Kingston, MI AAR - August 29-30, 2020

[ITB]

What a wonderful group of folks with which to share a weekend!  We had 39 shooters on the line, and much fun was had by all!

Congratulations to our newest Riflemen - Mike, Brian, Dave, Christopher and Traver.   Huzzah!
And we had two more Riflemen requalify - Toby and Luke.
We had many shooters in the high 100s knocking on the door.  Remember, first and foremost, a Rifleman is persistent.

Saturday started off a little icky - cool and rainy.  But, as usual, the Shoot Boss pulled out his anti-rain Appleseed poncho, and the precipitation hastily ceased.  Stark was doing his Intructor PRogress Check, so he did all the points of instruction on Saturday.  The students were eager and attentive, and things progressed well and allowed us to knock two AQTs out Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was just flat-out a beautiful day.  Sunny, low 70s.  We started with a half crew, with the other half arriving around 10ish after attending church.  Stark was presented with the Red Hat (another Huzzah!), after which we christened his now-obsolete Orange Hat with about 350 rounds.

Sunday afternoon brought the AQT grind, as well as a Parker's Revenge fun shoot.  We wound down with the Sunday afternoon Red Coat where 17 shooters (60%) hit the Morgan's Shingle!

Lastly, many thanks to our awesome Instructor corps - SteelThunder, mrsurplus, SuperTrooper, Stark, Pookie, TL, Farm Girl and Th1rt3en.  My job is easy with such an experienced, dedicated and professional crew.

Thanks to all the shooters for coming out and being safe.  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and I look forward to seeing you again on our lines.  Please post up with any and all comments, concerns, criticisms, or pictures!


On with some pictures....

A good omen?


Stark doing the Saturday morning safety briefing


Stark teaching prone in the lingering Saturday morning rain..


Stark teaching 6 steps


Stark teaching IMC..I'm seeing a trend here...


Shooting an AQT...


Rangerat67 telling the Third Strike


Master Instructor doing Master Instructor pose


SteelThunder doing the seated recap Sunday morning


Pookie doing an AQT rockin' a Garand.  Big boom stick!


SteelThunder teaching KD


A properly-retired Orange Hat


Your instructor crew for Sunday - Th1rt3en, SuperTrooper (rear), TL (front), Stark, ITB, SteelThunder, rangerat67.  Not pictured - mrsurplus, Pookie

[Stark]

Woohoo! What a beautiful weekend to be out punching paper (and hat) and celebrating our heritage with a great group of shooters   


https://photos.app.goo.gl/f4d3Jn4UmBV1sHce8

[Super Trooper]

This is the one shoot I look forward to most every year.  Excellent people, great club, and a hot lunch is always a plus.  So many new rifleman, congratulations to you all, and there was great improvement across the line.  Lets try and make the shoot boss run out of patches next year .

Sorry I was only able to be there Sunday, I'll try and do better next year.

[Atariman]

Hi guys.  This was my first Appleseed event and I honestly think it was the most fun I have had with a rifle.  I brought my brother and my dad and I think they had a lot of fun too.   I did get my rifleman's patch so the training provided works perfectly.   I learned a lot and have never used a sling in this way before.  I really enjoyed learning all the shooting positions and now have to buy more GI Web slings for all my rifles.   The history lessons are great too!  I think this is a great program and I will be attending more of these in the future (and I will bring my daughter next time).    I am a better marksman after attending this event. 

Pros:
-Safety is #1.  This was repeated throughout the program. 
-Instructors were professional and very helpful.
-I like how loaner rifles, tools, and slings are available.  This is really nice
-Training is excellent.  Everything is explained and demonstrated.  They even give you personal training if you're struggling.  They review everything again the 2nd day. 
-History lessons were very interesting.   I liked how everyone took a turn telling a different part of the story.  Everyone did a nice job! 
-The food was great! 

Cons:
-Some of the history lessons were hard to hear.  I understand some voices carry better than others.  I had no trouble hearing the firing line commands. 

That's it.   I appreciate all the time everyone put into this and I look forward to the next event! 

[ThreadNLead "TL"]

Sorry I'm so late to posting! (Been a busy couple of weeks!)
First a special shoutout and thank you to all the students who came! AND for feeding me!! I LOVE this group of shooters! I was at this shoot last year and have such a great time and I love seeing familiar faces! Can't wait for next year! In the mean time, here are some pictures!

CONGRATULATIONS to all our Riflemen, repeats and new!


























































GREAT BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO STARK ON EARNING HIS RED HAT!!!!!!!