The Lowell Sportsmen's Club, Inc.
Come celebrate your Ruger 10/22 on October 22nd (that’s 10/22 – get it?)! This will be a casual and fun event, with competitions for both open sights and scoped rifles. Prizes will be awarded to the top shooters. Experienced and new shooters welcome – we just want to get out and have fun with our 10/22s. The events starts at 9am; registration opens at 8:30, and will be on the outdoor .22 range.
An LSC member generously donated a number of brand new David Clark earmuffs (model 18611G-01, similar to those used on the flight deck of aircraft carriers), for the club to sell as a fundraiser. Similar David Clark models are priced at $35-$50+, and these are available for just $20. Each pair of earmuffs comes in a box with a David Clark information label. Contact Jim Martin at 978-455-9694 or at the next monthly meeting.
September’s regular Monthly Meeting will be extended to include a Special Meeting to hold a final vote on proceeding with the Big Bore Range Improvement Project. This meeting will be on Tuesday, September 13th, and will start earlier than normal at 7:00 PM. The regular business will be handled first, and then the Big Bore project update will follow.
All members are encouraged to attend to record your vote.
A message from Al Anganes, Committee Chair:
Special Meeting Notice:
As the membership voted, the big bore range improvement project has been moving forward and great deal of work has been done by the committee. Many of the technical details of the project are being finalized, there have been meetings with potential contractors, fundraising has been ongoing, and an in depth analysis of the club’s financial projections has been studied. A report on this status was made to the club board, and it was voted by the board to present this funding proposal to the membership for a vote. This will take place at the September general meeting.Project Status Update:
Continued work on the final designs for the features of the range tells us that we should be able to complete this work within the originally prescribed budget, but to do so we will need to rely on some volunteer labor on the part of interested club members. The heavy excavation work (grading, installation of the culvert, etc) will be completed by a general contractor as planned, while for some parts like the “no blue sky” baffles, landscaping, etc. will rely on labor contributions of members to help out in order to meet budget. Those projects are of similar scope and nature to others we have done with members assistance (skeet field, several indoor range rehabs, trap field upgrades, etc) so are eminently do-able.Work has been ongoing for determining how we can finance this project in a manner that is workable and fiscally responsible for the club. Individual contributions have been substantial, totaling $31,104 that have come from a relatively small number of donors. We had hoped for more in the way of contributions but given where we stand currently, for planning purposes we assumed that we will finance $200,000 of this project, and a budget and funding model was put together.
This model was based on income and expense data from the treasurer from the past few years and projects forward, making adjustments for overall rising costs, etc.
Making this work will rely on two key parts:
- We will be looking to have members invest in this club and project to raise this money. We are hoping to find at least ten members willing to invest $20,000 to be paid back over ten years with an interest rate of 3%. A few members that we have asked about this (to gauge interest) have already expressed an interest in doing so. Any members interested in additional info on this, please contact club VP Alan Anganes.
- In order that we can service the $200,000 in loans that we must finance, and s?ll maintain the financial health of our treasury, there is a $40/year assessment proposed that begins next year and ends after six years.
By way of commentary I’d like to say that as has been noted before, this is a large and complex project, likely the largest we have undertaken beyond the initial purchase of the property in the 1930’s. And while the cost in dollars seems large, the value this will bring to our club will pay the same sorts of dividends going forward that those with the foresight to purchase our property have paid for us. A project of this magnitude happens once in a genera?on for an organization like ours, and it has fallen to us to make this happen. This is far more than just an upgrade to our facility; it is an investment in the long term health of this club. I have every bit of confidence in this club to do this project that I had when we started studying it. We have an impressive array of talented members who have volunteered countless hours to getting us this far, there is no doubt that we can see this through, and continue to make the Lowell Sportsmen’s Club a premiere club that we can all enjoy and take pride in.
The public is encouraged to join us for the Lowell Sportsmen’s Club 2016 Open House, on Saturday, September 10, from Noon-4pm. This is a free event with activities for the entire family. Highlights of the day include a Birds of Prey show, a retired military bomb-sniffing dog, Colonial reenactors, face painting and crafts, and firearms safety talks. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about and try a variety of shooting sports, including trap, skeet, blackpowder, high power rifle, and .22 and airgun plinking. Instructors will also be available on the archery range and fishing pond to help improve your skills. Free hamburgers and hotdogs will be served from the snack shack. There will also be information on membership, firearms safety, and other club information at the Welcome Tent. The Lowell Sportsmen’s Club is located at 50 Swain Road, North Chelmsford, MA 01863.
