po box 80 the quaker hill rod and gun club newsletter...
TRANSCRIPT
October 2016
PO Box 80
261 Oxoboxo Dam Road
Oakdale, CT 06370 The Quaker Hill Rod and Gun
Club Newsletter
The Official Journal of the Quaker Hill Rod and Gun Club
Britt Celebration of Life Quaker Hill Rod and Gun Club will be
the venue for A Celebration of Life for Doug Britt on October 15, 2016.
Starting at 1PM and running to 4PM, it will feature a pig roast, beverages, and de-sert. Those who wish to honor Doug are asked to bring a large side dish. Please sign up in the Club House so the organizers will have a solid head count.
If you own a 12 gauge shotgun you are encouraged to bring it so you may partic-ipate in a special send off for Doug.
Own History-Help The Club
The Club will sell its eight M1 Garand rifles, as well as a Traditions Firearms Vortek BP .50 muzzle loader at the October 20th General Mem-bership meeting by silent auction to benefit range safety improvements. Each rifle will be on display with its reserve price and a bidding form upon which bidders will fill in their name and their bid. Bids will be in $25, or higher, increments. For those who cannot make the October meeting, two more opportunities to bid will be of-fered on Saturday, October 22nd and Sunday, October 23rd at a time to be announced. Those who cannot make a bidding session may make their best offer bid for a particular rifle by placing it in a sealed envelope and giving it to the committee member in charge. At the conclusion of the bidding, bid enve-lopes will be opened and compared with the open bidding form. If a bid in the envelope is higher than the bid on the form, and higher than any oth-er sealed bid for the particular rifle, that bid will win.
Auction winners will be responsible for complying with any applicable laws, required pa-perwork, and transfer fees.
Prime Rib Dinner The Club Steward will prepare a prime
rib dinner to be served at 5PM before the Octo-ber General Membership meeting.
The cost will be $20.00 and you may make a reservation by signing up in the Club House.
Main Gate Damage
On Saturday, October 1st, a Club member destroyed the gate operating mechanism by not following the operational procedure.
We will be starting an investigation to find the responsible party, but hope that a Club member comes forward and either takes responsibility or has information as to what happened.
No action will be taken against the member provided they reimburse the clubs expenses if they come forward. Otherwise action to be taken will be referred to the trustees.
Page 2 The Quaker Hill Rod and Gun Club Newsletter
Meeting Information
Quaker Hill Rod and Gun Club General Membership meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, except July and Au-gust, at 7PM in Sullivan Hall at 261 Oxoboxo Dam Road, Oakdale, CT 06370
CLUB OFFICERS
President
Richard Civitello 860-884-5009
Vice President Vacant
Treasurer
Robert Giffen 860 608 7137
Secretary Timothy Fournier
Sergeant at Arms Dave Madole
Trustees:
Jeff Urgitis, Keith Griffin, Ralph Jackson, Scott Pierce, and Ross Sanfillippo
Contacting Officers
When contacting officers please leave your complete name, member number, and a contact number or email to insure a prompt response.
Range Closures The Carroll Indoor Range is always closed during Executive and General Membership Meetings and any Club House activity.
Newsletter Contributions
Newsletter con-tributions are encour-aged. Submit your mate-rial no later than the first Thursday of each month for inclusion in the cur-rent newsletter. Send contribu-tions to Hap Rocketto at [email protected] or 401-322-7193.
Display QH Cards
All club mem-
bers are required to dis-
play their membership
and Range Certification
Cards while on club
property.
Safety Is Not An Option
The three basic general rules of safe gun handling. Always point the muzzle in a safe direc-tion; never point a fire-arm at anyone or any-thing you don't want to shoot. Keep your fin-ger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot. Keep the action open and the gun un-loaded until you are ready to use it.
Membership News The Club welcomes our new-
est members voted in: Bruce Hu-bert, Mark Malia, and Robert Neudecker. Second Reading : Christian Alvis, Mark Cukierski, Joseph De-lia, Richard Brugneel, and Michael Carroll. First Reading: Michael Weiss, Nathan Weiss, Kevin Bom-bero, Joshua Brown, Melissa Bur-dick, Bernard Denoyer, and James Hubbard.
