Sparta Beer Tent Like Old Times

Remember the Budweiser beer tent. Where everyone went immediately after the shoot.

4:30 pm today--1 person at the beer tent.

Atta boy Lynn---Like you said, "We got this place going in a fantastic direction!"

It isn't that I didn't think he is capable of saying this. I just doubted he would say it on TV.

 

There's only one person from Ohio there?

 

Maybe it's because everyone was anticipating being in a shootoff

 

The're all back at their motor homes getting on a private drunk. They also found out it was cheaper to bring along beer from home-gotta save money to shoot for trinkets!

 

The WalMart in Sparta reported that beer and adult beverage sales has gone up considerably ... The sale of Ammunition is only slightly down from last year and there are more hunters in the State than even before ... Thanks for your support and remember if WalMart don't have it you probably don't need it ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Someone told me Gipson was talking "geographical direction."

 

Hey @Family Guy,

If you were ever there you would know there is a bar and restaurant inside the events center. People don't have to sit outside in the heat or weather under a tent to have a beer. Also, look back at the tent now, not the first day of the shoot during prelim week, I would have to guess its a little busier. The beer tent in Vandalia was the main gathering place, especially since you walked or took the trolley everywhere. Sparta isn't the cramped little place that Vandalia was so there is more than one place to gather after the day of shooting.

 

Chilon, Sounds like you are a little crappy...

 

Chilon, I like your avatar.

 

@Lew D. Boyko. Not crappy. Just pointing out a fact that FG is overlooking/ ignoring to try and make a point about how the beer tent isn't busy. Not saying that it was the first day of a shoot during preliminary week is a little misleading. If there was one guy at the tent after this Friday's handicap or the Clay Target Championship, then he has reason to say something.

@Leonidas - I am a Spartan, I have a piece of paper to prove it.

 

Maybe the beer tent isn't as full because all the alcoholics are still in Ohio.

 

I don't live in Ohio. I don't drink. I'm not at sparta.

NONE of the people I shot with from my club live in Ohio. They STILL register thousands of targets a year. They go to 3 or 4 state shoots. They travel to the CC for all the shoots there. They make all the shoots at Elysburg. They have a Trap gun in their hand 3 or 4 times a week. They plan their ENTIRE year around where and when they are going to shoot TRAP. REGISTERED trap

NONE of them are alcoholics.

NONE of them are in sparta.

Next guess as to why the "beer tent" isn't as crowded as it used to be in Vandalia?

Flyersarebest

 

The Police Those were the good old days...you cant shoot behind bars.!!!! Man will you wake up! I don't pop a top till I get to my destination.....

 

The Bud tent was full at Vandalia regardless of which day it was. It was packed for preliminary days even for the state shoot. It was packed not because it was place to drink but a place for trapshooters. I can only guess that Romie was never there.

Vandalia was a social experience.

 

I didn't know that at the world recreational and shooting center if you went to the "beer tent" you had to get drunk. I figured you could go there and just hang out and talk.

I never thought of that. That HAS to be the reason all those shooters I mentioned don't go to sparta.

Maybe they should put another sign up that tells all those "stupid" shooters not to "pop" until they get back to there 10 year rental spots.

Thanks for the update. Man, I feel smarter already.

Flyersarebest

 

The beer tent at Vandalia was also a sandwich/food center, a gathering place to talk to old friends over a PEPSI/BEER a lot of friends were made there, nothing in Sparta compares to the beer tent in Vandalia and never will. You could sit there and watch the wagons go by full of shooters and wave to those waving at you.Hamburgers/Cheeseburgers/ Ham Salad/ Chicken Salad sandwiches are a minute menu, along with cakes, pies and French fries.

GB DLS

 

There is no shooters at Sparta to make a crowd

 

Rommie

Please post how many were in the restaurant and whether you think there were as many as were at the Bud tent at Vandalia. Was it in violation of fire codes?

Also how hot does it get in Sparta that you have to hide in a restaurant? I think some Sparta faithful may take offense to that.

 

"the beer tent at Vandalia WAS"......WAS, is the operative word guys. It's gone, get over it.

 

El Paso

Lynn Gipson described the success of Sparta and it's location by saying"

We are trying to compare apples to apples and quantify Lynn's assertion that things are going in a fantastic direction. Comparing attendance, participation, numbers etc would do that. The state of Illinois is the one paying the to keep the place open. (for a few more days).

