|
|
The Ranger
Membership Newsletter of the Ramapoo Rifle and Revolver Club, Inc.
Throughout 2006, Ramapoo continues as a
strong leader and advocate for the shooting sports for
The active support and involvement of Ramapoo
members is absolutely critical for the Club to continue offering quality
shooting programs. The member volunteers are essential to sustain Ramapoo
operations and to maintain the extremely modest dues we enjoy. Please join
those members already working to make Ramapoo successful by volunteering a few
hours of your time in 2007 to help out.
This issue of The Ranger brings you a summary
of the very well attended annual meeting conducted on February 13th and other important news.
ANNUAL MEETING SUMMARY & OFFICER REPORTS
President’s
Report –
Current
Management Agreement with the Town has been renegotiated as a new 10 year
Lease.
The long history
of Ramapoo began with a shooting facility in the Community Center in 1954, and
moved to its current location in 1962. A
formal Management agreement was created in 1996, and has served both the town
and our club well. The Lease was
approved at the Town meeting on
New cabinets
have been installed inside the range for the Ridgefield Police Department
training gear and a new storage shed was constructed on the outside of the
range for additional storage to store the club’s supplies. The club is currently going through the
permit process due to a misunderstanding in the zoning requirements of this
addition and the newly installed air conditioning unit in the ready room. A building survey has been obtained and all
permit requirements have been gathered allowing the permit process to proceed.
Information was
handed out about the function of
NRA-ILA, with specific information regarding pending legislation in the
state of CT. Ted further advised all
members and shooting sports enthusiasts to stay informed, and be involved. More information can be obtained at www.nra-ila.com.
Vice President’s Report –
A few folks do
much of the work to make and keep Ramapoo a viable and thriving club.
Many thanks to Tom
Falconeri for maintaining the oil tanks and heating system; Mel Stimmel for the
installation of the new air conditioner unit for the ready room; Frank Hert for
the outside shed shelves construction; Contracted for the installation of the
new 100 amp electrical service panel; Bill Schiffer for creating and
maintaining our web site; Tony Markert, Tom Falconeri, and Mel Stimmel for
running the Junior Program Mark Spencer; Boris Moreyn, and
Secretary’s Report – Bill Schiffer:
The annual
meeting, and the annual Ranger Newsletter are intended to serve the members as
a synopsis of past accomplishments and future plans. The website continues to
be our “online bulletin board”, with information about our hours of operation,
range safety rules, program descriptions, directions, and links to other
shooting related sites, to include the Department of Public Safety. The website is also our “online brochure”,
and has attracted many visitors who have come down to shoot, take our PPA
courses, and joined as new members.
Please visit often. If you have
suggestions or information you would like to see on the Ramapoo website, send a
note to Webmaster@Ramapoo.com .
Treasurer’s Report –
Overall
financial condition of the club is very healthy. More members have generated more income which
is good for the club financially, and indicates our members are happy with the benefits
afforded by membership in Ramapoo. Paid
Membership has increased by 42 over last year, with 220 total active
members. Costs associated with heating
have gone up, and will eventually have an impact. The club has spent more money this fiscal
year for Range Officer training. This
has a direct, positive impact for all club members by having more, and better
trained RO’s to run the range for our enjoyment. The club’s Pistol Permit Application (PPA)
classes has trained 82 new shooters in 2006,
It was pointed out that our cash reserve is for the eventual replacement
of the backstop and other catastrophic contingencies. The backstop has an
estimated life span of 25 years of “commercial use”, and is now about 20 years
old. However, we do not use the backstop
with “commercial” frequency, and should be able to get many more years of
service from our current set up.
Executive Officer’s Report –
Range
maintenance is ongoing – “we do what needs to be done”! A new exhaust fan was installed down range to
improve ventilation during action shoots forward of the stalls, and has been
highly effective. A new air conditioner
unit has been installed in the ready room.
Target carriers
and pulleys were completely refurbished.
The range floor was professionally cleaned, and repainted prior to the
annual meeting. The spent lead down
range must be manually removed about once every three months. Frequently,
The backstop
needs oiling, also about once every 3 months, to both reduce the dust as well
as maintain the condition of the steel.
Contact Joe if you can help here as well.
