Mission Valley Shooting Club awards scholarships
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It has been a busy year for the shooting range. New board members Allen Cornelison and Mike Webster were voted in at the first of the year to join Fred Webster, Rob Olson and Ray Aylsworth. Mike and Allen are replacing long time board members Cory Badgley who moved and Monty Lucht who passed away after watching over the range since it started. These volunteers do a great job of keeping things running smoothly and dedicating time to keep it financially sound. Thanks to them for all they do.
We held a turkey shoot at Thanksgiving last year with over 20 shooters from Montana, Idaho and Utah attending. Frozen turkeys, hams and cash prizes were sent home for the holiday.
Last spring we partnered with SKC HCT, Highway Construction Training Program, under the direction of Dennis Talbott on range improvements. Those included building up additional earthen safety berms, building a new gravel parking area, restoring gravel roads and existing parking areas. We are proud to be able to utilize their training program that gives students from the college a project where they can put their learning to use. For approximately six weeks, students, under the supervision of instructors, spent time hauling fill materials, gravel and equipment to and from the site. They also accumulated hours on cats, front end loaders, graders, compactors and other heavy equipment. I can’t say enough about how well and professional SKC runs these public service projects for their training program.
Last year we received enough donations to our scholarship program to be able to offer a $5,000 scholarship. These are available to youths who have attended our Monthly 22 Youth Shoots and whose families are members in good standing. Last year Hannah Potter wrote an essay on wildlife management that was enough to be selected. Hannah was one of the original shooters at the first shoot nine years ago and still holds the record for highest score in the youth competition. This year donations totaled $15,200. Haley Morgan of Polson was awarded $200 and Hannah received the rest toward her continuing education after making the president’s list at the University of Montana. Both students were at the first shoot and both maintained 4.0 their freshman year.
We are proud of these young women and wish them the best in the future. Anyone wishing to help fund the scholarship program is more than welcome, just contact Ray Aylesworth or one of the other board members. We are grateful that we are able to give back to the community through these scholarships.
Our Monthly 22 Youth Shoot has reached so many young people. It teaches firearm safety, range safety and offers fun competition with other youth and adults.
It is amazing that so much has been accomplished by an all volunteer group with not a single employee and without any burden on taxpayers. Thanks to the whole community for your support.
