Alamogordo, Mew Mexico Winterseed Feb. 13-14,2021

[Jerry Hall]

Greetings Mr. and Mrs. Appleseed and all the Appleseeders of the world!

Be it known that; On February 13 and 14 in La Luz, New Mexico, at the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains of South-Central New Mexico, on the grounds of The Sydney Paul Gordon Shooting Facility, five Patriotic Americans did attend the first Project Appleseed Event of 2021, for this area.
Saturday started off a little brisk in the morning progressing to sweater weather for the rest of the day. Our Participants progressed rapidly throuthout the day, from Red Coats to Squares. A leisurely lunch scattered with tales of the Three Strikes of the Match got everyone in the mood for a Green Coat and an AQT to polish off a day of patriotic Rifle Marksmanship.

Sunday dawned with three inches of snow on the ground. A light snow and a mild to moderate wind continued throughout the day. All of our students were excted as this event was announced to be a Winterseed at the begining of the day. Meaning that anyoue who fired a Rifleman's score would be awarded the coveted Winterseed Rifleman's Patch. We got right down to business and into AQT's as soon as possible. The first Rifleman of the day was Nick, firing a 217. After finding out that there was a higher award (Distinguished Rifleman),  Nick narrowly missed the Distinguished Patch with a score of 237. Although everyone was inching closer and closer to the Winterseed patch, the only other recipient was our own Appleseed Instructor RJ.Mouse.

As we had ended our day on the range who would show up out of the white but Mrs. Smith our New Mexico State Coordinator, with gifts for the crew. For being the only one to clear the Red Coat during the weekend, Nick received a 2015 Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter (Idea Shamelessly stolen from Appleseed Pensylvania). The most improved shooter of the weekend was Juan, who received a solid copper Second Amendment Coin from the Golden State Mint.(This coin shows an image of Jonathon Parker in the foreground and an American Flag in the background. With the Second Amendment on the back, circled by a quote from Thomas Jefferson " No Free Man Shall Ever Be Debarred The Use OF Arms".
These awards were touching to everyone, helping to solidify the bonds of the Appleseed vision.

An amazing weekend! I felt a little melancholy as we parted ways.

"till we meet again",

Jerry

[hotairbill]

What fun. Saturday was delightful weatherwise.  However, Sunday was Cold, Windy, and SNOWING!  A great day for a warm fire and some hot soup.  Presenting Mary Cobb, aka:Lizshoots16 with her Rifleman's patch, sure made it special to me.  Many thanks to Jerry Hall, Ron Mitchell, Debra and Mary Cobb for allowing me to help instruct the event. 

This was the second time in my AppleSeed career that I got to participate in a genuine Winterseed event.  Congratulations to Ron and Nick for earning their WinterSeed Rifleman patches.