My First Year With ALGC

I joined ALGC in December of 2001. I was just looking for a place to shoot. Literally, I just wanted a place to shoot whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and with whomever I wanted. I visited the club and saw that with multiple pistol and rifle ranges, and trap and skeet fields, I could do just that and so I decided to join. I've certainly enjoyed having a place to shoot, but its turned out to be a lot more than that.

The thing that has impressed me the most are all the nice folks that I've met. Harvey helped me at the High Power clinic. He was very gracious and did a good job of acting nonchalant when I did some pretty dumb things. All of the guys at the High Power matches help set things up and then paste up the targets after the meets. There's just a great spirit of camaraderie.

The whole IDPA crew acts like you're a long lost brother when you show up. Most all of the guys are that way, but especially Ambassador Dewey. I've titled him Ambassador because he is so welcoming and friendly. He always calls everyone by name and acts like they're his best friend.

Mark was one of the first guys I met. He is the Trustee in charge of technology, so we've developed a good working relationship over the year as we work on the website.

These are just the few of the guys that I've met. I'm sure looking forward to getting to know more of the ALGC members.

All of the matches and clinics that I attended were professionally done, with safety always being of utmost concern. I was impressed at the IDPA clinic, that despite rain all morning, and a class two or three times larger than was expected, the clinic went without a hitch, and everyone had a good time. It just illustrates how the match directors are always prepared and focused on providing a quality event.

Unfortunately, I only made it to one of the social events, that was the Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. Chef Larry came up with one great meal and the event was just a nice laid back time to get to know other folks. The corned beef and cabbage was great, and the Ruben sandwiches were an extra treat.

The work party I worked was hot and hard work, but we had a big group of guys and everyone pitched in and we got a lot done. It was rewarding working together to make significant improvements to one of ALGC's pistol ranges.

So what have I enjoyed most? I certainly have enjoyed just going to the club to shoot. Whether I go by myself to practice or to zero in that new scope, or if I go with some friends or with my sons, I always have a great time. I think I'll never forget going the first time in April. It was 47 degrees but it was a sunny day and I just spent a couple hours working with my squirrel rifle dialing in the scope and checking out various ammo. It was just a great time on a beautiful day.

I'm looking forward to shooting in more events next year. I want to shoot a lot more in IDPA. Those matches are really challenging, but a lot of fun too. I've never shot trap or skeet and would like to try my hand at that. And everyone says the bowling pin matches are a blast, so I've really got to give them a try.

My sons and I intended to camp out on that little point of land that sticks out into the lake, but we never got it done. With the pine trees and grass, surrounded by water, its an idyllic camp site. It seems like a great idea to camp out on a Friday night and get up and shoot all morning on Saturday, so I hope my sons and I get to do that next year.

I was the last guy to join under the old rate structure and so, I had to shell out over $900 to sign up, (if you join now, you will pay much less than that) so I have to ask myself, did I get my money's worth? Certainly I did get a place to shoot and that alone has been worth the price. But in addition to that, I got a whole lot more and there's much more to come.