So how fantastic is that?

 

Sparta is a fantastic facility.

I wish Vandalia had been built 10 more miles "out in the country" so it could have stayed where it was with room to expand and not be so cramped like it was.
I wish Fishburn had started his business 10 years earlier so that would have been an option.

We are only renting Sparta, nothing is permanent.

If some group wants it moved to wherever, get on with a plan and make it happen. Bitching about what was and wishing for the good old days aren't going to accomplish anything.

I enjoyed the beer tent at Vandalia as much as anyone.

 

El Paso

You are missing the point of the post. It is comparing Lynn Gipson's saying that we are going in a fantastic direction to the numbers we can relate.

As per your statement about Vandalia being cramped you will never have to worry about Sparta being cramped due to large crowds. I would have taken Vandalia again and 4000 people in a single shoot over Sparta which has problems putting 2 people under the beer tent.

Comparing those numbers is "bitching" as you say?

Apples to apples right?

 

Yes it is bitching.
You can compare all you want. One is here and the other is gone.
You can enjoy what we have or bitch about what we don't have, your choice.
I used to have a hair.
Gas used to be 30¢.
Shot used to be $7.50 a bag.

If Gipson thinks it's a fantastic direction, whatever.
You enjoy being negative?

 

Lynn ( the talking head ) Gipson is probably saying what has been scripted and handed to him by the ATA ... The beer tent at Vandalia was the place to be, meet friends and make new friends ... Sparta has never had any crowds like they did at Vandalia and they never will or the attendanace would not be tumbleing year after year ... They consider it a good year if they don't lose "to many more shooters" so the business plan must be working ... The ATA and WSRC are doomed in so far as Sparta and the Grand are concerned, just a matter of time ... Never was a good idea and never will be no matter what, if there are no shooters what would be the reason to even have the Grand ..?

If anyone has different thoughts and or ideas that differ from the know it alls, then you are considered to be a Sparta and ATA hater,bitcher, complainer, etc, etc, etc ... If someone threatens you on the other site, its okay, if you respond accordingly you get banned ( yeah Baby, selective enforcement anyone ? ) , but in the mean time I gathered all of the information I need on the Clown , so we will see if he is stupid enough to show up and meet face to face ... Seriously doubt it, but one can hope ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

WPT, there are a lot of us who are really upset about how Phoenix Trap & Skeet was allowed to close.
Would it do any of us any good to constantly bitch about how it was miss-managed?
Certainly you know there were many poor decisions made back then.
Not that it matters now, but what would have been the better decision of the options available, when the ATA learned that Vandalia would be no more?

 

El Paso,
The people involved after the Club being put in a position with no alternative but to close were the ones who were really upset about it, if you were not directly involved you being up set was nothing compared to those people (Nothing was allowed, there was no choice left in the matter, thats a big difference ...) ... If people do not let people know they are not happy with the way things are being done or going to be done prior to, there is a problem ... The poor decisions that were made back then were prior to ( years in advance and before my time) the club being forced to close and liquidate ... There were 4 contracts (that we knew of and liens filed against the club and even me personally) signed by a previous president and board members with realtors to sell the property ... ( not even legal, in Arizona) and that had to be sorted out and disolved ... If you had been a member you could of attended any and all of the meetings and would of known exactly what was happening all the time ... The Phx Club actually had a tentative agreement with the buyer /developer to relocate the club, due to financial obligations from many past years of mismanagement that never came about once the dust had settled ... The financial obligations, law suits, etc eliminated the possibilty of there ever being another club unless we were going to take on a massive debt and eventually be forced to close and liguidate if all did not go exactly as planned or anticipated ... The members would of had to accept the burden of the debt because the club had no credit rating that anyone with any common sense would of loaned money to ... We even approched the Indians, had an Indian Agent come down from Las Vegas and attempted to partner with them, but once all was said and done we would of still be in jeopardy ... The only out was the out that was taken ... Last I heard the club still exists on paper, has a president, board etc ... The money that was left over after all was said and done was given to a chairty and I hear some was given to the Ben Avery club for needed improvements, but do not have any first hand knowledge of that ... We paid off one lawsuit to Crow for ammo that never got to the club, the invoice was for $65,000 after all was said and done we paid over $225,000 to settle it ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Apples to apples. How many shooters did Vandalia have after its first 10 years? I'll bet your number of 400o is quite a stretch if we are talking apples to apples.

