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« on: December 26, 2009, 09:45:57 AM »
Speaking of the Leffingwells brings up another club from the past that has stopped holding BR matches. Lethbridge. I understand they hold a weekly club score match and have up to 40 people show up, but no registered shoots. Every Bench shooter I have talked to would love to shoot in Lethbridge and they would likely see some Montana shooters show up as well. Once Frank passed away it all ended. Still see Evelyn at the Frank Leffingwell Memorial, but it is restricted to factory guns now, and I don't own one!
I guess in our modern society people are too busy to take on the job of running a few matches a year. We are lucky in Rosebud to have a dedicated group who are willing to pitch in and help or I doubt there would be matches there either. If I didn't have a boss who let me work flexible hours it would be pretty hard to do, and I know Paul uses up holiday time and overtime to be able to get there Friday morning to get backers and targets done. I am not saying it is that big a chore, there is always the opportunity to play as well!
More and more clubs are also being pressured to end the competitions so the non competitor can go to the covered range with an indoor loading facility to site in a rifle if the weather is nice. What most of the new members in a club don't realize is that if it weren't for competitions the club would likely look like the APRA public range. We are lucky at Rosebud to have had a range built by competitors for competition. And still have the cooperation of the executive to do so. Namaka existed, and Rosebud exists today because a hand full of competitors used there own money to make the facility. That is the kind of dedication you will get from a competitor. A non competition shooter doesn't care that it costs thousands of dollars to build a facility. If asked to dip into his pocket most would use a gravel pit instead.