Harvard, MA Appleseed Shoot 8/29-30, 2009

[BenDover]

Great day for some shooting....many thanks to all for putting on a great event. I only managed 2 iPhone pics today, hopefully others will post some.

 

[eisenhow]

Congrats Stratocaster1422 on the patch and the hat.

Congrats Ninsho on the bump to full instructor.

And congrats to the other 5 new Rifleman!

 

[CortJestir]

Hey y'all...

I lurk mostly here on NES, but had to chime in on this thread, 'course.

As I was leaving, Crak summed it up pretty well. He said it was a "magical Appleseed". And it really was - name one other event in which you can suffer hypothermia, sunburn, dehydration, aches, pains, bug bites, tick bites and various cuts, bumps and bruises and still get folks to come out willingly and excited to step up and be better Americans? I'm proud of this program and the motivation it inspires in people. 6 Rifleman - 6 new Orange hats. It blows my mind.

Thanks to a great crew and a slew of fantastic shooters. It was a privilege and honor to work with you folks. As I fully expected, it was well worth the drive up north and then some.

I'll be seein' most of you soon on the Trail...

CJ

 

[Stratocaster1422]

Congrats Stratocaster1422 on the patch and the hat.

Congrats Ninsho on the bump to full instructor.

And congrats to the other 5 new Rifleman!

That's right, I totally forgot! Congrats on the red hat Ninsho!

 

[hbennett]

Many Thanks from a first timer

Thanks to all the instructors for making my first appleseed a memorable and enjoyable experience. Your knowledge, ability and patience are nothing short of amazing. Thank you .. thank you .. thank you.. This may have been my first appleseed, but it will definitely NOT be my last. I'll be back, and I WILL earn a rifleman's badge. This was time and money well spent. My hat is also off to the hardy bunch of students that attended that first cold, wet day. Anybody willing and eager to shoot during the downpours, in the puddles, in the mud, the grit, and the cold, has got some serious moxie. If that isn't the definition of character, I don't know what is. And, after all that, these same individuals came BACK for the second day!! I'm just glad you folks are on OUR side. Great job to all that made this event possible.

 

[dwarven1]

Left at the shoot

Anyone leave a toolbox at the shoot on Saturday? It was still there Sunday afternoon and no one had claimed it, so I have it with me and I'd love to be able to return it.

Ross

 

[Gadsden]

Oh, and one more thing: it was a weekend for weird songs and sightings.

On the way to the shoot Saturday morning, my iPod came up with Garth Brooks' The Thunder Rolls. On the way home, it was Rodney Atkins singing "Cleaning This Gun".

This morning, as I'm explaining that a rifle is your best defense, and that the police have no legal obligation to defend you, a Harvard PD SUV pulls in to the shoot bay and parks there, and a Harvard cop gets out. Turns out it was the groundskeeper for HSA.

And last night at dinner, I'm sitting facing the bar, where two large screen TVs are on... and I look up just in time to see on one screen, Ted Kennedy's hearse, and on the other screen, a MADD ad that says "Drunk Drivers Cost Lives". Damn near choked on my drink laughing.

With your track record on this weekend, everyone's goal should be to become a rifleman before you hear REM's "Its the End of the World as We Know It"

 

[Gadsden]

Thanks everyone for a GREAT time for my first Appleseed. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was amazing even though I could only make it to Sunday's shoot, (and taking a friend whom could not make it's place at that). You folks are truly among the finest people I have met since moving to NE a few years ago.
Thanks to the coaching and training of the instructors I went from a cook to making Rifleman. I can't wait to go to the next one and hopefully bring the girlfriend!

 

[timmay]

My waterproof hiking shoes are still wet... I want to thank all the instructors at this AS. This was my first AS, however, as I don't belong to a range myself (yet) I always had chaynes or weedwacker around to let me into HSC as their guest. Well, they both had been to AS before, and were practicing the skills to become RM. This got me interested in the program. So, next thing I know, I am shooting AQTs (that seemed to be the targets of choice - peer pressure).

So, being able to shoot RM was not a huge surprise to me, it was a matter of when during the training I would pull my head out of my a.. With that, I believe that chaynes was honing his skills as an instructor for a while, and will do well as an IIT.

I look forward to the times that I can assist.