 

In the end PT&S probably did do the best they could with what options they had left.
I'm thinking we both agree that we are lucky the ATA didn't use their-our-money and borrow more and built a WSRC of our own. I don't think it would be making anymore money than the one at Sparta.

 

ELPaso,

The WSRC has been good to the ATA, they have amassed a nice bank account ($12 miilion on hand) over the 10 years ... Thats not the problem, the State has been paying for that to happen and its going to come back at them sooner or later ... Totally agree that we are glad the ATA did not liquidate the funds and have it turn out like it has with the lacking attendance, the ATA would be no more ... The Politicians see the possiblity to losing their cuch jobs by not getting re elected if the WSRC and many other projects are not cut and or modified to make it at least break even ... It comes down to being the Voters call when all is said and done ... I hope the State keeps the WSRC open and absorbs the loss so the ATA can continue to build their back account at the expense of the Illinois tax payers ... Hell, thats a no brainer ...

PS&T had no options left, I spent many days and dollars of my money trying to find a way out, there was none ... It costed me almost $3,000 of my money to get the lawsuits filed against me (personally) vacated, I never got that money back and figured it was a donation to the club ... They even tried to put a lien against my personal home, try explaining that to your wife ... lol ... Nope, never again, been there done that ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

WOW talk about mis management, who stole the shells, or mis-appropriated them.
Finally the correct news was posted of what happened, Thank you WPT

Also sounds like the missing shells that disappeared at Vandalia

Gary Bryant Dr.longshot

 

The ATA is still kicking themselves in the but for not accepting the Lex Wexner deal on land near London Ohio, for a 99 year lease.

GB DLS

 

We actually had hard evidence (pictures on a cell phone) and people ready to testify who willing came in and gave statements from out of state, when I presented it to the board they did not want to prosecute ... The BOARD did not want the club and memories of it dragged through the MUD, you could of knocked me over with a feather, I swear to God ... I spent weeks down at the State Attorneys office, says you need the co operation of the Board and cannot go it alone ... Those people who were involved are still around trapshooting, they know who they are, I know who they are, they know I know who they are ... I cannot and will not say names in a public forum (in print) without putting myself in jeopardy and the Statute of Limitation has long since passed ... If you ever meet me face to face I will be more than happy to talk about who, what, and where ... I was approached by one of them at a shoot, he said "We have to talk" and I told him we have nothing to talk about ... I think he was going to spill his guts but I had no recourse so there was nothing to talk about ... He moved from the State of Arizona, because no one would talk to him at any of the shoots once all of the things were laid out on the table for them (members) and other who found out as time went by ... That was then, this is now, Hope they burn in Hell and enjoy the heat ... I would not urinate on them if I was the only source of water and they were on fire in the middle of no place (like Sparta) ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

CHILON

You thinking they will have about 4,000 in the GAH? That would be a fantastic direction....looking back that was an old standard. Looking forward 2,000?

 

Like you said,get over it.

 

I never felt cramped there. It was the fave venue ever. Sparta would not make my top 100 list.

El Paso....you seem to be the one with big shoot envy. Cant get it out of your mind?

 

Show us the paper.

 

Unfortunately I didn't start trap shooting until Vandalia had kicked out the ATA and I'm sorry I didn't get to go there I would have probably thought it would have been neat to say I would have gotten to go there...but I heard a lot of negative comments like the traffic was horrible you had to take some sort of trollies to get to your field...I'm not sure about the restaurants' but the shoot was crowded or congested one or the other and the bathrooms were a dump.... and I forgot they said Jets were moving around on a tarmac for a background.
I never heard anything negative about the beer tents probably neat like you said. Heat? I've been in NY city this time of the year when it's 90.
Wish I was shooting then !
Monty

 

Yeah....you are right Monty. At least you admit it.

You don't have a clue what you are talking about.

 

Romie/Monty

Buy a clue.

 

I have that diploma in storage somewhere. I'm also a penguin from my undergrad, that's somewhere in a box too.

 

Sure it is...

 

Chilon

The ATA took steps to limit attendance at Vandalia after that. Doesn't seem too smart does it? Sparta was boycotted by Ohio and many in PA starting in 2003 once the announcement was made. The 3 sites offered in Ohio were not even put on the table.

