This summer has been a great one at the range, with probably the best conditions for shooting that we’ve ever had, up until this week. I’d like to thank the members who were onsite when the fire started on Range 2 and for their quick actions in dealing with it. Sadly, things have not been so great for our Caretakers, with both of their beloved dogs passing away this summer, a close friend of theirs as well, and their residence being ripped apart due to repairs needed for a water leak. They’ve been living in their 5th wheel for over 50 days now, something I find atrocious, but the insurance company seems to think is ok. So if you see them, please give them thanks for their hard work and dedication through all of this. Hopefully their house will be back to normal soon.
The range 2 reno is a bit behind due to a number of little things that have merged into time issues. We are hoping to start soon, after clearing a few more hurdles with the city. A few good things have come from this though, and I’m hoping to make an announcement about it next week. Ray Peng has put a lot of time into this project and I’m confident it will impress members once finished.
The new indoor range proposal is still being worked on, it shares some of the issues that the range 2 reno has, and as such we’ve been dealing with them at the same time. This is easily the most difficult project we’ve ever had at the club, we need to make sure it’s done right though, so I’m fine with the extra time required.
We still seem to have some members who insist on purposely damaging club property, this is not acceptable. Shooting groups on the targets upright’s legs will get your membership privileges removed if caught. The same goes for testing staplers in bench tops. I removed 40 staples from 4 benches on range 3 and 2 on range 2 last week. The benches are not places to test your stapler, use the target frames for it.
Regarding the benches, we’ve had some new ones built and distributed around the club. Please thank Hardy and Jack if you run into them.
It is also vitally important that you read the calendar before showing up at the club. Arriving at 7:30 on a Wednesday night to test rifles tells me you aren’t reading the calendar, or paying attention to your walk through from the membership committee. We’ve had Wednesdays closed after 4pm for many many years, longer than I’ve been a member, same with the second Sunday of the month, so that archers can safely use the 3D range. Sending me complaints about the range being closed during those times is a bit much.
The same goes for sub club events that close the range. For more than 40 years sub clubs have been a massive part of the range operations. With sub club members making up the vast majority of the volunteers who run the club, attend work bees, fix things, and in general participate in the running of the club. As has always been the case, when they run competitions that require the range to be closed, the ranges are closed. We exist as a facility because of those sub clubs and it’s important that people remember that.
Rob Engh
AFGC President