2016 Fall Newsletter
What a year this has been! If you were a regular out at the range or if you have given us a ‘Like’ on Facebook you have seen a lot going on out at the Redwood Falls Sportsmen’s Club. If you are a part timer you may have missed a few of the activities.
Pistol Bays
Thanks to assistance of Heather, at River Valley Arms and Ammo we sent out a survey this spring to query what type of range improvement you would like to see. Based on the responses we now have three new pistol bays! We also have more parking, additional steel targets, and a covered picnic area (the old pistol range). All in all, about $90K of improvements with some funding through the DNR.
Range Improvements
We received over 500 truckloads of dirt to build the new pistol bays and improve the rifle range berms. Mike Rasmussen of Affordable Dirt Works was the contractor who built and shaped the berms, enhanced the road and parking areas, and removed the trees. We can’t say enough good things about Mike. His flexibility with the arrival of the dirt that was dictated by the weather at times is nothing short of amazing along with the visualization of what needed to be done and making it happen. Three new shelters were built by E&K Construction. The new steel in the center bay is provided by River Valley Arms and Ammo and Opie’s Heavy Metal. Thanks to all. The entire project was managed by Pete Weis who put in countless hours as project supervisor. So when you see Pete tell him he did an outstanding job!
CRP Burn
The Redwood Falls Fire Department assisted with the required maintenance burn of our CRP land. It certainly didn’t take long for the area to green up and look fantastic. Thank you RWFFD!
Pollinator Project
Gene Malecha and Tom Morely prepped the ground for the pollinator project. Jeff Zajac will do a frost seeding late this fall. This is a long term project that requires time, patience, and good growing conditions. Next spring we should start to see some results. It may take a year or two for it to come to fruition. Thanks to Pheasants Forever and a Tim Moritz Memorial for funding. We are hoping that the bees, birds, bats, and bunnies to name a few really enjoy it.
Youth at the Range
As in years past we have seen a lot of youth coming out to the range. Many come out with family. A lot of them are members of the 4H Shooting Sports, shooting one or more of the shooting disciplines, Hunter Education Field Day events, and the fast growing and popular HS Trap. This year we had seventy-five young men and women from three different area schools competing. Echo Charter HS even participated in the Fall League with twenty-two students. If you are interested in assisting any of these programs let us know via the contact us on our website (rwfsportsmensclub.com) or on Facebook!
Ladies’ Night/Couples’ Night at the Range
Ladies Night has morphed into Couples Night. Too many guys were sitting idly by while their girlfriend or wife had all the fun. The Ladies invited the guys, then, fun was had by all! We have a survey that we would like you to participate in so we can improve the fun. Please take a couple minutes and answer the 5 question survey online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JQM6GDG.
Volunteerism at the Range
We have received some inquiries about volunteering. While some ranges require mandatory work days, we don’t. To date everything has been pretty low maintenance. As we expand there are always members that make messes and don’t clean up after themselves. Is there something special you would like to do to make the club an even better piece of paradise on the NW side of town? Reach out to us via the contact us page on our website (rwfsportsmensclub.com) or on Facebook if you’d be interested in running a match, writing a blog, fix broken targets, assist with Hunter Education, 4H Shooting Sports volunteer or something else! There are many of us who have time and skills just waiting to be asked. Not sure when and where we can use your skills but you’re being asked!
A shout out to Colby Schroeder, a student at Redwood Valley HS, who came out and repaired the pistol falling plate frame that was damaged when it was shot with a rifle caliber firearm.
Membership 2017
Membership is now exceeding four hundred. That’s a lotta people. With the increased membership and range improvements, we have increased operating costs. In order to cover the costs we need to raise the membership rate. Keep in mind there hasn’t been an increase in over ten years. With that being said the new rate for next year is $45. The trap fee is increasing from $3.50 to $4.00 for adults and $2.00 to $2.50 for juniors. The memberships are annual with renewal in April (kind of like a fishing license). However, if you are wanting to gift someone a 2017 membership for Christmas or birthday prior to the annual renewal they will be available after 19 December.
Join us at a Meeting & the Annual Banquet
We are always open to questions, inquiries, and the like. We like to talk about shooting, hunting, reloading, and other things as well. During the winter months when we seem to have more free time we are meeting on the second Wednesday of the month at the Redwood Falls Legion starting at 7:00 pm or as I like to say 1900 hours. Come out and join us: Nov 9, Dec 14, Jan 11, Feb 8, and Mar 8. Our annual banquet will be in April. Come to the meeting and help us finalize the date and planning for that event. We are in need of some help.
Debenture
We want to thank the members who were able to purchase a debenture to keep us operating and able to pay our bills for the range improvements.
Safety First
As always we ask you to be safe. When going down range to check targets unload your firearm and leave the action open. When someone is down range stand away from your firearm.
- Treat every gun like it is loaded.
- Never point your gun at anything you don’t want destroyed.
- Do not put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
- Be aware of your target and what is beyond it.
We want to wish everyone a safe Holiday Season. I’m not being politically correct, for me that starts on Veterans Day (my favorite) and goes all the way through to George Washington’s Birthday.
Best regards,
Larry Weidell, Secretary/Treasurer of the Redwood Falls Sportsmen’s Club