Palm Bay, FL AAR (PMRPC) Oct. 10-11, 2020

[Guntuckian]

This was our first large Appleseed in Palm Bay open to the public since the shutdown started earlier this year for the Coronavirus, so the demand was high.  Florida is finally opening once more!  Going into this weekend, we had a Sold Out event, with 15 signed up, but with more folks still wanting to attend.  So, to accommodate this pent-up demand, we simply opened up the capacity to 17. 

Although we had 17 students signed up for this Appleseed, with another 2 students anticipated as walk-ons, we ultimately had only 13 students show up, and 1 walk-on additional on Saturday morning, for a total of 14 students.  The Alexa weather forecast for this weekend was for rain and wind with recurring passing storms, and this weather forecast may have kept some folks away.  But, we had plenty of Appleseed staff and facilities on hand to handle 17 students with ease, and the storms were greatly over estimated.  What this really meant was that we had a great teacher to student ratio for our 14 students this weekend, and very nice weather!  This ultimately meant that extremely rapid improvements in marksmanship results were going to be the outcome.  We were not disappointed!

If you missed this Appleseed due to the weatherman's pessimism, then you missed an excellent opportunity to polish your marksmanship skills in turbo-drive with continuous personal attention by first rate Instructors!  As it turned out, the weather on Saturday through the rest of the weekend was very tolerable;  overcast with slight breezes, and warm temperatures, making for nearly ideal conditions in which to learn marksmanship!  The weather we experienced was very light rain blowing through, and very pleasant temperatures, due to more cloud cover and light recurring rain, which did not affect us on the continuously-covered firing line.  For all those who attended, it was a weekend of extremely high skill improvements!

When the sparse rain bands did blow through, with 25+ mph winds and very mild rain, for 20 minutes on  Saturday, we simply switched gears to presenting history, and our students stayed dry under the fully-covered line, while we collectively soaked in history and heritage rather than in rain.  The Appleseed show went on without a hitch!  (The only issue was we had to replace one Greencoat target on the target line that simply dissolved due to the rain and wind while listening to history! This was easily overcome!)

Relative to Coronavirus concerns, we modified our course of instruction slightly, to enable easily achieving a Social Distancing of 6 feet.  The green laser we used for demonstrating NPOA and Rifleman Cadence was easily seen despite this Social Distancing!  It easily surpassed our old red lasers in terms of its visibility!

By the end of Saturday, results were greatly improved on the Red Coat target, from the morning, and we had 3 shooters even passing muster with Morgan's Shingle shot test!  We also had 1 shooter clearing the Red Coat target!  The AQT results for Saturday were likewise outstandingly good, with one student scoring Rifleman (Expert), with a score of 214, as a re-qualification.  Great shooting Adam!

This Appleseed was also an opportunity for Liberty SIREN (ASA) to continue his path down the Appleseed Trail, and he successfully passed his IIT 2 (Instructor in Training 2) Progress Check.  Great job ASA!

On Sunday, scores improved even more, with many students increasing over 120 points, ending up with Marksman and Sharpshooter scores.  And, we had two students scoring Rifleman on Sunday.  Dennis re-qualified with a 213.  And, Adam showed his Rifleman score on Saturday was not a fluke, scoring 218, and 230 with a scope.  Just shy of a Distinguished Patch on top of a Rifleman Patch!

Altogether, over the two days, 6 AQTs were done.  The Rifleman results for students were outstanding with both Dennis and Adam re-qualifying, and with numerous other students missing scoring their first Rifleman patch by 1, 2, or 3 shots.  You are knocking on the door, and we hear you all!  HUZZAAH!

Everyone improved their marksmanship skills greatly this weekend, and honed their marksmanship skills.   We had numerous shooters who all scored above 197 on their AQTs, just missing by one or two or three shots from earning their Rifleman Patches, this weekend! Dry fire practice is the key to earning your Rifleman Patch.

Our KD intro lecture on Sunday was a great overview of our new Rimfire KD Appleseed class, in addition to our Centerfire KD classes we have been holding for several  years now.  (Kudos to TheMenace!)

Thijs, your improvement was outstanding.  We hope to see you back at an Appleseed in the very near future!

