Liberty Center, OH, AAR - June 21-22, 2025

[Third Degree]

The Henry County Sportsmen's Association facility in Liberty Center was the location for the latest Project Appleseed rifle clinic in Northwest Ohio. The Association's beautiful clubhouse was available to the students during the weekend, and it served as a welcome refuge from the high heat.

The weather forecast of extreme temperatures proved to be accurate. Saturday June 21 topped out at 92 degrees with a heat index of 102. Sunday June 22 topped that with 96 degrees and a heat index of 106. There was wind of approximately 20 mph, but even the moving air was hot, providing little relief. Both students and volunteers brought pop-up shelters. There were sufficient numbers to allow providing shade for the entire firing line. The entire affair looked like an oasis village (without palm trees).

Our group of students was not deterred by the forecast or the weather experienced during the clinic. We started out the 5 pre-registrations but had another 6 walk-ons for a total of 11. One of our students has recently joined the National Guard.
 
Project Appleseed is very family friendly. Our student body was composed of 4 separate family groups. The family aspect provided an interesting comparison to the decisions made by families on April 18 and 19, 1775. There were 4 students under the age of 18. Four of the participants had previous Appleseed experience.

Our volunteer instructor crew included Headhunter (Austin) and Topper (Shane). Both are very experienced. This event served as the final step in a long process by Headhunter for promotion to full instructor, who took charge of the balance of instruction for the rest of the day. He also served as Line Boss.

With the first Red Coat target posted, the fire began at 9:15 a.m. With 11 students, 6 placed 3 hits on the 100-yard silhouette (55%) and 4 (36%) put their rounds on the 200-yard silhouette. Two hit the shingle, but no one cleared the target. The Red Coat is used as a skills pre-test/ post-test, but it is a challenge to clear this target.

The Green Practice AQT was posted at 11:40 a.m. and the group voted to retreat to the clubhouse for lunch and history. By this time the temperature had risen to 92 degrees. It became apparent that time on the range had to be limited to 2-hour intervals. Topper delivered a detailed-filled Second Strike. One of the participating families had recently been in Boston on vacation to visit a relative who lives in Arlington (formerly Menotomy).

The final use of the Green Practice AQT was Standing Position steady hold factor instruction and live fire. With that completed the first AQT of the clinic was posted at 4:00 p.m. By the end of the final stage of the AQT, both students and instructors reached a limit of endurance for the day. Individual students had great success with various stages but were not able to consolidate necessary hits on one target.

The Saturday afternoon Red Coat replaced AQT #1 and all was completed by 5:00 p.m.  With 7 students, 7 placed 3 hits on the 100-yard silhouette (100%), 4 (57%) put their rounds on the 200-yard silhouette, and 2 (29%) placed hits on the 300-yard silhouette. Three (43%) hit the shingle. One of our youngest students (Hailey) was able to hit the shingle after coming to the line every time preparation period was called.
 
Sunday, June 22 started out bright, early and quickly became hot. With humidity, a heat index reached 105 degrees, and the clinic made liberal use of the air-conditioned clubhouse. The morning Red Coat was posted and shot by 9:00 a.m. With 8 students, 7 placed 3 hits on the 100-yard silhouette (87%), 5 (62%) put their rounds on the 200-yard silhouette, and 1 (14%) placed a hit on the 400-yard silhouette. Two (28%) hit the shingle. Again, Hailey had success with the smallest object.
 
The group posted AQT #3 and #4 together just before lunch and all happily retired to the comfort of the clubhouse. Headhunter finished the history series with a moving rendition of the Third Strike, challenging the students to think about family sacrifices. With lectures completed, all returned to the range. Both AQTs were fired and the students agreed to call it a day. The highest AQT score of the clinic was by Jimmy, who recorded 205. Keep up the good work. A rifleman is persistent.

The Sunday afternoon Red Coat was completed and recorded by 1:45 p.m. The afternoon Red Coat was posted and recorded by 1:45 p.m. With 5 students, 5 placed 3 hits on the 100-yard silhouette (100%), 3 (60%) put their rounds on the 200-yard silhouette. Two (40%) hit the shingle. This time another youthful student (Jacob) hit the shingle.
 
I want to thank all of the students for coming out and exhibiting a willingness to learn new skills. I want to encourage all of you to practice reading your targets to diagnose ways you can correct your technique. I am very proud of the way the youngest students paid attention to the instruction and put those ideas into practice. Hailey and Jacob can certainly hit the shingle. The rest of the Red Coat is not far out of reach for you.  Best wishes to Brandon!

I want to thank the Henry County Sportsmen's Association for accommodating Project Appleseed and our constant use of the clubhouse. Many thanks to Topper and Headhunter for volunteering this past weekend. Congratulations to Headhunter on becoming a full instructor.

Third Degree

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