Illinois in 2024

[ChuckA]

Hi There Illinois,

I'm excited to step into the role as IL State Coordinator and work with all of you to build Appleseed in Illinois.

A bit of background on me, without writing the full biography. I've been involved in Appleseed since 2017/2018, and slowly working my way through the IIT program. A decade working for the Boy Scouts tied up many of my weekends, and a new career has opened me up to spend much more time in other weekend pursuits aka Appleseed. I'm also an NRA TC and IL Concealed Carry Instructor. The mission and everything we are promoting with Appleseed aligns very closely with what I try to do with my Instruction business, down to pulling the inspiration for its name, Freemen Training, LLC from Thomas Jefferson (see signature). I currently live outside of Springfield, second maybe third only to Mos Eisley spaceport as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." That being said I've enjoyed making the run up to Bonfield for shoots and look forward to growing things in the middle and southern parts of the State.

Back to Illinois,

We have a ton of potential in the State, and I have talked with a lot of shooters and gun owners across the State (Appleseeders and potential Appleseeders) and the common thread is "something must be done." I think I've heard that somewhere.   

My goals for Illinois are to maintain the numbers of shoots we have, grow where possible, and really focus on building our Cadre of Instructors, Applecore, shooters, etc.

I will certainly need your help with those goals, but I'm also interested in what your personal Appleseed Goals are. Maybe it's shoot your first Rifleman, take an orange hat, complete your next PC as an IIT, or maybe its shoot distinguished. Where do you want to see Illinois go, and then how can we work together to get there. I think we can do a lot to support each other in these goals.

Here's what I'd like from you at the moment, I put together a short survey to start collecting some information to really get a feel for what resources we have across the State. From there we can start building, scheduling shoots, 7th stepping, and most importantly sharing the history and heritage with more of Illinois.  Here's the survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/bV1iL2YTYn

Our 2024 preparation period has begun, I look forward to seeing you on the line.

ChuckA

[Flintlock54]

Appleseed was active in southern Illinois as recently as 2019 ish. I was scheduled to work a shoot at Marion when the river came up and blocked the Chester bridge. I live in Perryville, Mo and can easily access that area of Illinois.

You can get a list of instructors from Tips/shoot boss/state coordinators/instructor contact list. You might  find someone in the Carbondale/Marion area willing to help.