The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Getting a bang - and a bruise - out of charity trap shoot event
Ed Freundl
PUBLISHED: August 21, 2008
It's a real pleasure to use my journalistic skills for an initiative that will benefit the community in so many ways.
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I'm speaking of the plan to restore the Mill Lake Campground in Sylvan Township, a long-unused camp belonging to the Department of Natural Resources tucked quietly into a corner of the Waterloo State Recreation Area.
A plan is in place to rebuild Mill Lake as an active, year-round campground geared toward not just kids but entire families.
A long list of partners is actively working to make the plan a reality: NASCAR, Michigan International Speedway, professional racer Ryan Newman and his fan club and his philanthropic foundation, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, The Conservation Fund, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and last but not least, the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce.
One of the first events to raise an estimated $1.5 million took place last Thursday at locations near the camp, involving people from far beyond the Chelsea area.
The Charity Trap Shoot charged $100 for a catered lunch at the Cedar Lake camp next door to Mill Lake, plus two rounds of trap at the Chelsea Rod & Gun Club on Lingane Road.
In return for the donation, the club would provide the ammunition, the clay targets and even the guns.
Although a reporter is not supposed to become part of the story he is covering, I was persuaded to pick up a shotgun for the first time in many years and join the fun.
I'm not a big NASCAR fan by any stretch, and if not for covering the Racing for Wildlife project since it began a couple of months ago, I wouldn't know Ryan Newman from Paul Newman.
But one name I did recognize was Bobby Allison, who appeals to an entirely different, older generation of NASCAR fans.
The fact that a legendary figure like Allison was willing to lend his weight to this effort really impressed on me that this was going to be a Very Big Deal, and I was grateful to be in on the opening act.
At any rate, I've had some experience on a trap range, accompanying my father almost every Sunday for a few years a long time ago. But just how long, I had forgotten.
I had told people at the range it's been about 10 years since I'd been shooting, but when my wife reminded me she had never even heard of me trap shooting, I realized that it was closer to 20 years.
Dad was quite good, regularly scoring 90 or more out of 100 targets and going to the state meet many times.
On the other hand, my scores back in the day were more in the range of about 20 out of 25.
It was a serious hobby for my father, who acquired at least two shotguns, all the gear to reload his own shells, the shaded glasses, the earmuffs, and the fancy-schmancy shooting vest with oversized pockets for ammo and padded shoulder to cut down on recoil.
However, he had to give it up when problems with his back and legs intervened.
So I called him a couple of days before the shoot and asked if I could borrow his Remington Model 870 pump, the one I frequently used.
"I got rid of all that stuff years ago - didn't you know that?" he said, and I swear I could hear the air being let out of a balloon.
No matter, I consoled myself, it'll still be a fun story to cover. But that sounded to me an awful lot like when I recently missed the chance to ride in a B-17 bomber at the Yankee Air Museum.
So when the guys at the gun club said they had extra shotguns, I wasted no time getting fixed up with a Model 1100 automatic - the other gun Dad let me use.
With five teams of shooters there would be plenty of time for me to do my "reporter thing," switch gears, grab some shells and go up on the line, then go back and talk to more people.
Watching guys like Ryan Newman and Bobby Allison perform in an arena so far removed from their profession was great, because they are both pretty good shots.
The shooting skills of the other participants was mixed at best, because it was the first time a lot of them had fired a gun.
Since it had been almost 20 years, I figured 19 hits out of 50 total targets wasn't too bad after all.
Besides, that colorful bruise on my bicep will fade long before my memories of that day.
Even though the trap shoot didn't raise a lot of money, the effort is still in its early stages.
The Mill Lake restoration project deserves our support to bring back the camp to its glory days, and give children and families a chance to experience nature one-on-one.
Donations for Racing for Wildlife can be made through www.racingforwildlife.org; www.ryannewmanfoundation.org; and www.conservationfund.org; among others.
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