grasps the knowledge that the path to true perfection has no end, but always, is the most honorable journey. 

A Rifleman sees that he is surrounded by battlefields of all descriptions and magnitudes. He garners the ability to choose his battles and his battlefields. He becomes sure of his skills but realizes that pride has no place on any battlefield. A Rifleman learns his job is never finished, that persistence can win any battle, and patience can prevent many ill planned battles.

A Rifleman grows to be a warrior in all walks of life. He prays for peace, is pensive of the future and knows the enemy will never relent in it's pursuit of destroying liberty and freedom. He is thankful for being deemed worthy of the title and honor.

A Rifleman's greatest honor comes with the passing of skills, heritage and knowledge of obligations to those that will and must continue the war. He teaches them that a Rifleman's skills are never accomplished, but continuously pursued. When trained, his apprentices shoulder their arms and move on to continue fighting the war and teaching others.

A Rifleman comes to know deep within his heart that when his replacements are trained, his ammo is low, his barrel is hot, the sun is on the Western horizon and the enemy is scattered for the day, he, an old Rifleman, may go home in peace.

And when, as a Rifleman, he leaves the final battlefield the echoes of his life's accomplishments can be heard fading across the hillsides. Then, his fellow Riflemen can gather around his grave and know, without question, that this warrior was truly a "Man among men", a "Man who knew what he was about." 

A Rifleman!

[Maximum Ordinate]

I'm at Hot Springs,  AR.  I got to shoot a cannon yesterday!    I plan to participate in the Liberty Volley at 3 CDT.

A CANNON?

You win.   

[ThreadNLead "TL"]

12 of us got together and did 2 Memorial Volleys with a total of 26 names, + 2 Michigan Veteran's names read and honored.
It was socially distanced, intimate, reverent, and FUN couple hours.   
(We shot 2 flights to keep some distance, but that means double the names honored, so I'm cool  with that!)
Patriot's Day weekend 2018 was mine and my husband (Tick Wrangler)'s first ever event. I am NOT the same person today, as I was then. And I have Project Appleseed to thank for that!
Here are a few pics and some mostly distant selfies...

Rangerat being my unknowing model here... (and I figured why not post my accompanying Instagram post...Hope BlueGrassColonel doesn't mind I quoted his post...)


Surprised myself and cleaned it with no time to worry about my shots in between names...


Quality Time, with Quality People

[Roswell]

Like Paul Revere, my Patriots' Day began the night before April 19th. I began a new tradition. My daughter, like me, is a lover of stories and always demands at least 3 stories before bed. She is firm, but fair, especially for a 2 year old.   

That night, April 18th, I read her the story of Patriots' Day. Yes, it was abbreviated. And yes, I had to distract her with images from a Star Wars book that I pretended to read from. But, hey, she is 2. Besides, I told my wife, that if she asked, we would tell her Paul Revere was a Jedi. 

Here are my daughter and I on the morning of the 19th before I headed to the range. She is why I do this.


I was blessed on actual Patriots' Day to be able to join 3 other from the Georgia Instructor Cadre.

Thank you to 76 Patriot, WileyCoyote and Overmountain for joining me!

Ironically, because of Covid we were forced to go to an Indoor range as the outdoor one our event was at is a private range open specially for actual Appleseed events. Because we were at a different indoor range we were relegated to shooting .22s and could only do so standing. But Riflemen persists!

Below is a picture of our motley crew. We may use it for our next album cover. Still taking band name suggestions.


Overmountain rocked the red Patriots' Day shirt. 


As we say in the South, a good time was had by all.

In Liberty,
Roswell