H1N1's work to take the sport out of trapshooting was another contributor.

 

Chilon is a fake! Waiting to see those papers. Ha

 

Yep. You caught me. I'm lying about where I went to school for about 17 years. I shoulda made my lie a better one, like how unbiased most the posters are on this site.

 

Go ahead and post those diplomas. Fake!

 

The Cardinal Center was throwing registered targets before Sparta. Old news.

 

FG, serious?
I didn't know that.

 

I agree
Well said..this is a new era new issues ...and Sparta is a super nice facility far more shooter accessible than Vandalia .I don't understand why anyone would want to compare it to Vandalia ...there's no comparison....move on......I question if any of the complainers have been to Sparta?

 

El Paso---yes the CC was throwing registered birds before Sparta. Not that is matters.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are the one that keeps comparing it to Vandalia. And you are wrong. If you want to move on then move on. If it were more accessible there would have been 3 times the shooters.

No one should have to tell lies to the media. Gipson did!

If you think op post was wrong....then say it is wrong. State the reasons you think Gipson is right. State the reason you believe "fantastic direction" describes the situation. I am sure the voters in the state of Illinois disagree and the tens of thousands of shooters that have left will as well.

 

I have been to Sparta and shot there .... and I have been to the "beer tent" at both ....

My travel expense to get to Sparta was ZERO/FREE .... I turn down FREE trips to go and stay there. The person that offers, has to go, and will no longer shoot there.

He has a skid of new Federal paper shells, a 35k Perazzi 'combo' shotgun, the trip paid for .... and won't shoot there ????? you figure it out.

"Sparta is a super nice facility far more shooter accessible than Vandalia" ... maybe ... just do not confuse "accessible" with 'DESIRABLE' ...

 

I was offered my targets paid for by one of the now shooters who has passed on, I respectfully declined his offer but told him more so than anything I would come there to meet him face to face because we had become very good friends over the years and talked many times on the phone ... I wouldn't pee on the WSRC is Sparta if it was on fire and I was the only source of water for 100 miles ... Its not where it went its how it got there and the ATA has paid for that mistake in Spades many times over and they may not be done yet based on the attendance of record so far this year ... I was told that one of the 20 yarders that lives in Sparta is going to start giving lessons to toughten up the competition ... The GPS in his truck only has a map of Sparta on it so he don't get lost ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Is it just me or am I supposed to feel cleansed that I only have one place to get all the news all the time ..? The "Transgenders" do not like it if they threaten you and you respond accordingly ... I feel so clean all of a sudden, love it and all of you people well, not like that kind of Love but like you a lot with ONE exception who would not be here if I had my way ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

No doubt, you are a angry old cuss! Hope it makes you feel better bitching and complaining on the Internet. The whole time thousands of shooters are having a GRAND ole time doing what they love! Grump on WPT grump on!

 

Please
DESIREABLE! to you. And if I had to guess you live closer to Vandalia..? just a guess


But lets move on.. Sparta is nice at least for 2000 people today..

 

"And if I had to guess you live closer to Vandalia..? just a guess" ....

The Missouri Fall Handicap is a greater distance from "my house" than Sparta .... I would/have never passed a chance to go there .... So the location of my house means more to you, than me.

 

User 1

In retail we call you SPECIAl . Take that any way you want to.

Move on it àint coming back

 

Romie.....

The grand isn't "grand". It died. Move on. It is not coming back. The shooters in the west had the chance to show they could do something with it. They killed it. You guys gave it to the Chicago mob/politics to control. Atta boy. Something to be proud of.

Romie it is time for you to move on. User-1's state has 3 grands now. They do not need it. Your friends have lowered the bar. The shoot is as small as it was shortly after WWII. Nothing grand anymore.

In case you missed it....pink slips were handed out. The idnr workers were told to move on. You should too.

 

Romie.......I knew from the start you were a Walmart greeter.

 

It's still the largest trapshoot in the world......isn't it?

 

Special

 

No offense to all those WalMart greeters out there, I'm sure ... (Smithy) .... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

The Vandalia beer tent went down hill after Bud. stopped sponsoring the Bud. Hdcp.

If I'm not mistaken Miller picked it up, but wasn't quite the same.

