NVSA Newsletter
January - February - March 2001

In this Exciting Issue:

Election Results…Match Date Changes…The Newsletter Goes "Electric"…New Range Rules…Match Results…Tasty Possum Recipes

Dear North Valley Shooters and Honored Guests,

Three months have flown by since our last newsletter (since we gear our letters to correspond with the completion of two matches, we're pretty much on schedule).

Match Date Change:

The date of our April 2001 Match will be changed. It was scheduled to occur on Easter Morning, but this proved to be a real problem.

Instead we'll be moving our match to: SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2001. We'll start at our usual time (0830 AM). Sorry for the inconvenience, but Ron and I both realized that we're skating on pretty thin ice with the Man Upstairs and one more foul up might bring on some pretty serious consequences (like me losing my hair or Ron developing a rare skin condition on his legs where he can never get a tan…wait those things happened after our last screw-ups. I'm sure you get the picture)

Election Results:

The election was a squeaker. We counted the ballots, recounted the ballots, then made up new ballots and voted like a bunch of Dade County geezers. In the final analysis, nothing really changed. Ron is still our fearless President, I'm doing the Dick Cheney thing, Dave is still ready to assume command should NVSA-1 crash while carrying Ron and me to the range, Alan is our penny-pinching Treasurer and my wife, Mona (or Celeste as I call her) still rules the entire organization under the unassuming title of Secretary.

The Newsletter Goes Electric:

Many of you may be receiving this newsletter via e-mail. We have realized that we're spending a lot of money mailing something that can be sent, free, in seconds. In truth, it's quite a bit of work to label each newsletter, affix a stamp and place the thing in the mail. If we have your e-mail address, we're going to use it. If we don't, and you have one, please let us know so we can start sending you things over the "net". We can also use your e-mail address to provide quick updates on match changes (Rain!!!) etc. We'll also post the newsletters on our website. Here are some crucial "E" addresses for you:

NVSA Website Address:
http://main.succeed.net/~monaboyd/

Ron Durham:
rondur@jps.net

Michael Boyd:
monaboyd@succeed.net

New Range Rules:

We've spent a lot of time thinking about this and we've come to realize that we're very lucky to have our range. A very serious threat to our continued good fortune is liability and injuries. The Board has decided, unanimously, to eliminate the #1 risk to our members, guests and neighbors: Steel Targets. We realize that steel is fun to shoot and has a place in the world of action shooting and training. We also know that we are surrounded by orchards, paint ball players, farm laborers, fishermen etc etc. We will no longer use steel targets at our matches and will eliminate all steel targets from our range inventory. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, DO NOT USE ANY STEEL TARGETS AT THE GRIDLEY RANGE.

We apologize if this distresses any of you. We've got to be good and safe neighbors for the sake of the club. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.

By the way, we'll be looking into other forms of reactive targets for the range as soon as possible.

By the way, if any of you don't have a copy of our range rules, they're available on our website and at our matches. We'll be updating them shortly and distributing them to all of our members.

*Match Results:

Our December Match was a non-competitive IDPA classifier. Ron and Dave joined me for this adventure. I'm not sure it could have been any colder or windier.

Dave and Joy Casner devised our January Match. The courses included a bowling alley shootout, a BBQ gone bad (not the real BBQ, but a stage), a paper-boy coming to the rescue and something about shooting weak hand through a bunch of windows. The results are attached, but I think it's important to mention that Dave Wallace once again spanked-us-all-like-we-stole-something, winning by over 20 seconds!!!. Tex Hollis won first Expert, despite exhibiting a total disregard for magazine retention. Jim Cyrun continues to worry Dave with a top Sharpshooter score. Randy Gaines posted his first class win, taking top Marksman. Kris Dotson nabbed top Novice (finishing only three seconds overall behind dear old dad, Lawrence). Scott Steele, a very good HK shooter (notice how I manage to slip in HK into every newsletter?), was top Unclassified. Scott won't be unclassified for long.

The February Match was rained out. I spent the day doing pushups (2), eating raw eggs and swearing that someday I'd beat Dave Wallace once again. Actually

I spent only about five minutes doing this. I spent the remainder of the day apologizing to the wife about "ralphing" up raw eggs on our carpet (those things are really gross, and they leave a nasty stain)

Our evil webmaster, John Kemmerle, created our March Match. John allowed Ron Durham to devise a stage. Between John and Ron, we spent the day defending our PIN at the ATM, tossing a coin to see who got blasted, telling our spouses to shut up and duck, or deciding which way to run while metering out justice.

Wayne Johnson showed his usual nerves of steel and won top expert (he was 1 second behind the top shooter overall!!). Scott Yu shot his HK (what did I tell you??) to first Sharpshooter. Steve Slack ruled Marksman class and Ben Norman, the good doctor, was our top Novice. I had my revenge and whipped up on Dave by an under whelming 0.70 seconds. (Hey a win is a win!!)

*Complete match results can be found on the Match Results page.

Special Recipe Section

Possum Surprise

Ingredients:

• One medium possum

• Two slices white bread

• One Can Bactine, chilled.

Instructions:

• Clean possum thoroughly (I like to use either Prell or any of the generic baby shampoos)

• Apply Bactine liberally to the critter's claws (you'll be glad you did)

• Wrap varmint with white bread and enjoy

If you don't experience the surprise of your life, we'll refund your money, no questions asked.

Until we shoot again…..

-Michael Boyd, your VP.