Minnesota Shooting Range, Itasca Gun Club Grand Rapids Newsletter December 2007 

The date for the Itasca Gun Club Annual Meeting is set for Friday January 11, 2008, and will be held at the Eagles Club in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The meeting begins with a social hour starting at 5:30 PM, Dinner at 6:30 PM followed immediately by a presentation by a special guest speaker.

The business meeting will be mercifully brief with agenda items limited to league awards, discussion of changes or additions to club by-laws, opening the floor to new business and the election of officers.

Your leadership is needed! You’ve said it before, "If I was in charge, I’d run things differently around here". Well, here’s your chance to influence the future of the Itasca Gun Club. All club members in good standing are eligible to run for office. Declare yourself as a candidate or nominate someone you think would do a great job. This is your chance to lead the way to better shooting in the Itasca Area.

To make your reservations, please contact Joanne Baker at membership@itascagunclub.org, mail your reservation form or drop it off at one of the handy drop locations listed on the back page of this newsletter. Reservations are due in before January 7^th, 2008. Please come, it’s a great time and we want to see you!

Thanks to EVERYONE that helped make Sight-in Days 2007 a great success! Once again the IGC members came through with flying colors.

We had another heavy turnout this year. Even though at times it seemed slower than usual at the range, thanks to great weather that helped space out the traffic and a super lineup of volunteers, we actually had an increase in traffic of about 12% sighting in about 1450 guns compared to 1293 during the 2006 event.

It was great to see a lot of the same faces at the range, but even better to see some of the new volunteers out there this year.

Raffle ticket sales were brisk again this year and the fundraiser generated about $5,000.00. Most of the funds this year will likely be earmarked to help with the completion of the plumbing and water for the indoor range/clubhouse Thanks to all who participated and congratulations to the winners of the 2007 sight in days raffle prizes. The 3^rd prize, a Ruger 10/22 rifle went to Doug Fuerst. Thomas Sutherland won the 2nd prize Luepold laser range finder and Shelley Pearson won the first prize, a new Savage Model 114 30-06 Deer Rifle.

The Itasca Gun Club indoor range will be open again this year to the public for practice on Monday evenings from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM beginning on November 26, 2007. The cost to shoot will be $1.00 per gun for club members and $3.00 per gun for non-members. A season pass is available to club members for $10.

There will also be practice time available on Wednesday mornings beginning on November 28, 2007 hours are 10:00 AM to about Noon. Like the Monday evening sessions, cost is $1.00 per gun for club members and $3.00 per gun for non-members. A season pass is also available to club members for $10.

The range will be closed on Christmas Eve 12/24/07 and New Year’s Eve 12/31/07.

IGC will again be running a .22 caliber Bullseye Pistol League on Thursday evenings. There will be a practice session on November 29 starting at 5:30 PM. League competition will begin on Thursday, December 6, 2007 and will start promptly at 5:30 PM as will all subsequent competitions. The cost for the League will be $2.50 per night for club members and $ 5.00 per night for non-members. A season pass is available to club members for $25.

This is a NRA Sanctioned League so the results will be used for shooter classification. Firing for NRA classification will begin on January 3, 2008. The League will also be using a handicap system to help equalize the playing field between all skill levels.

If you have any questions, please call me at 327-3231or-email pistolchair@itascagunclub.org -Mike Hughes IGC Pistol Chairman.