If any member knows of any reason why an applicant to the club may not meet the required stand-ards for membership they must noti-fy any member of the Executive Board immediately
Monthly Work Parties
Every third Saturday the Club conducts work parties for the benefit of the club and for members to fulfill work hours. Ground Committee Chairman Clem Watson is seeking Club mem-bers to join him in contact him at email [email protected] or 860-334-8284
It is the Committee Chairper-sons responsibility to have projects for these work parties. Chairpersons are to contact Rich Civitello with your work list at the E Board meeting.
Winter League Recruiting
.Anyone interested in shooting in the New London County Pistol League contact Gary Zawistowski [email protected] or Jack Santo, [email protected] Rifle shooters contact Mark Wujtewicz, [email protected], or Hap Rocketto, [email protected] to shoot in the Mohegan Rifle League.
Page 3
New London County Pistol
League
The New London County Pistol League is in its early stages and the Club teams find themselves at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Nutmegs stand at 2-0 behind the av-erage of Bob Droesch, 281, Don Dyer, 271, and Dennis Allen at 267. Quaker Hill is looking up with a 0-2 rec-ord. Peter Tripputi leads the team with a 282 average. He is followed by Phil Kohanski’s 273 and Lance Johnson with a 271. Club member Charlie Petrotto is the NLCPL’s top gun with a 293 but, as an active duty Coast Guardsman, shoots with his fellow shipmates on the Eagles. The NLCPL shoots on Monday nights in various ranges in southeastern Connecticut. An-yone interested in shooting in the New London County Pistol League contact Gary Zawistowski [email protected] or Jack Santo, [email protected]
Quaker Hill Threepeats Quaker Hill posted a perfect 18-0 rec-ord to take the Connecticut Big Bore League for the third consecutive year. Additionally the top five scorers in the state wide league are all Quaker Hill shoot-ers led by Ryan McKee, Phil Kohanski, Tyler Glynn, Hap Rocketto, and George Planeta. The Connecticut Big Bore League shoots on the third Sunday of each month from April through September on the Quaker Hill High Power Range. There is also oppor-tunity available to shoot on an off day if you have obligations on match day. You may use any centerfire rifle with metallic sights. A telescopic option is available. If you are interested in participating in 2017 contact Team Captain Ryan McKee at Rmckee08@hotmail.
QH Junior Program Mark Wujtewicz, Quaker Hill Junior Di-rector, has announced that plans to begin the 2016-17 Quaker Hill Junior Program are in the final planning stages.
Junior practice smallbore competitive marksmanship on Friday evenings in the Car-roll Range under the supervision of a trained staff of coaches and instructors.
Junior Program requirements and start dates will be available soon.
Mohegan Rifle League The Mohegan Rifle League opened its 2016-17 campaign at the Killingly Rifle Club on October 5th. The Quaker Hill Magnums jumped out to a quick start with a win while Quaker Hill took a loss. Rifle shooters contact QH captain Mark Wujtewicz, [email protected], or Magnum captain Hap Rocketto, [email protected] to shoot in the Mohegan Rifle League. .
Camp Perry Pistol Team Gary Owens, Rocketto Range Chair, is soliciting Quaker Hill members who are inter-ested in participating in the 2017 Pistol Cham-pionships at Camp Perry.
Interested individuals may contact Gary via email at [email protected].
Hunting News Pheasant season starts October 15
th
and birds will be put out 1/2 hour before sunrise. Come early to fill out release forms and buy your QHRGC pheasant tags, $50) which may be purchased from Shannon Rogers or the Kronks. All ranges will be closed until 10 am
on Saturday mornings now through Thanks-
giving.
Direct hunting questions to chair Shannon Rodgers at 207-83-18243 or [email protected]
Page 4 The Quaker Hill Rod and Gun Club Newsletter
The 2016 Club Fall Trap League
The 2016 Club Fall Trap League got
underway on August 30th and will run
through November 15th. It is shot Tuesday
and Thursday morning at 9am, Thursday evenings from 4:30pm until complete, and Sunday afternoons at 12:30pm. Two rounds, 16 yard and Handicap, are shot each week for score under ATA rules. En-try fee is $10.00 per competitor.
Yearend awards will be High Over All, 16 yard and Handicap champion
If interested in competing contact Ray at 860 460-3387 or stop in at the skeet house at match time. Everybody is welcome.