About like when the ATA got KFC to manage the Cafeteria.

Follow the money trail.

Regards....Gerald

 

Thank You for realizing I am "Special" ...

And let me say I think it is great that custodians are now considered "in retail" .... Every Walmart Men's Room that I go to is well kept ... good job, Thanks

 

All I can say positive about you is you have the correct screen name (LOUDONE)


GB DLS

 

ROTFLMFAO

 

I had to unblock the" loudone", he got way to much of nothing to say ... I wonder if he lives in Sparta and drives a green truck, sound like it ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

Love you man ... no really .... lol well not like that ...

 

Do you know why Budweiser stopped promoting at Vandalia? I do, but will let you post why


GB DLS

 

Well knowing the ATA I would bet it had something to do with money but I never got into the politics of the organization.

Enlighten us Doc.

Regards....Gerald

 

It had to do with money/rent/percentage of sales, All iniatiated by the ATA's Hiring Mr. Carson Woods, he caused the Sausage guy to leave, and brought in cheap Fair /Carnival Food

 

There have been many mysteries shadowing the ATA over the years, the car shows at Vandalia and where all of the proceeds went that never showed on the P & L's ... I asked about those many times and never got a response ... Not sure the chance arises in Sparta because everyone knows what going on and who's screwing who ... Kind of like the little local rural town of yester year, Andy, Opie, Barney, Aunt Bea, Floyd and Gomer all says hi you alls ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Yeah , makes sense.
That's probably why the cafeteria, which I was told had great food, was spun off to KFC.

I guess that's why Las Vegas was so popular. They wanted people to gamble so they made food and drinks cheap, but the food was top notch.


Regards....Gerald

 

To all you Special people... I see you can find problems... I assume you have answers?? just curious ?????

And by the way I admire Walmart greeters! Most are very fine people!

Look forward to your logical solutions .

 

The ATA needs to get re established, curtail all of the uncertainty and get back to reality ... There are places where the Grand can be held without the black cloud of doom, uncertainty, and desparation looming over head ... The shoot could of been held on 50 traps according to the attendance numbers of each event posted on the ATA 's site ... The ATA can put out a request for Proposals / Bids to see if there is anyplace that might consider hosting the shoot, that can include the State of Illinois (WSRC) ... They can develope a minimum requirement standard for any clubs that might be interested for all, not selectively or by preference ... The WSRC is going to come crashing down sooner or later, based on the principle of once it's in question, its always doubted ... There are many clubs and multiple locations all over the country that can, the question would be more so will they want to get involved ..?

I agree with you about the WalMart greeters, many great people just looking for something to do ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

"Look forward to your logical solutions ." ..... OK .....

In the real world 'positions' are performance based, things go well, you stay, they go bad, you go NOW, not by 'closed meetings' on a 'yearly-basis' ... the ATA is willing to operate in a destructive manner ... and it shows.

'Grumpy Old Men' can not destroy anything ... but self-serving narrow-minded people paying themselves for poor performance .... can, and will.

The "logical solution(s)" is to 'fix' KNOWN problems in a 'modern way' ... NOT the century-old Parliamentary procedure ways that protect the current hierarchy. That is how it is done "in retail", in 2015 ........

 

Just curious ..Would you think the 5,700,000 industrial jobs we have lost in the last ten or so years have anything to do with fewer shooters.. That's just industrial jobs! Or how about just general unemployment? Probably silly of me to think that.

 

Romie...great question. My favorite!

The Great Depression had a huge Grand.

Maybe you remember the gas lines of the seventies. Vandalia was booming then.

Then there was Nixon's double digit inflation. Vandalia was booming then too.

The malaise of Carter with a deep recession. Booming years for Vandalia.

The darkest day was the Friday the steel mills closed across Ohio, PA, MI and WV. Bumper year for trapshooting.

Black Thursday, the year of the stock market crash. Another good year.

Then there was the Dot Com crash. Mere bumps in the road for trapshooting.

Remember Clinton's saying it's the economy stupid. Great days for trapshooting.

We refer to those bad times as the Golden Age of Trapshooting.

Trapshooting could handle just about anything....until trapshooting left the trapshooters.

Removing the sport from trapshooting didn't help much either.

