AUGUST 2003 Newsletter

April Match: The 6th annual Southwest Regional Revolver Championship took the place of our normal April match. 74 enthusiastic shooters banged and clanged their way through 8 creative stages provided by Match Director Nelson Dymond who also put out the match booklet, the score sheets and assisted the usual Wheel Burner crew of Rich, Pete and Cedric who set up the stages and painted all the props. Chef Barbara and Sous Chef Wally provided all the fine consumables for the hungry shooters. In her "spare" time Barbara entered scores! Chief Range Officer and Prize Coordinator Rich provided a generous prize table with a package for every shooter. When Rich wasn't organizing the match, shooting it and answering a million questions, he also was assistant Statistician as was Dan who also managed some quality keyboard time. Even Bob took time off from his growing machine shop business to come and shoot, handling "walk-on" entries before the match started. A superb effort by all and the comments from the shooters confirmed it. As usual, the Arizona Rocks shooters captured most of the trophies, with Vic Pickett winning overall for the 6th year in a row. Les Starks from AZ took 3rd overall and top Senior from Juan by less than a second. Top Lady was Joyce Rosato, also from AZ. Top Limited and second overall was Jason Pettitt, the California phenom who was knocked out of a certain win at the IRC last year by a faulty firing pin. He assures us that won't happen this year. For the recap on the match, check out the Results page.

Support our Match Sponsors: While it seems a familiar refrain to us, we cannot emphasize more the importance of thanking our match sponsors. Without the generous contribution of these companies and individuals, the prize table would be very thin indeed. Prize Coordinator Rich knocked himself out this year in obtaining a sponsor for every stage as well as the considerable wealth of prizes. Considering the questionable state of our national economy, the distraction of other national and international events, his ability to fund and stock the prize table is no small feat. Please at a minimum send e-mail and thank our generous sponsors we've listed here:

Next Match: The May match will be all classifiers so that all who need classification by the June 20-22 IRC can do so. We'll also shoot our perennial nemesis, "Far & Near Standards."

Northrop Grumman Aerosteel Match: The Northrop Grumman Pistol Club is holding its annual Aerosteel Match on the third Saturday, May 17 at the Steel Challenge range. This match is always well attended and features a generous lunch and trophies for Open/Limited/Rimfire/Lady/Revolver. It's a great chance to get some more practice for the IRC. Most Wheel Burners are also members of this club, so spread the word to increase the attendance.

Stage Contribution Contest: Even though we've passed the Regional and we have the Classifier match set, the remainder of the shooting year needs to be planned. Remember that we are giving away a 686+ in a drawing based on the number of stages contributed during 2003. Starting in June we need 3 stages (we'll shoot a classifier and Far & Near one more time before the IRC), then we need 4 stages per month from July through December. Each stage that is submitted, set up and torn down at a match earns a drawing entry. The scores to date for January through March are:

Ron W 3
Ron J 3
Cedric 1
Harry 1
Rich 1
Dan 1

Heeday has already committed to at least one stage for the June match, so it's wide open. Submit stages to any of the Board members at least 1 month prior to the match. Generic score sheets will be used, so you only have to come up with the stage design. Note that you only get credit if you submit and set up the stage at the match!

More Shooting: It looks as if Nelson has too much spare time, as he is promoting a new ICORE club that will hold matches at Lopez Canyon. Allegedly there will be Thursday evening matches as well. Check the Team Lopez Revolver Club page for information.

In the San Diego area, check out the Hidden Valley Revolver Club (HVRC) ICORE match on the 4th Saturday of the month at the Escondido Fish and Game (EFG) Assn. Go to http://members.cox.net/hvrc/ for directions and information.

From our shooting friends David and Kathy:

"To the Wheelburners:

As some of you know (we certainly talked about it enough), David and I are in the process of moving out of California. I have started working for the Kroger Company in Cincinnati, Ohio and we are moving to Kentucky.

We would like to apologize to you all for not being able to participate in recent matches, the clean-up day and finally in the regional match. We know how much work a few key people do month after month to make these events possible for the rest of us. We had every intention of being involved in this club for a long time, but the job in Ohio would not wait for us to finish the things we wanted to do first.

David and I would like to thank every one of the California Wheelburners for allowing us to enjoy the sport of ICORE shooting with the finest and most diverse group of shooters we have ever known. You made us feel welcome from the very first match we attended. You have offered advice, equipment and just about anything else you had, if we needed it. We hope to find an ICORE club in the Kentucky area and continue to participate in the sport. We believe that this is one of the few avenues available to give guns and the shooting sports a good name and to meet a lot of great people.

Again, thanks for letting us join you.

Your shooting friends, Kathy & David Long"