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Volunteer Spotlight - October 2026 - Pookie

Started by Mrs. Smith, October 11, 2026, 01:16:03 PM

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Mrs. Smith

October 11, 2026, 01:16:03 PM Last Edit: October 13, 2026, 02:42:46 PM by Mrs. Smith
Project Appleseed exists because of its dedicated cadre of volunteers.

Every clinic, every story told on the line, every new Rifleman and Pistoleer who walks away with sharper skills and a clearer sense of the history that still shapes us—none of it happens without the men and women who give their weekends, their expertise, and their energy to the mission.

Today we pause to celebrate one of those volunteers—someone whom their peers looked around and said, "That one stands out." Not because they seek recognition, but because the work they do quietly multiplies the impact of everyone else on the firing line.

This month's peer-nominated volunteer is Pookie, from Michigan.



Michigan State Coordinator MI-Copperhead writes:

"Will is the kind instructor that Fred was thinking of when he wrote "if you see a need, step up and fix it." There is no job too big or too insignificant for him to do. Since becoming an Instructor In Training in January of 2019 he has worked one or more events in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin besides his home state of Michigan, even traveling from his home in south east Michigan to the center of the upper peninsula. Pookie is great at instructing, modeling, coaching, or telling history in his own style. By the completion of the Michigan Appleseed schedule for 2026, Pookie will have worked 15 events for the year.

As a Shoot Boss I can say that if I have Pookie signed up on my instructor roster I have my anchor established. If I could clone one instructor, I would want 5 of Pookie.

I fully expect to see Pookie in a Green Hat sometime in 2027. He will make a great Shoot Boss. He is already an outstanding instructor, person and someone I readily call a friend."

Huzzah! And thank you, Pookie, for your time, energy, and dedication to the mission of Project Appleseed.

Do you have a story about Pookie from your time as a student?

Share it with us!


"See, the way it works is, the train moves, not the station." — Ernie Capadino

"You can have peace, or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." — Robert A. Heinlein

"A generation which ignores history has no past, and no future." — Lazarus Long

"What we do now echoes in eternity." — Marcus Aurelius

Fortitudo et Honor

icecoldkidd

#1
October 13, 2026, 03:15:26 PM
I remember Pookie from my very first Pistolseed in Fenton, April 2024.
His storytelling is memorable as well as inspirational.
His instruction is top notch.
When I get to an event and see him there, I know it is going to be a good event.

Zorak

#2
October 13, 2026, 04:32:35 PM
I attended 4 Appleseed events as a student before volunteering, and Pookie was an instructor at every single one of them. If I didn't count him as a friend, I'd say he made me the man I am today. :)
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Bundt Pan

#3
October 13, 2026, 06:17:05 PM
 :F Huzzah, I had a great time working with Pookie when he boarder raided into Illinois
NRA Training Counselor, Chief Range Safety Officer and Life member

No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms. 1st Draft of the VA Constitution by T. Jefferson

Rangerat67

#4
October 16, 2026, 10:07:56 PM
Pookie is a great Pookie to Appleseed and me! (In case you don't know,  Pookie means friend.

Pookie's history is top notch and I always get a new history nugget with every story he tells.

Love working events with Pookie!

Rangerat67

scuzzy

#5
October 17, 2026, 12:53:41 PM
Hey Fren - thanks for helping.
"There is no difference between Communism and Socialism, except in the same ultimate end: Communism proposes to enslave men by force, Socialism by the vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide." Ayn Rand

Oz

#6
October 20, 2026, 09:36:19 AM
Quote from: Mrs. Smith on October 11, 2026, 01:16:03 PMMichigan State Coordinator MI-Copperhead writes:

As a Shoot Boss I can say that if I have Pookie signed up on my instructor roster I have my anchor established. If I could clone one instructor, I would want 5 of Pookie.

Given five Pookies at your beck and call, the urge to utter "Schedule an Appleseed at once!" would indeed be overwhelming.

A fine tribute by one great instructor to another great instructor!  Hoping to see you down the trail at some point.
"You don't know they're all Riflemen.  They might just be people with rifles." - Zazzles, 9/22/12

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not."
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

"There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future." - Abraham Lincoln

"My biggest decision this week?  Well...long story short, I went with the mild sauce."

T. WOLF

#7
November 01, 2026, 12:47:33 PM
Well deserved recognition, Pookie. It's great to have you in the cadre here in Michigan - thanks for all that you do! :bow:
"There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leaders, and concerting measures in opposition to each other." ~John Adams 1780

Brave men fall with a battle cry
Tears fill the eyes of their loved ones, and their brothers in arms
And so it went for Joseph Warren
It should have been different, it could have been easy
His rank could've saved him, but a country unborn needs bravery
And it spread like wildfire

Taylor

#8
November 01, 2026, 06:17:39 PM
I had the honor and pleasure of working with Pookie at that event up in the U.P. A great Appleseed weekend!
Honoring the memory of Adonijah Taylor (1730-1810) my Grandfather seven generations back, Deerfield MA Militiaman and Patriot, who answered the alarm on April 19, 1775 and along with his six sons served in the War of the Revolution.

"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think." - Adolf Hitler

"All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party." - Mao Tse Tung

"Those bold enough to believe that they can change the world, are usually those which do."
-Albert Einstein

"Let Freedom never perish in your hands."
-Joseph Addison

Pookie

#9
November 01, 2026, 08:03:44 PM
Thanks guys , it's a great pleasure to work with and learn from you all. Hope we can get another shoot up in the U.P. !
During the seventy years which elapsed between the overthrow of the Stuart dynasty and the victory of Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham, the relations between the American colonies and the British government were, on the whole, peaceful; and the history of the colonies, except for the great and romantic struggle with New France, would have been almost destitute of striking incidents. In view of the perpetual menace from France, it was clearly unwise for the British government to irritate the colonies, or do anything to weaken their loyalty; and they were accordingly left very much to themselves. Still, they were not likely to be treated with any great liberality,â€"for such was not then, as it is hardly even yet, the way of governments...

"I will either set my country free, or shed my last drop of blood to make her so." -  Dr. Joseph Warren
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