Fenton, MI - Patriots Day 2023 - April 22-23

[T. WOLF]

A big Thank You to Fenton Lakes Sportsmen's Club for supporting another fantastic Patriots Day event.  We had a sellout crowd of enthusiastic Americans join us on the range last weekend to hone their marksmanship skills, and to honor those early Americans who first 'cast the die' for our liberties.

I really appreciate the engagement from everyone who participated in our history and took part in our memorial volley which was echoed across the country in unison at 4pm ET.  This annual tradition means a lot to us Appleseeders, and I hope it was a memorable experience for those first timers who joined us.  Thank you for coming out!

The progression of marksmanship skills up and down the line all weekend was awesome to see, but man were we swimming in Riflemen!  Some of you blew well past the 210 marker, and it was humbling to award so many patches:

Scuba Al - Distinguished!!
Turnquist - 247!!
O'Dell
Craig
Doug
Brad
Raffi
Steve
Rick
Meriwether
Matt M
Andy (Cornwallis) 

Matt L - you were 'knocking on the door', 207!  I hope you come back and get that done.
Rachel - it was really rewarding to watch your progress with that centerfire rifle over the course of the weekend. I hope you had fun!
David & Jack - such a pleasure having you guys on the line with us.  Jack, you are getting very close to Rifleman territory, and I really admired your commitment to coaching David during the ball-n-dummy drill.  I could see an orange hat in your future if you stay after it.  A Rifleman persists
DoorMan & Elizabeth - great progress on your shooting as well - so glad you could join us for this!  I look forward to crossing paths again on the Appleseed trail.
Brooke and Ben - sorry you couldn't make it back on Sunday, but you were both doing great - hope you can make it back out for a future event.

Last but not least, thank you to our wonderful team of instructors who volunteered their weekend to make this event a success!  Pocket Watch, TL, Bogie, Miki, Wingwrench and MrSurplus - you guys make my job easy, thanks for all that you do!

Without further ado - here are some photos we captured.  The club had a professional photographer swing through on Sunday!  Thank you for capturing the moment, Keith!


Shared Album

Keith's Photos

[bogie]

I can't say enough good things about the group we had on the line for Patriots Day! What an awesome group of shooters. The instructor crew can proudly attest many of you "know very well what you are about". A big congrats to our new Rifleman, its an accomplishment to be proud of. To our repeat re-qualifiers, keep chasing those distinguished and 250 patches!

To those of you on the road to rifleman it was heartwarming to watch you progress and improve over the course of the weekend. There wasn't a single one among you who didn't make great strides in your marksmanship skills. Keep working those pillars of marksmanship; six steps to firing a shot, steady hold factors, and NPOA. There are patches in all of your futures. The value of tenacity cannot be overstated.

A big thanks to Fenton Lakes for hosting, and Keith for the great "pro shots" to compensate for my lack of photography skills. 

Hopefully I'll be seeing all of you again on the Appleseed trail! I'm looking forward to it.

All the best,
Bogie

[wingwrench]

What a great bunch of people to spend a weekend with!! To be part of watching frustration turn into a happy smiling face over improvement, and "oh, NOW I get it!!"

  Hope to see you ALL at a later shoot.