Fall Pin League
The Fall Outdoor Pin League started on Saturday October 1
st at 1PM and will run until De-
cember 10th. This is a bowling pin style league and Bowling Pin League match rules apply. The targets are the special steel pin racks we use on the pin tables. This is a .22 pistol, semi-automatic and/or revolver, event. Entry fee is $10 per gun. The Summer large bore bowling pin league results are in and first place in the auto class went to Tony Goulart, second to Mark Morehouse, third to Bob Birge, fourth to Mike McInerney and fifth to Russ Shaw. First place in the revolver class was won by Joe Trudelle, second to Allen Egerton, third to Scott Pierce, fourth to Ernie Beckwith and in fifth place was to Chris Colombo. A shoot off was held the last week with Scott Pierce winning the auto class winner fol-lowed by runner up was Jeff Urgitis. The revolver winner was Joe Trudelle and the runner up was Tony Goulart. Most improved shooter for the sea-son was Mike McInerney. A special award winner was Jay Talbot. Direct any questions on Pins to either Frank Torchia at [email protected] or Tony Goulart at [email protected].
Carrol Range Winter
Schedule
The Carroll Range is reserved for on the following days for Club sanctioned activities on the following days and times from October 1
st through the end of
March.
Monday: Montville High School-3PM to 6PM and New London County Pis-tol League-7PM to 11PM
Tuesday: Grasso Technical High School-3PM to 6PM
Wednesday: Montville High School-3PM to 6PM and Mohegan Rifle League- 7PM to 11PM
Thursday: Grasso Technical High School-3PM to 6PM
Friday: Southwestern Rifle League-10AM to Noon and Quaker Hill Junior Pro-gram-6PM to 10PM
The Carroll Range is closed on the first and third Thursdays of each month during Executive Board and General Membership Meetings.
Page 5
Practical Pistol September Winners for September’s Practical Pistol US Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) matches were Ross Sanfilippo, Dave Schweitzer, and Chris Colombo Practical pistol matches are shot on Saturday mornings at 9AM with set up at 8 AM. Matches use USPSA targets and rules. There are three or four scenarios per match, with from eight to 30 rounds fired per scenario, for 80 to 100 total rounds fired.
If the weather forecast is iffy, on Friday email will be sent out to past participants inform-ing them if the match will be held. Online match registration is available. Emailed weekly results are posted electronically after each match, If you wish to be added to the email list, or have any questions, please contact match communications director Jean Martin at [email protected].
Work Hours Anyone needing work hours contact range chairman. Work hours can always be complet-ed at matches by assisting as tapers and steel setters. Ideas for range improvements and/or things members would like add to ranges such as targets, plate racks, etc. are always welcome by the range chairman. As always please pickup range when finished shooting dispose of targets, move tables and chairs to the side of the range. This will be important in the coming months as the range will need to be plowed.
Range Contact Direct Practical Pistol Range certification requests , questions, any ideas to improve the range, or problems with the range to Range Chair Darren Hall at 860-608-5546 or [email protected]
Plate Matches
The September .22 rimfire plate match saw 13 competitors in the rifle event, and 14 shoot pistol. In the rifle event, first place went to Matt Pach, second to Allen Crouch and third to Allen Egerton. In the pistol event, first place went to Joe Trudelle, second to Bob Young and third to Don Dyer. The plate rack modifications made last month by Joe Trudelle have worked out splendidly. Range Officers Allen Crouch, Oscar Courville and Joe Trudelle ran a smooth match. Their efforts are greatly appreciated by the competitors and Range Chairman. The next match will be the club’s Annual Charity Match and will be held on October 30
th.
Proceeds from this event will be donated to a local charity. Bring a friend to increase our donation! Plate Matches for .22 rifles and pistols are open to all members and guests. It’s a friendly competition and young and new shooters are welcome. They are held the last Sunday of the month from April through October starting at 9AM on the Practical Pistol Range. Two separate events are held,.22 rimfire rifle at 25 yards and .22 rimfire pistol at 15 yards using any optic sight, a ten round maximum load with unlimited reloads, and no shooting aids. In each event the competitor shoots seven times head on head against another shooter
Each event costs $5, proceeds divided between first three winners and the club. Non-club members must file, or have on file, an insurance waiver at the time of the match and pay an addi-tional $1 insurance surcharge.
Questions may be directed to Allen Egerton at either [email protected], or at 860-912-8067.
