Great evening for the annual social fun shoot for family and friends. This year used the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse for a theme with profits going to Riding for the Disabled. Around 45 people and one dog attended.
As with all shooting safety comes first and every visitor is supported and supervised on a 1-2-1 basis while having a go at the fun targets. Other than that, the idea is to enjoy yourself and meet people. Such as those members you don't normally see because you normally shoot on different days of the week, or just letting family and friends get an idea of what it is we get up to on a normal club session!
We did have some chinese style decorations but the Fire Horse gave us a bit of a problem so we substituted a chinese dragon! With apologies to any chinese family, friends, acquaintances, etc that we may or may not know.
The Chinese Year of the Fire Horse begins on 17 February 2026, and ends on 5 February 2027, so we were a little early. Occurring once every 60 years, this year is associated with intense energy, rapid change, passion, and, sometimes, chaos. The Fire Horse is known for a, bold, and fiercely independent spirit. The last year of the Fire Horse was 1966. Which, for those of you with a long memory is the last year England won the World Cup! So, lets hope that is a good omen for the Winter Olympics.
Thanks to Jim for creating the fun targets for this year.
As it's a fun shoot, we need to stop the members from getting too serious about it so the rules are:
- Non-members can use a block to support the rifle, members cannot.
- Members cannot use jacket and slings and have to hold the rifle up themselves.
- Scoring is relatively relaxed and any challenges discouraged!
- Everyone gets a random partner whose score is added to theirs.
The main competition is a bring-a prize, win-a-prize arrangement all of which are wrapped so you're not too sure of what you are gettting. Although Toblerone is a bit difficult to disguise!
The shooting takes place while the baked spuds are cooking in the oven and the pots of food are brought to a simmer ready for serving. Which gives us about two hours to conduct the shooting. First up are the Range Conducting Officers and the club members who will be looking after the visitors while they are on the firing point. After that everyone else gets taken on the range four at a time so there's plenty of room for the 1-2-1 supervision.
The two hours generally gives us time for a second shoot using targets a bit more like our normal ones but this year we used pretty coloured eccentrics! A small entry fee is charged for this competition and is split 50/50 between the charity we are supporting and the prize money.
Once the shooting is completed we serve up the meal and this gives everyone time to ponder the answers to the Chairman's Quiz. This year the menu consisted of: Baked potatoes with a choice of; Chilli con Carne, Vegetarian Mexican Chilli (V), Chicken Korma, Bangers and Beans (GF), or Grated Cheese. Together with baguette and salad. This was followed by a variety of desserts such as Polenta Cake (GF), Chocolate Tart, Banoffee Pie (Chocolate), Banoffee Pie (Toffee crunch), Trifle, Tiramisu, etc. As usual there was a steady queue for "seconds" for both the mains, and the dessert. When it came to "thirds" for the dessert there were no takers so I think everyone had enough to eat!
The meal is promptly followed by the answers to the Chairmans Quiz. Together with the usual light heckling when individuals thought that the answers weren't quite right. Those at the top of the leader board received a small prize from the Chairman.
Finally, the results are announced with the charity shoot annouced first. This year, for the first time, we had a tie for 3rd place and needed to invent a tie-break! As a result, Stephen Dryburgh took 3rd place with a score of 86 (incluing 3 tens), just pipping Grant Featherstone with 86 (including 2 tens). First place for non-members went to Daniel and for members Dave Temple who both received a £5 prize.
In the main competition first place went to Daniel, proving that Rule 4 works, with second place going to club member David White.
Many thanks to Elaine and Sam Kettle, Cheryl Mason, and Jo Dryburgh for there wonderful food contributions, all those that donated desserts, and all those that helped prepare for and run the event, including those that cleaned up afterwards.
Finally, we are pleased to report that a total of £337 was raised for Riding for the Disabled!
[Image credit: M Kettle]
[Target graphics: J Howard]
