Abe Lincoln Gun Club News

www.abelincolngunclub.com

September 2011

 

 

Fall Work Day!  Saturday, October 1

 

For several years, we have held a Fall Work Day on the first Saturday of October to put the club in good shape for hunting season and the winter.  This year we will meet on Saturday, October 1, at 8:00 AM.  If everyone pitches in, we should be able to get through most of our planned tasks by 12:00 noon.  On the agenda:

-          Prime and paint the wooden new window on the indoor range

-          Prime and paint the new shooting benches

-          Paint chain fencing around parking lot

-          Cut brush along the road (An endless task)

-          Make and possibly hang replacement target backers at the 50 and 100 yard lines

-          Repair wire fences

-          Do some carpentry work to the indoor range shooting bench

 

So-  Bring painting clothes and equipment, brush cutting equipment, and carpentry tools and put in a few quick hours of invaluable work.  Hope to see you all there!

 

 

Safety Wall and Parking Lot

 

After what seems like a very long time of planning and wishing, we have us both a very effective safety barrier protecting the parking area, plus a greatly expanded parking lot.  Of all of the new safety improvements we have made in recent years, this may have been the most important.  It has also proven to be an effective noise baffle, something we are certain will be appreciated by our neighbors.

 

New Phone

 

We have a new phone system and phone lines at the club, and in case someone is trying to reach someone, there is caller ID.   Please note that the phone is mainly provided for emergency purposes in the Springfield local area and no long-distance calls are possible on this phone system.

 

New Indoor Range Hours

 

The indoor range gets almost no use after 10:00 PM.  In the interest of keeping good relations with our neighbors, we are therefore establishing new hours for indoor range facility use.  In the future, firing may occur on the indoor range from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM only.  Outdoor range hours remain from 9:00 AM until dusk.

 

Continuous Maintenance Committees

 

A number of the members have signed up in the clubhouse to serve on one of the continuous maintenance committees.  However, we really need a lot more names in order to make these committees effective.  If you like to shoot a lot of outdoor rifle and pistol, sign up to help maintain those ranges.  If you like the indoor range (Which needs continuous maintenance), then sign up for that, etc.  But put your name somewhere, and lend a hand.  There is a small group of guys who do most of the work out there, and once they decide to hang it up, your club will literally fall apart in a season or two if more members don’t step up to spread the load.

 

One of the planned improvements at the club is an additional maintenance shed where tools and supplies can be kept for the benefit of the member continuous maintenance committees.

 

Winter Juniors Schedule

 

As always, volunteers from the Abe Lincoln will run a winter .22 rifle Juniors’ Program for young people.  If you have a child, or grandchild, or neighbor kid who would enjoy firearms instruction and the opportunity to learn competitive target shooting, please take the time to introduce them to this long-standing program.  I myself learned the fundamentals of marksmanship at the Abe Lincoln Gun Club Junior’s Program when the club was still over on Color Plant Road and Chet Sweet was the rifle instructor, some 50 years ago!  He sold me a .45-70 trapdoor Springfield for $20 and I had a ball with it.

 

Anyway, the winter indoor program will start on Sunday, January 8 and run for four weeks, Jan. 15, 22, and 29.  There will then be a two week break, and then resume on February 19 for four weeks, Feb. 26, March 4 and 11.  Two week break, and then back again on April 1, 8, 15, and 22.  On third Sunday of May (the 20th) the summer outdoor league will begin again, and will continue on every third Sunday until the end of October.

 

Winter indoor sessions are from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, and summer outdoor sessions are from 4:00 to 6:00 PM

 

 

 

7-Yard Pistol Position Restored

 

Many of you have noticed the changes on the north end of the covered range.  We have restored the 7-yard pistol position, with raised benches and specially designed frames that we hope will funnel shots into the backstop.  So far, it seems to be working out well, and we are very pleased that the new frames are not being shot up.  We are looking into modifications that might eventually allow a 7-yard position again on the inside range as well.  If you have a bright idea on range improvements, please pass them on to the Board.

 

Careful With That Lock!

 

We had an incident recently where someone was leaving the club, and thinking he was the only person present, he padlocked the door on the indoor range building with someone inside.  Ooops!  It isn’t easy getting out of that building if you are padlocked inside, so we would appreciate it if everyone would do two things:  First, place the padlock on the hook inside the door when the building is open so that it isn’t easily locked by accident, and secondly, take a moment to check the sign-in book and building to make sure that no one is inside BEFORE locking up.  Additionally, ALWAYS make sure that you have hung out the red flag at the north end of the  outdoor covered range whenever you are on the property to alert anyone else that you are in fact present.

 

And Thanks for Being Considerate!

 

When we built the indoor flusher, we had some concerns that it would be difficult to keep things reasonably clean and neat.  We did provide plenty of cleaning materials conveniently located in the restroom and hoped for the best.  I am happy to report that so far, our members have for the most part treated that restroom as if it were in their home and have taken care of it pretty well, all things considered.  We appreciate that, and the fact that the clubhouse area is kept pretty clean reflects well on the membership.

 

See you on Work Day!

Jim Leinicke,

Club Secretary

 

 

Officers

 

 Steve Rowoldt, President

2013 Appleton Drive

Springfield , IL 62711

787-8493

 

Dan Croll, Vice-President

19 Mishawaka

Rochester , Il 62563

498-7663

Tim Nation, Treasurer

2632 Lemont

Springfield , IL 62704

622-9708

Jim Leinicke, Secretary

2124 North 21st St .

Springfield , IL 62702

525-3725

Todd Rankin, Exec. Officer

437 Red Bud Ct.

Riverton , IL 62561

629-8683

Ray Kurniskie, Facilities Chair

624 E. Lake Drive

Springfield , IL 62707

529-2571

 

 

 

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