FICKEL’S FINGER FIRES FIRST FLYING SHOT… There are many threads that make up the tapestry of my life, but the warp and the woof of them are flying and shooting. I am not sure whether it was hereditary or genetic, probably both. The Old Man kept a few guns about the house and regaled us with cautionary tales about his misspent youth, probably to deter us from following in his foot steps but, possibly, to let us know that the old duffer had walked on the wild side when young. As the eldest son of a fairly successful New York furrier he lived a comfortable life but he chafed at the discipline of school. Perhaps it was his father’s old world style or an unspoken comparison to his siblings, two old-er sisters, younger brother, and kid sister who were all academically superior and better disciplined, that’s caused his feet to itch. He was well loved, but, when he left home to bum about the country during the Depression, I suspect he was a mild disappointment to demanding and successful parents who prized education and discipline. As The Old Man told it, he spent a lot of the time his father thought he was in school out carousing with his crowd of likeminded lay-a-bouts in the traditional Brooklyn boyhood pursuits of the late 1920s: swimming in Sheepshead Bay, pitching pennies in alleys, washing down nickel Nathan’s hot dogs with root beer, and roaming thorough Coney Is-land’s delights before repairing to one of the many shooting gallery to blast away. The Old Man boasted that he, with a tube magazine 22 short Winchester Model 1906 trombone action rifle; sin-gle handedly did to the shooting gallery duck population what it took generations of commercial bird hunters several hun-dred years to do to the Passenger Pigeon. As a side note the last known Passenger Pigeon died in captivity the same year The Old Man was born, 1914. So good was he, or so he claimed, that the owner of the gallery would stake him to an ample supply of free ammunition so he could act as a shill, bringing in customers. Having shot the very type of rifle The Old Man ballyhooed I can’t decide which was more inaccurate, the Old man’s memory or the pump gun. But, they were his memories and he was, if not a great shot, a great spinner of tales. My Uncle Harry, The Old Man’s younger brother, for whom I am named, was by all accounts a handsome and quick witted young man who died, as did so many other young men, in aerial combat over Europe. Old family photos show a well formed athletic young man who looked much like a dark haired and brown eyed Paul Newman. Uncle Harry was caught up in the first draft and sent of to Fort Bragg to serve as an infantryman. Fastidious by nature he volun-teered for the Air Corps at the first opportunity to avoid the dirt and discomfort which is the lot of the rifleman. Adept with numbers he inevitably ended up as an aircraft navigator after which he was required to cross train as a flexible machine gunner so as to be able to operate one of the many big 50 caliber Browning Machine Guns that bristled protectively, like so many porcupine quills, from the Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber. When my brother Steve and I first took up high power shooting we didn’t have much knowledge or money so we used an old Springfield 1903 action in a 1922 stock with Lyman sights, a 48 rear and a 17A front. The cheapest ammo was corrosive so we also pumped as much boiling water through the barrel as we did rounds of “Saint Louis 43”. The rifle served us well and, as we soon found our fortunes in both the shooting community and the work force improving, we moved up to DCM M1s that we fed hand rolled ammo. When I joined the Connecticut Army National Guard Rifle Team it meant being issued a brace of issued match M14s, so Steve picked up an M1A to keep pace. On the northern border of Hartford, I discovered a great gray stone mountain cleft by a magic cave that kept both of our rifles fed on the finest match ammunition that Lake City could pro-duce. The Hartford Armory contained an Aladdin’s cave for shooters and while he had only to cry, “Open Sesame!” I had to raise my right hand and swear to defend both state and nation against enemies domestic and foreign. To take the Governor’s ammo meant I had to do the Governor’s bidding which was, happily, to go and shoot rifle matches. From then on Steve and I have spent a good part of our Augusts on the shores of Lake Erie making noise and brass on the way to Distinguished and Presidents Hundred. All of these memories cropped up when I happened to open Flying Magazine and came across a filler piece that encompassed the .30-06 Springfield rifle, the Army, flying, free ammunition, shooting in August, and Sheepshead Bay. This one short paragraph of historical trivia brought back memories of The Old Man and Uncle Harry. It seems that, read the paragraph, “On August 20, 1910, Army Second Lieutenant Jacob E. Fickel carried a .30-06 Springfield rifle aloft aboard a Curtis biplane piloted by Glenn Curtiss. As the plane cruised in circles at an altitude of 100 feet Fickle took careful aim and scored two hits on a 3 foot by 5 foot target at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, near New York City. Fickel repeated his demonstration in Boston a month later, using an Army semiautomatic pistol. These were the first shots fired from a United States military aircraft.” Oh, did I forget to mention that my Uncle Harry and I both trained as navigators and the highest rank we both got to was second lieutenant? Things do come full circle.