AAR, Gibsonburg, OH Oct. 24-25

[Blindman]

   Gibsonburg, OH                                                  October 24-25, 2020
     
       A blistery, lip chapping weekend ended a trying Appleseed season here in Northern Ohio, as twelve intrepid shooters journeyed to Gibsonburg, Oh, to the legendary Sandusky County Sportsman's Club, eager to sharpen their safety and rifle handling skills, and pick up some Heritage on the side. Weather was brisk, to say the least and much use was made of a convenient firepit for history story telling and just general warming up. A high wind would cut across the line, loosening targets and generally lowering the overall temperature, but I was proud of my shooters as they persisted in their goal!
      It was a mixed bag of shooters, everything from experienced rifleman, including one requalification, and three young teens who came to learn the safety and marksmanship, and history that Appleseed is known for. The combination of experience and eager ears quickly showed on the weekend's Redcoat targets,
                    Shooters     100   200    300    400    HS   Cleared
Saturday AM   12            5        3       0      0     2         0
Saturday PM                  11       4       0      1     6         0
Sunday AM   13           10       6       3       2    5         2
Sunday PM                   9       7        5       1    4         1
Northern Ohio's crew were up to the task. Meadow had stepped up on this occasion to seek his Red hat and did a phenomenal job, as we have come to expect no less from him. Third Degree, Cadence and yours truly, Blindman presented the three strikes and Dangerous Old men, with Slow-n-Steady making her history debut with a stirring rendition of the story of Elisabeth Zane. Both Meadow and Slow-n-Steady have been put in for promotion, and as of this writing, Meadow has heard his promotion has been accepted. I will re-post when Slow-n-Steady recieves her promotion notification - or she can also!
Five new rifleman were minted this weekend, David Buschur, Mike Ehman, Jim Hill, Craig Schlicht and Mark Facer. Mike Ehman requesting a special patch for a special reason which I will allow him to state in the chat line, if he so wishes - but let me say in all honesty I was moved. A Lest we forget patch was given to Sam Stevenot, who demonstrated a great attitude and enthusiasm all weekend - looking forward to seeing you again, Sam!  I would also like to recognize one of my Boy Scouts, Matthew Faguett who attended to sharpen his skills for the BSA rifleman merit badge, which I am also a councilor for, and attained his goal - and his merit badge- this weekend. The first thing he told me was that his next step is a Rifleman's Patch - HUZZAH!
Appleseed alumni Steve Thompson spared some time from his busy weekend to drop by for a familiarization fire with a piece of American history, a Browning BAR of WW2 vintage - great fun was had. Then shooters returned to the Grind and AQT's withered under the hail unleashed. Our traditional final target of the day for the end of the Appleseed season, pumpkins  were carved with rifle fire in a team event captained head to head by the Hill's, Jim and Kristen. See you next year, Kristen - you'll get that patch yet.
   This has been a year of tribulations and new experience in Appleseed, but as always, we persevere and - with new rifleman like these, the new friends we have made, I know it will be a great new year!

Aim small, Miss small   
And I will see you all again, down the trail in 2021                     

Blindman/Mike Metzger /Nelson Abbac

[DeathGrip]

This past weekends events were beyond educational both on the line and around the fire. I have been handling firearms and squeezing triggers most of my life. This program opened my eyes and taught me more than I could have expected in a single weekend. I would like to thank Blindman, Cadence, ThirdDegree, Slow and Steady, and especially Meadow, again congratulations on achieving your goal aswell, the instructors were great and I look forward to the next one!

Firearms have always been an escape for me. Being able to partake in the freedoms that we are blessed with that bring strangers together to become friends and ultimately family has always been something I could turn to when reality got crazy. Through multiple rifle complications and having to swap to a rifle that wasn't mine, I did achieve my Rifleman's Patch this weekend. Though after hearing stories about a young lady who had a special patch in remembrance of her, that was the patch I had to fly!

On July 30, 2020 my fiancé at the age of 37 was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. This form of cancer is a very aggressive form and immediate action was recommended by the team of doctors. Currently we are 10 weeks into Chemotherapy and though it has been a wild ride she is handling this "adventure" day by day like the champion she is! The Purple patch means a little more to me now than ever before!

Much like the stories told about April 19th life is a lot like that day, there will be times throughout your life that things will get bad but it's not about what happens but how you react and move forward from that event! Again thank you to all involved and I am looking forward to the next step, with winter approaching I'm looking forward to some frozen trigger time!

[Slow and Steady]

I just received the email confirmation of my promotion! Congratulations to all of the new rifleman (and the re-qual of course), I'm glad i got to share the experience with you all. A special congratulations to Meadow as i know worked hard for your red hat.

Deathgrip, i very much enjoyed talking to you this past weekend. Looking forward to seeing you again at a winterseed this next year. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

Great job David! I was just as excited as you were when you got your patch. I wish you a fast recovery and hope to see you earn your distinguished patch.

Thank you to Blindman, Cadence, Third-Degree and Meadow for all of your help and encouragement. I look forward to working with you guys again and i can't wait to keep working towards my red hat, with school first of course

A final congratulations and I hope to see you all again down the road.

[Slow and Steady]

I apologize for the pictures uploading weird. I will post more tomorrow

[Corvette]

All, looks like a great event and I am proud of both the shooters and the Instructor team in facing north coast Ohio weather. I grew up on Lake Erie and I know well that cold damp wind off the lake.

Congrats to all and congrats to Meadow's move to Red Hat and SlowandSteady's promotion.

DeathGrip, thank you for the kind comments on the weekend and you have our prayers and support for the health challenges facing your fiancé.

Great job all.

Corvette

[Blindman]

Shooters, fellow instructors and friends,
   please join me in congratulating Slow-n-Steady on her promotion!

[Cadence]

The weather was chilly but the shooters were HOT. At least the weather was dry this year after a couple of years of soggy shoots in October.

Of the 12 shooters on the line, we has 5 new riflemen! HUZZAH!

Congratulations to all our newly patched shooters and a special shout out to David who persevered to get his patch despite severe back pain. He refused the offer to use a bench as an adaptive shooter. He said he wanted to earn his patch the regular way.

Thanks to all the shooters for a safe and fun event and all my fellow instructors for making sure the event was safe.

Thanks also to Sandusky County Sportsmens Club for hosting and a very special thanks to Appleseed Alumnus Steve Thompson, who brought out his BAR and allowed anyone who wanted to shoot a piece of history.

[Cadence]

A few more pictures

[Cadence]

A few more pictures

[Cadence]

Wow almost forgot Mike getting his Rifleman's Patch

[Third Degree]

A great time was had by all, especially capped off with 5 new riflemen and a few re-qualifications.

I believe we have generated some repeat customers.

Congratulations to Meadow and Slow and Steady on their promotions!

Congratulations to Mathew on achieving the score to qualify for the Scout Merit badge. Persistence pays off.

Finally, many thanks to Steve Thompson for sharing a real piece of history: Browning BAR. Very stout on the ground. Very heavy off-hand.

[DontFlick]

I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot. Thanks to all the instructors and participants for making it a great experience. Congrats to all that earned a patch (rifleman or otherwise).

[SkyCop]

Thanks to all: Blindman, Cadence, Third-Degree, Meadow, and Slow&Steady. You are fine people and I enjoyed the weekend despite the cold snap. I have taken instruction several times in the past. But, I picked up more information in two days with you folks than all the others combined. Well done. (Jerry)