05 September 2010

AS Article from the Gazette

WV and the Appleseed Project make a good showing in this WV Gazette article.


It's worth the read, so stop on by.

Will you take up your heritage? The Founders and the Republic are counting on it.
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Links:
- http://wvgazette.com/News/201009040509?page=1&build=cache

04 June 2010

Road Trip!

A section of the WV Instructor Corps is heading up to Slippery Rock PA to help out with their Appleseed.

If you're interested in getting another perspective on the Appalachian Appleseed, head on up!

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Slippery Rock, PA
- Jun 5-6
Information or Register

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AAR: May 29-31, Stinson WV

We had an excellent instructor turnout. So good in fact, that at times, we had or nearly a 1:1 instructor to shooter ratio. We had so many instructors, I'm actually a little worried I'm going to forget someone!

On Saturday, we had:

Spanner
wvmmfalcon
The Machine
Vanrichten
Mountaineer

On Sunday and Monday, we had all of the above, except Vanrichten, and the addition of nc-17 and Chrome.

Saturday was hot. But our shooters and instructors persevered through the heat. We watched the typical hot-day group patterns. Start out big. As the students started putting the marksmanship fundamentals together, they shrank. Then as the heat began taking its toll, they grew a little. We did our best to keep students and instructors well hydrated. And they now know, if they can shoot accurately in that oppressive heat, imagine how they'll shoot on a 65 degree day with light and variable winds!

So, most of our shooters made it from Saturday to Sunday generally alive and uncooked from the heat, only to find that Sunday was HOTTER! But the WV instructor corps, always helpful, put up tarps for shade. I can't say for sure, but I think our shooters stayed cooler on the hotter day. What a difference shade makes! We also had some more shooters show up.

On Monday, we had pretty much the same crew from Sunday. Less heat. More clouds. Lower temperatures. And the sun, moon, stars, and the perseverance of the spirit of liberty aligned to produce a rifleman, and several shooters that were knocking on the door. Congratulations to rob99rt! We didn't quite convince him to pick up the orange hat just yet. But we'll work on him. Wink

We also saw a couple of new red-hats this weekend. Congrats to siglite and wvmmfalcon!

Personally, there was something at this Appleseed that stood out to me. We had several youths on the firing line. Their teachable, positive, can-do attitude was an absolute joy to work with as an instructor. Every one of these kids improved over the space of the weekend. And in all that heat, not one of them complained even once. They persevered, they stayed on the line string after string working on putting the marksmanship principles into practice, with ever improving skill.













And, since butterflies seemed to be everywhere this weekend:

07 April 2010

AAR March Shoot

The first day of Spring launched the Stinson opener for the 2010 WV schedule. A fine group of instructors and students were blessed with perfect weather over the weekend, along with nature's beauty...
We had 9 students both days--4 no shows--and the instructors even managed to squeeze a little shooting in at the end of each day. Saturday evening's "gravel project" was a smashing success, courtesy of siglite and his Liberty Training Steyr.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=462DVCTBQAE ) Aside from supplying us with cool "toys" to try out, siglite excels at holding tarps up snicker...
Among other things...
As was mentioned in an earlier post, these 2 young fellas--Nate and Dan--were a highlight of the weekend, going from almost nothing to consistently scoring 190-200...
They even squeezed out high score during the team shoot; earning an Issac Davis patch apiece thumbsup...
Alex, another young lad who is knocking on the Rifleman's door, and a regular at Stinson, shot a high score of 205. Among other things, Alex is an expert on the matter of "zombies"; always pop quizzing me about the subject! Grin Ever vigilant...

And very capable from any position...
Something caught Nate's attention down range too. A mutant "zombie" perhaps? Cheesy...
After a grueling encounter with imaginary ghouls, the "falcon" laid out the 3rd strike to an attentive--albeit worn down--audience...
What's that unidentified "thing" sticking it's tongue out over "falcon's" shoulder?
Falcon, you better pick up the pace; I swear that "thing" is getting closer...Alex! SOS
Siglite had things covered; dispensing with our uninvited "guest"; saving "falcon" from certain demise angel...
After concluding his well presented history talk, emphasizing "choices" and the altered mindset of the Regulars toward the Colonists, wvmmfalcon did some one-on-one with George. This gentleman was a pleasure to work with and showed much progress by Sunday. If George had optics or shooting glasses, I'm sure his scores would have jumped 20+ points, placing him in Rifleman territory...
Charles exercised good muzzle control, as Chrome--our newest WV volunteer--took the AR for a ride...
Our Shoot Boss Spanner kept things moving along, packing a lot of quality instruction into 2 days, even allowing time for brickhouse and others to have a try at "Thumper" Smiley...

Wil, our point man at Beckley Gun Club (our newest location this year) stopped by Sunday to tune-up for next month's Patriot's Day event. That was a sweet AR LTR that Wil operated; although the addition of optics appears to be mandatory for the elusive Rifleman patch. Right Wil? Wink...
Dan took a breather before we proceeded with my favorite string of fire...
Standing and delivering uzi
As we know; Appleseed will take you from a mere rifle owner, to the level of Rifleman. Nate demonstrates the difference a day in our program makes; showing great form on Sunday thumbsup...
And as we also know; persistence and dedication--some "glass" doesn't hurt Wink--will eventually put a smile on the most "hardened" Mountaineer ...
Do I spy a new "pumpkin' head" amongst those fine instructors? Grin Great job vanrichten! Thanks for taking the mantle
I want to also give a big "Thank You" to Spanner (not pictured), wvmmfalcon, siglite, and brickhouse for making our first WV shoot in 2010 a successful and memorable one. thumbsup I appreciate every one of you students for your hard work and making this all worthwhile for us. Smiley

All pics courtesy SuzyQ

23 February 2010

2010 and 20k Here we come!


All right everyone, as you know we've set big goals for this year. We're trying to get 20k people through the AS Program this year! Last year we blew by our 8k goal, so we upped it to 10k mid-run.

Every year we try to double the previous year, and thus far, we've surpassed that goal every year! Exponential growth is not easy, and this year proves it. So, if you've been sitting on the fence about coming to an Appleseed; or you went to one but didn't go home with a Rifleman's Patch: make this the year that you do!

A Nation of Rifleman!

Your next opportunity to earn that coveted Rifleman's Patch is:

March 20th-21st, 2010
at Stinson WV (Hidden Hollow Farm DAR)
You can register here, and remember:
Women, Active/Retired Military, and children 20 and under shoot for free!

Check out: http://www.appleseedinfo.org for more information.