John, I see many great rifle marksmanship results in your future!  Your final AQT scores on Sunday, shows you are very close to getting your patch in the very near future, too!

Dennis, it was a pleasure to see you back on the line this weekend, re-qualifying with a 213 score.  We hope to see you back in the very near future.

Debbie, it was a pleasure to see you back on the line this weekend.  You were so very close to re-qualifying on Sunday, just missing re-qualifying by one or two shots!

Earl, your shooting improved by leaps and bounds.  Keep it up, and you won't be disappointed!

Matt, it was great seeing you shooting and making great improvement.  Your kind words meant so much!  We hope to see you back in the near future.

Cannan, your improvement was outstanding!  By late Sunday, you were becoming a pro at improving.  We hope to see you back in the near future.

Victoria, your groups were really starting to shrink on Sunday!  And, your future dreams of becoming an Appleseed Instructor and of working in the Space Program, too, are entirely possible!  Keep up the great work and you can achieve these goals!  You have a very bright future! 

Matt, despite fighting Red Dot sight and other rifle issues, your scores really improved. Appleseed events always test one's gear to the utmost.  It's like peeling an onion, when one is resolving equipment problems and pushing up their marksmanship scores.  A Rifleman persists!

Adam, your re-qualifications with scores of 214, 218, and 230 show you are improving swiftly.  A Distinguished Patch is definitely in your near future!

Kruise,  your marksmanship improvements were outstanding!  Keep up the practice, and you will soon have groups that are entirely within the 1-inch sighter squares.  You are so very close, even now!

Jason,  you're well on your way to a Rifleman Patch.  Dry fire practice is an easy way to speed up this process.  Give it a try, and  you will soon be shooting a Rifleman score on a regular basis!

Ricardo, we hope to see you again soon!  You are making great progress!

Mark, we are so glad you joined us on Saturday!  We hope to see you back on the line again, soon!

In grand Appleseed fashion, we cleared the line, and we all pitched in and left the host range cleaner than when we arrived for our Appleseed.

Kudos to the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club for so graciously providing us a range for the weekend without any range fees! The fully-covered line, with a separate area for the history portions, is a great venue.  It made the foul weather blowing through a non-issue.

Kudos to all the Appleseed staff who made this event a success. Welcome, A.J., for driving over and helping out on Saturday.  We hope to see you back again soon!

All in all, this was a glorious weekend in the company of fellow patriots, with us gathering together this weekend to help save the Ship of State from sinking. Our spirits were definitely lifted. The history we covered was a welcome respite to the long Coronavirus shutdowns, and definitely helped us all restore our faith in bailing to save the ship even faster.

We'll see you again, soon!  Keep up with your dry-fire practice!  And, if you missed this event, you missed a great one.  We'll be back next month, continuing monthly through June 2021, when we will slow down during the hottest part of the summer in this part of Florida. 

Also, keep an eye out for our regular Rimfire, Rimfire KD, regular rimfire/centerfire, and Centerfire KD rifle classes.  And, before long, we will commence our public Appleseed Pistol Classes, too. Our staff is getting ready to add these soon, too. The Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club is a great host for all these Appleseed events!  See you soon!

Pictures to follow.

-- Gary

[TheMenace]

It was an awesome weekend! Great students, great crew, excelent facility, decent weather. Fun! Here are pics of our award recipients.

[MyNameIsEARL]

I want to publicly Thank All of the instructors who made the weekend possible as well as all of their insights and instructions.  I have improved greatly and I have signed up for December to bring my family. The stories are amazing and captivating and a big reason for me returning. 

To @Liberty Siren... I made my forum handle just for you!

[TheMenace]

Good Morning Earl,
Welcome to the forum! It's a joy working with students with a great sense of humor like you. See you in December.
Dennis

[EpicQuilter]

Debbie here.  We had a fantastic time as usual.  It is always so refreshing to hear the history in the stories that are told during the classes.   We will be back in December and Rifleman it will be.  Thanks for a great and safe weekend with tons of learning.  I personally cannot thank the instructors enough for your willingness to volunteer all the weekends.  Thank you.