There is one thing worse than trying to shoot in the middle of a downpour... It's typing a post this long on an iPod touch...

P.S. If anyone found a black, wet sling with one swivel attached under the hut in the last staging hut, next to my water bottle (with the staples logo) on the bench, I left it there when dwarven1 helped me remove my rifle from the line on Saturday, please p.m. me.
Thanks,
Tim

 

[Gadsden]

Were the above the only pictures that turned out? If anyone has a picture of me getting my patch or hat please PM me.

 

[dwarven1]

Here are some that I got off of my cell phone.

Early in the day on Saturday... before the line got REALLY wet.

Rifleman Chris

Who is now Instructor In Training Chris!

Rifleman Mike - a Rifleman persists, and Mike finally got that Rifleman on Sunday! Note the spiffy new orange hat!! Yup, another IIT.

Rifleman Charles - last Rifleman of the weekend... who'll have to wait for his orange hat since I ran out of them!! I had 5 orange hats with me and we had SIX Rifleman take up the challenge and become IITs!!

Rifleman Matt (AKA Gadsden, IIRC) (sorry for the photo, but you guys moved before my Palm Centro had recorded the handshake!) Wasn't wearing his orange hat, though...

 

[Twigg]

crak & Dwarven1, congratulations on an outstanding job !

and Ninsho, the red hat is where its at !

 

[JonJ]

I want to say that it was great working under Chris and Ross this weekend. I had a great time IITing and as usual, learned more. Same goes for working with all the other IITs. The team was a well oiled machined.
Got to see people that I haven't seen in a while and made many new acquaintances.
It was pretty inspirational to watch the shooters on the line suffering through the weather and malfunctions. None of them were comfortable. It wasn't easy for them but they persevered.
Congratulations to all our new Riflemen and IITs. Congratulations to Nick for his red hat!

I have a Red Sox sweatshirt that was left behind. Whoever lost it better claim it quick. My kids are eyeballing it!

Hope to see some familiar faces at Mansfield, MA Sept 26 & 27.

 

[Wrath of Gideon]

Contgrats!

I like my new avatar....just sayin'

Can't wait to start trainin' with my new orange hat too!

Congrats on the spiffy new patch!

-- K

 

[Gadsden]

I think there was a second picture made with me wearing my orange hat, as I recall. I can't remember the person's name that had the camera (younger guy).

Heh.. I actually found another target that I labeled but did not score in the bundle from the shoot. It was my 8th one of the day and I had actually scored higher on it than the one at the end of the day that I officially scored rifleman on.

 

[Sprocket]

Anyone leave a toolbox at the shoot on Saturday? It was still there Sunday afternoon and no one had claimed it, so I have it with me and I'd love to be able to return it.

Ross

Oh hey, a tool box - gray with yellowish handles - lots of 22lr related items inside - I can provide many details on the items inside - especially the zephyr sights in the top plastic lid part...

I thought I left it in my GF's truck - when I got in the truck I figured I moved it to my Jeep - now as I prep for Pelham, I can't find the box.

Oh yeah, Harvard shoot was the last I saw it.

If you can drag it to Pelham great if not, no worries - we can sort a time/place to delivery

Thanks

 

[dwarven1]

Oh hey, a tool box - gray with yellowish handles - lots of 22lr related items inside - I can provide many details on the items inside - especially the zephyr sights in the top plastic lid part...

Ah, ha... we have a winner.

I wasn't actually going to go to Pelham this weekend. After two straight weekends of Appleseed (and sneaking out today to go shooting with Mr. Twigg), I need to, as our Founding Fathers once said, "ensure domestic tranquility". So... PM with email and cell phone inbound and we can figure out where and when to meet up.

 

[Velox]

From the "better late than never" department:

I was at this shoot and had a great time (although some parts are greater, and drier, in retrospect) despite some equipment "learning experiences." At the time I was expecting a new friend to arrive in the mail the next couple of days and promised to post some pictures. So:

I got a little bit of ammunition along with it (before the CMP ran out) so hopefully I'll be able to find a place to use some of it up.

Thanks again for the great time at the shoot, I hope to drop by another soon (with a front sight that will stay on, this time!)

 

[Gadsden]

Great pics!
Speaking of pictures, who was it that took the picture of me getting my orange hat and rifleman patch before dwarven1 snapped pics with his cell phone?