 

To start the recovery, you have to get rid of the current administration and get someone who is Pro American and does not Bow to anyone ... That would be a very good start ... Then, no more talking heads trying to talk like they know something and use a bunch of exagerated and inflated figures when the people you are trying to convince already have the REAL numbers and have been keeping track of them for years ... No more "Monkey Shines" ( no pun intended) and down to business ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

I'm not sure where you came up with your figures but mine are real.I'd love to see your figures.
And by the way you were right about the Clinton era.I'd like to have one more run like that.

Think 5.7. Million almost the size of NY city

Have you ever been toNY city...if you have that's a lot of people to me.

 

Romie

Get a history class. The statement by Clinton..."Its the Economy Stupid," is in reference to the bad economy under Bush. Great years for trapshooting.

I did not give you figures. I gave you a history lesson. If you want attendance numbers you can go to the program for the grand. Cross reference that with a 4th grade history book.

As far as NY City. I don't give a rats patute what happens in that socialist state either...although it may be a proper comparison to Illinois.

Search posts by username History Buff. He has done some great posts on the subject.

 

We can talk Global warming if everyone wants to ....

But ... If you are interested it the "ATA" you must open your eyes ....

The newly elected VP got to declare himself the winner of a past election where some were trying to remove him at HIS State Shoot. Read that a couple of times. Look at his shooting records in ShootATA, expand the dates and look at the Clubs and scores.

Now if you live in N1H1's world .... anyone who sees a problem with this was free to file a complaint, in the proper amount of time, with full details .... so maybe these same people may look at it, or may not.

Attempts at change have been made .... the current protections in place make it all but impossible to get traction. The past happened, and the future will be shaped by some untouchable never-was money-hungry people that have a dark past.

 

User-1

What are those "current protections"?

 

You're always tossing out these fatuous comments. You know full well what problem he's addressing. Comments such as these deserve only to be ignored, never directly answered.

 

Can't user-1 answer his own questions?

No "protections"have been discussed yet or I missed it. Just asking what they are.

 

User 1
For some reason I thought you were going to spit out some facts...
But listen ... Go back to shooting because you are getting bitter ...forget about the politics ...this supposed to be fun you and several others are getting cought up in the politics while the shooter's... That is the people like 2500 my guess who go to the Grand are having a ball.....maybe seek some therapy.. And I'm serious... This ain't life or death .

Free advise
Monty McGee

 

Romie/Monty....please stop!!!!!

I am laughing so hard I am going to bust a gut muscle.

Is that all we have going to Sparta? 2500 You are talking about a shoot that once had 5,000 in an event and regularly around 4,000. And you are boasting about it?????

Ahhh cripes.....stomach cramps again. Need to quit laughing and breath slowly.

I know it is against the rules to give someone's identity away but is your real name Lynn Gipson? Or could you be junior Gipson? (just cant quit laughing)

Anyway (junior) or whoever you are. Thanks for posting. I need muscle relaxers now.

 

Why would someone need "therapy" for talking openly about the 'ATA' ????????????

It is something that doesn't go down well with Kool Aid, but it is not without "some facts" ....

If I look at someone's shooting 'history' and 'see' something I find 'odd' .... my thought is they are NOT going to correct things they find OK ....

I pay my 20 bucks 'of free will' .... 'they' do not 'take' anything from me .... but they also 'offer' me little for it ....

FWIW .... you do not have to 'dislike' the person, if you do not like their actions .... I think the people 'in' the ATA are 'good people' .... they just let envy and greed control their actions.

 

Family guy
Stay home ..its you're perragitive.. Maybe if you are so bitter about trap switch to skeet..just a suggestion.
Or get involved in the politics which means you will need to get elected,,,deligate,,, and by the way you will need more friends than Long shot,and user 1,
Sorry you are so unhappy wish I could help, ,,, and I mean that.
Monty

 

This is almost as good as the car ad I saw talking about the "Cadillac converter."

 

Romie

We can tell you have not been shooting long. You boast that the grand may have had 2500 shooters. Did you start shooting this week?

Do you mind telling us what state you are from?