Sergeant at Arms Report –
Responsibilities
include the daily expendable supplies required around the range.
Coordinated the
food for the Annual Meeting – thanks Rob!
Chief Instructor’s Report –
The range runs
on the dedication of the Range Officers – thank you all for your time and
commitment and safety record! Safety
continues to be every shooters responsibility – review the Range Safety Rules
often, and be vigilant! Currently have
20 ROs and 5 new Instructors; we have added 3 new ROs just this year. The club has historically conducted a Range
Safety Officer class annually to qualify new Range Officers. If interested in future classes, please
contact
Winter
Bulls Eye League is active in the south
western
Junior Program Report –
Friday nights
are active with a steady 12-14 junior shooters.
We welcome new juniors any time.
The instructors
have the ability to teach any level, and can take a young shooter to the
highest levels desired. We have a talented,
dedicated group – take advantage of their expertise!
Thanks to
The Ramapoo Junior Club encourages all of our members to
invite any youngster interested in safely learning to shoot. Our program offers thorough but relaxed
competitive training for young people aged 10 to 20 which emphasizes safe
handling and operations of firearms. Any
parents of juniors can also actively participate and learn to shoot. We welcome Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts seeking
to earn firearms merit badges. This
program is open to all juniors and parents (club membership
not required). The Junior Club meets
every Friday at
Action Shooting – Boris Moreyn:
Continues to be
an active and fun program, shooting two or three times per month.
Not officially
sanctioned, but follows the IDPA protocol.
Boris thanked the Board for the installation of the new down range
ventilating fans, and commented on how well the new setup is working. If interested, contact Boris to get on the
email list.
Practical Pistol Competition is now
entering its 7th year with two types of matches:
"IDPA style" and "Plates".
Please drop an e-mail to ramapoomatch@hotmail.com
to be included on the mailing list. You will be notified 2 days before the
match, and also in case there's a cancellation.
“Plates” involves shooting at reactive
targets until they are all down or you run out of bullets. The goal for participants is to continually
reduce the time required to knock down all targets. To make it
challenging, movement between shooting stations, reloads and time limits
may be used. We finish with a shooter-on-shooter competition for time and
accuracy.
“IDPA Style” involves IDPA targets and
varied scenarios to simulate real-world defensive challenges. Emphasis is on
drawing, moving and shooting safely and accurately. This program will be
significantly enhanced once the Ridgefield Police Department’s training
equipment becomes available to us.
New Business:
Discussed
current pricing for PPA classes – is it too low? The position we have taken is that this is a
public service, for the good of the community in general, and the local shooter
in particular, and have found it to be a good recruiting tool to encourage new
members. The current PPA pricing
structure is under review.
Dues:
Annual 2007 dues
of $50.00 per member and $25.00 for spouse or second member in a household (we
are on a March to March schedule) are payable as of
Reminders:
As in the past,
the Range will be closed on Sundays during the months of June, July and August
because of historically low summer participation. Sunday hours will resume
Please remember to
pick up your brass around the stall, behind the firing line, sort, and dump
into the appropriate bins. Brass is
recycled for the benefit of the club, and is just one more way we can help keep
our costs down.
Help the Range
Officers keep the range and ready room tidy, clean and well organized. This responsibility
belongs to all of us – it is OUR club.
Safety continues
to be “priority one”. Please remember that our Range Rules require all
targets to be completely down range. Also, please remember to thoroughly
check your firearm before you shoot to insure it is operationally safe and
always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction. Please reread the Range
Rules periodically. Copies are available at the check in desk, as well as
online at Ramapoo.com.
Publicity:
The
Wrap Up:
The Board of Officers
is committed to ongoing improvement of the Club and will work in a way to make
shooting at Ramapoo the most positive experience possible. We welcome your continued active
participation in Ramapoo’s programs as well as your suggestions on how we might
improve the Club. Please remember that our volunteers do almost all of the
Club’s work. With your support we will have another great year.
New Board of
Officers Elected for 2007
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary Bill Schiffer
Executive Officer
Sgt. at Arms
Chief Instructor
INFO@RAMAPOO.COM -
Your input, suggestions, and questions will be forwarded to the
right person!
