Notes From The President

The Match of April 30
 
Well, the long awaited sunshine arrived and 25 ready shooters began a great day.  But wait!-lets not forget Saturday, the 29th.  Darrell, may all shooters lift their voices in appreciation, Peter, Chuck, Don, and Ed and I can’t remember who else at the moment, spent several hours setting up the four stages.  Then, with Ken Dexter and Sharon T showing up, we made sure that everything was working well by pumping a few hundred rounds through all four stages.  We also welded a few of the steel plates upright to the rack. That must explain way so many of us failed to knock them all down.
 
The stages were all quite challenging.  We had to move backward while shooting, knock down steel to start swingers swinging, shoot from cover, reload using cover, move from cover to cover while shooting, and of course, we had to knock down all steel.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention the t-shirt covered fallers that Skip and Pat built for us last year.  I mean, what kind of shooters need a paper target with a circle in the middle to know where the zone is.  Those fallers showed us that knowing center mass is not always easy when the target is covered.
 
I think a real strong paragraph of thanks is appropriate here.  To Darrell, our range master and chief safety officer and safety officer instructor, THANK YOU!.  Your solid energy, gives this club the most creative and challenging stages anywhere.  Your good teachings give us all a margin of safety in this dangerous and unforgiving of mistakes, sport.  To Glen Ivey, who we haven’t seen much of this year and last, a thank you for putting us on the Internet with a killer web site.  And now, to new member Chuck Hathaway, for not only continuing Glens good work, but adding his own creative touch to the web site.  Members can go to www.redwoodpracticalshooters.org and find pictures of the match as well as match scores, trophy points for the members, and links IDPA national and other shooting related links.
 
One paragraph of thanks isn’t enough.  To Pam Tidd and her flying fingers, Thank You, for adding the score sheets and having them ready to go to the next step.  Who is Dick Whetstone, the person who sends out to you your scores in that fabulous complete format, with points down for each stage, high scorer for each stage, shooters organized by class of pistol and now that I’ve sent him a current membership list, the trophy points for club members will be added to the monthly match score sheets and the web site.  Thank you Dick Whetstone.
 
To club member and Director Ed Davies, a thank you for your attention to our trophy points and the trophies and awards that we give out each year at the end of the season at our awards banquet.  Your good taste in matching the right trophy to the person is always a gas, as are your comments as you give out the awards.  We know that you’re going to Port Townsend before the end of this season and we will miss you a bunch.
 
To club member Ken Dexter-well you’re the center for the club on a daily basis.  You take messages, pass on information, feed us, and generously offer your restaurant for our club banquet.  I meet with you and the other directors at the Deli, meet with Chuck and Glen and Dick there to talk about the web site,  talk with Darrell there about our match schedule, the weather, and our match plans and stages.  Oh- I forgot last years banquet and barbeque, where you offered the hospitality of your new house.  Thank You.
 
To Pat Rowan and Skip Jones, Thank you, Thank You for those fabulous fallers of doom!!  They volunteered their time and expertise to build those outstanding (and some of us did leave them standing) units.  The club paid for some, and only some, of the materials.  In return, we thank them by giving them a club membership for a year. 
 
A thank you to Jerry Beaty for the landscaping of our range site!  Too much!! Jerry  made that fabulous flat and removed that huge pile of dirt from the center of our parking area. He and Darrell planted 3 different grasses and covered the area with straw.  At this last match, the green was starting to poke up through the straw.
 
I’m going to leave it at that for this report.  Our next match in May is the THIRD SUNDAY, May 21.  Setup will be on Saturday May 20.  Come to setup, bring a lunch.  We start between 10am and 11am.  Then get a chance to practice as we test out the stages to make sure everything is working properly.  On Sunday, we’ll start promptly at 9am. And this time, lets put up the canopy.  I think we’re in for some hot days. 

See you all then. 
My phone number is 937-3310 any evening after 6pm.
 
Peter