Elwood's Memorial Shoot I and II

Friday, 26 December 2008

The weather was lousy (as it had been for the previous four days), but the shoot went on anyway.  The shoot started three hours late, and we drew about half the number of shooters we normally get for Elwood's shoot.  After some initial confusion between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM, and our only trap boy leaving for a family emergency, we got organized and started getting ready for the shoot.  Dennis Kenagy borrowed Larry Faist's tractor to move the snow off two of the trap pads, and clear the area around the trap houses.  Jim Burdett shoveled snow from the porch and the steps.  Dan Postlewait spread salt on all of the icy surfaces, and cooked breakfast for the troops doing the work.

The first shooters started arriving around 9:30 AM, with more who came in over the next hour.  By 11:00 AM we had enough people to start, and the first birds were thrown.  The clubhouse was a warm place Sunday, and the shooters (and poker players) appreciated it.  At one point we had 42 shooters and several members helping, including Jim Burdett, Jake Burroughs, Dennis Kenagy, LeRoy Leiss, Dan Stevens, and Homes Tupper.  Other members stopped by to watch the activity but not shoot.  Most of the shooters were gone by 3:30 PM, as the weather forecast was for freezing rain, and rain was starting to fall.  That was fortunate, because the power failed at around 4:30 PM, and that would have terminated activity anyway.

We did not give away all of the fruit baskets on Sunday, so we planned on an enhanced Tuesday evening trap shoot.  The power was finally restored about 2:30 PM on Tuesday, and we started assembling at 5:00 PM to get the trap shoot moving.  Unfortunately the fixes to the recently restored power failed, and we lost power again just before 5:00 PM.  There was no trap shooting at all Tuesday evening.

Trap chairman Dan Stevens decided to try again on Saturday, 27 December 2008, to have an Elwood Shoot II to make up for the lost opportunities earlier in the week.  The weather is still supposed to be rainy, but the temperature is forecast to be well above freezing, so driving should not be a problem.  Come out and watch, or join in one of the poker tables.