RIDGWAY RIFLE CLUB

SPRING 2006

NEWSLETTER AND CLUB UPDATE

Greetings Ridgway Rifle Club Member;

We are gearing up for a new season of shooting activities and competition at Ridgway. There is always a lot of preparation to get the ranges in shape and your help is always welcome. If you would like to be notified of upcoming events and work parties, send us an e-mail that includes your phone # to silhouette22@alltel.net or check our website www.ridgwayrifleclub.com. We have just made a considerable investment to replace many of the high power animals and could use help from those with good welding skills (feet need to be attached & pedestals repaired). Of course there is always a need for those of us with no technical skills to do the grunt work of range prep. We are considering posting a to do list will be posted in the clubhouse for anyone coming out on their own.

The club will be hosting both the NRA high power and small bore rifle Silhouette National Championships this summer July 9,10&11 for small bore and July 13,14 & 15 for High Power. Even if you do not compete you should make it a priority to visit the club sometime during Nationals just to watch. It is quite an event to witness.

The club has grown and prospered by its affiliation with the NRA. All of our silhouette competitions are sanctioned though the NRA and hosting the National Championships is an honor besides bringing a good deal of money to the club and the surrounding communities.

Thus by a vote of the membership, as of September 2004 the Ridgway Rifle Club became a 100% NRA. This will mean greater opportunities for the club to receive support from the NRA through grants that are only open to 100% clubs. What this means to you is this. Members previous to this date who are not NRA members and keep their membership current are grand fathered in. Membership to the NRA is not mandatory for you to remain a member of the Ridgway Rifle Club. However, all new members from September 2004 on must be NRA members or submit the NRA application with its fee when making application to the Ridgway Rifle Club.

It’s easy to not agree with all the viewpoints, policies and fund raising tactics of any organization but without the continued efforts of the NRA we would either not have a club or be in the process of being outlawed. You can be a member of the NRA for as little as $10 per year with no magazine. As a gun owner I urge you to support those who are supporting us.

Apply for or renew your NRA membership through the Ridgway Rifle Club. We will in turn receive a percentage of your dues back as a recruitment center. Forms are available at the clubhouse and on our website. Those moneys received from NRA recruitment, have been earmarked to be placed in the endowment fund ( see below) .

Club members who go two years without paying their dues will have to re-apply and fall under the new criteria for NRA membership but will not be assessed the initiation fee. If you are one year delinquent in your dues you can be re-instated by catching up on what is owed.

You probably have noticed that the club dues have been increased the past couple of years. We would like to get to the point where members dues would be enough to sustain the club, covering the fixed expenses incurred throughout the year (taxes, gas, electricity, water, etc.) So that if the income received from the competition fees that we depend on ever falls off, we will be able to survive.

To further that point we are creating an endowment or trust for the club. Moneys put into this account could only be accessed under true emergency need to sustain the club. As our core active membership ages we are looking to preserve for the future all that we have worked so hard to achieve. At this point we need an attorney to draft the document. So if we have a member who is in the law profession please contact the club. We are in need of your services.

The current Ridgway Rifle Club dues are $35 per year. Still a real bargain for what is made available for every member, just ask anybody who has visited clubs outside the area and what you have to pay for a lot less facility. We have the High Power Silhouette range where you can shoot out to 1000 yards with competition in silhouette to 500 meters. If you have never seen the black powder cartridge rifle silhouette competition that is something to add to your to list. The Small Bore range out to 100 meters, a great place to bring the kids to plink. Sporting clays field and new outdoor range for IDPA and cowboy action shooting, both fun to watch or compete in, along with the 50 ft indoor range. So keep your dues current. Be aware that they are due beginning in September of each year and expire in August. Our annual re-organizational meeting is in September with election of officers. All meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month, 8:00 P.M. at the clubhouse.

The Club will be hosting it’s 2^nd annual “Sportsmen’s Indoor Yard Sale” on the 25^th of February at the clubhouse 11:00 AM to 3:PM. It was a great success last year with many sportsman items (guns, reloading supplies, hunting, fishing, archery etc) being bought, traded or bartered for. There is a $5 fee per table if you would like to participate as a seller or just come out to see all that the guys are willing to part with. Most of us have collected much more that we ever use. This is a great time to get rid of the old and get some new “stuff”. There is absolutely no household item, so warn your wives or leave them at home.

Wednesday nights continue to be a good night out with supper at the Rifle Club prepared by Chef Chuck, temporary stand in is Chef Alan. If you’re on your own for supper or want to give your wife a night off, come on out and enjoy the camaraderie. We haven’t had a bad meal yet. We eat approx. late (7:00 PM) usually because work tends to interfere with our fun time.

Mail your dues to:

Ridgway Rifle Club

John Billick

16100 Boot Jack Road

Ridgway, PA 15853