You have shot less the 500 targets and never been to a grand right? Not even a mini grand? You don't even shoot much locally. Tell us Romie. Tell us all. lol

 

smoking 357 thanks for the spelling lesson I guess I need to proof what I read but I am a horrible speller.I had a simple word a month ago went to spell check and I was so far off that it couldn't even figure out what I was trying to spell.
But I have told you my name... and I can tell what you are thinking you think some made up the name and are trying to trick you..Y'all paranoid .. that's funny!
I hate to inform you..no one is concerned that much about your negative opinion at least not enough to make up anything.
You need to
ps.my shooting has been worse than my spelling
Monty

 

Huh? Paranoid? You missed the reference. O.K. I'll spell it out. The picture is lyrics from the Bobby Brown song.

Here you go.

Live a little.

 

Sparta has no beer tent, and no customers if it had one

 

You are so wrong Guns Unlimited sponsored it and we had a lot of fun under it they were many times when it was packed

 

Gary, How could you have been at the "Grand" and missed the beer tent?
Ed Yanchok

 

Where is / was the Beer Tent at Sparta? I was there and did not see it, they had a bar in the central entry bldg.

 

Out behind the grandstand. Same place it's been for 10 years. Glad to hear that you made it there with your sick foot. Did you get to shoot those puppy-dog targets?

Ed Yanchok

 

Ok now it's my turn and some / most of you ain't gonna like it. 1-Monty is a real person and a friend of mine. He did not shoot Vandalia as he said. 2-He has not shot many shoots because he still works at his business and cannot travel a lot. 3-He is an honorable person. 4- He has no major gripe other than he is tired, as are a lot of us, that people won't give up the realization that Vandalia is gone for ever and continually try to stir the pot against anything positive the the ATA is trying to do. Now to me: 1-I did shoot at Vandalia and loved it. I wish it had never had to leave. 2- Sparta is SEVERAL HOURS closer to me than Vandalia and I don't care, I would go either way. AND FOR SURE if the Grand does move, and I don't believe it will for some time, I will go to the new loacation if I can. After all, and you can't stop it, the GRAND IS AND WEILL BE THE GRAND. 3- The shooter business accommodations at Sparta ARE much easier and quicker than Vandalia ever was.

I was the South East AIM Director the year it was handled outside the ATA office. I worked with Lynn Gipson and my opinion for first hand dealings is that he is a stand up guy...smart and efficient. As far as his stance in front of a camera what would you have him say?? The ATA is on the rocks?? Give MORE ammo to the anti gun people. He would not and neither would you were you representing ANY organization.
As far as the health / direction of the ATA, I think, may well be turning in a positive position. This because each year the average age of our sport is going down. We were dyeing out and now, with all the kids,l we actually have a future. So, in my mind L.G.'s assessment is correct. AND youth shooting is reported OUTSIDE the shooting world as the fastest growing high school sport in America, The AIM numbers are up something close to 40% over last year.

As far as numbers go, I have no definitive numbers, but what would the numbers show if the AIM kids were added to the Grand tally? It would sure be close to 4,000 and did (I don't know) Vandalia numbers reflect youth shooters as a break out number.

We all have two choices. Live in the past and complain or try top move forward. It that proverbial make lemonade out of lemons or more closely associated with some of you, make Chicken "stuff" out of chicken salad.

One last thing before you take me to task. I don't give a rip if a beer tent never graces a shoot again. I am not against it. I just don't feel compelled to drink. Respectfully Jim Porter 662-694-1415

 

The forum probably isn't about some guy name Monty...Jim is a friend of mine. So is Paul. Who cares?

Then you were never at Vandalia. You lost any cred already on that statement.

This is the guy you say is "stand up" that said he has the place going in a "fantastic direction." Do you think he was being honest? Not convinced here.

I got numbers. We once regularly had around 4000 in a shoot. Your pal has us in a fantastic direction of less than 2000, and he got a bump as this was supposed to be the last shoot.

I moved forward long ago. You are lingering in the past. Sparta is a dead dinosaur. It aint getting up. Leave it lie.

You do not get it or missed it. The beer tent was not just a place for a brew. It was a social event. It was a gathering place. It was part of the big midway of Vandalia. I saw over a 1,000 people at once near the Bud tent. Most were not all drinking.

jmho

 

Jim Porter
You are from a state that has 22 shooters that shot 1000 handicap targets and you live close to Sparta. You are on a thread that is about how or how not to market and deliver trapshooting to the public.

Your state just voted to make it easier to get yardage at small shoots as your state cannot attract 25 shooters to an event.

Gee Jim....how is it you don't see why we don't want to go your direction?