Shooters on the outdoor .22 range will notice new target holders have replaced the big white and gray frames we used to use. The old target stands were big, heavy, and falling apart. The new stands are smaller and lighter, and should be easy for users of the range to move around as needed.
The new target stands also use snow fence and clips as the means for attaching targets – this does away with the carpet, wood, cardboard, and need for staple guns. A tub of clothespins will be available at the range, and targets can be easily clipped to the plastic fence. This is an experiment to see how well the snow fence holds up, and if it successful, it will also go in at the Big Bore range’s 25 yard impact area.
If you use this range, please let Jim Martin or Brian Herzog know how the new target holders work, and if you have any suggestions.
Update 8/3/16:
From Matt Franco, Archery Committee Chair:
After Thursday [8/4/16] the range should be open again. We have a basic outline done to the Archery range with stakes and strings and two prototype targets setup. We will complete 3-4 other targets and verify the ground is safe on Thursday night. So we can have it usable for the weekend.
Original Post 7/27/16:
Now that the lead reclamation project is complete, and the Gipson-Ricketts crew has left the club, the next project is to redesign and build a new archery range.
The archery committee is currently evaluating the site and creating a new preliminary design of the range. There will be a work party Saturday, July 30th, to get a bare bones range in place to make it functional, until the Eboard approves the funding to reconstruct the newly design range. If you are interested in helping with the design or construction of this range, please contact the archery committee.
This week’s Thursday evening Archery night (7/28) has been canceled.
Update 7/22/16 message from Al Anganes:
Hi All,
As you may or may not have heard, we had a bit of an incident up at the club toady. A truck came up the driveway and caught the overhead wires. It pulled the power pole over, and pulled the service off of the building an the caretakers house [photo below].
Power has been temporarily restored to the caretakers house, but the clubhouse, trap and skeet fields will be without power for a few days until the services are repaired and the proper inspections, etc can be done. The repairs will be getting done over the weekend and the inspections likely on Monday.
There is a generator running the well pump, the fridge and a few lights in the clubhouse, but that’s about it.
So it looks like we will not be able to run Friday night shoot, RSO class, trap or skeet this weekend.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Tim and Co. are working hard to get things back in shape asap.
Please pass the word along to anyone who needs to know.
As an aside, if anyone is looking to help out, there are a number of projects going on that could use some help on Saturday morning. Tim will be there at 8am to get started, if you have some time please stop by and see him.
Thanks,
Al
Original Post:
A truck hit the power lines at the club earlier today and brought our main power pole down onto the roof of the building. A new pole has been set, but most likely we wont have club power until the weekend.
Due to this, all meetings and events for Friday and Saturday, 7/22 and 7/23, are cancelled. This includes Friday Night Fun Shoot and the NRA RSO Safety Course. Please check back to see if it rescheduled, and to make sure trap and skeet will be open on Sunday before you come down.
In the meantime, repair crews are on the job:
Come test your skills in a variety of sporting activities to see who will get their name on the Shooter’s Challenge Cup this year!
This event is open to LSC members only, and the prize is a free year’s club membership, bragging rights as the top shooter in the club, and your name on the Illustrious Shooters Challenge Cup to prove it.
Each Shooter’s Challenge consists of 4 different events, including anything from Revolver Roulette, Buckshot Poker, Beaver Archery, pistol, trap, spear, rifle – it could be anything. Both skill and luck are important for these events, and everyone has fun.
Registration starts at 8:30 am and the Challenge starts at 9:00 am. Cost is $25 per person, and the Shooter’s Challenge is limited to LSC members only.
If you have any questions, please see Blackpowder Al.
Update 7/21/16:
The crew has finished their work and are now in the process of replacing all of the soil and removing their equipment from the archery range. This is expected to continue through the weekend and they estimate they’ll be completely gone by early next week.
Update 7/15/16:
The lead reclaimation crew said that having the trap fields open as normal for GLTL matches Tuesday and Wednesday nights is no problem, and trap and skeet will also be open as normal on Sundays at 1pm. Ranges are likely to be closed at all other times, to give the crews the opportunity to work as quickly as they can. They expect to be done with the work by the end of July, depending on weather.
Here’s a photo of the reclaimed lead shot. Each of the white bags along the drive is about 3000 pounds, and the crew says they’re processing about one bag an hour.
Reclaimed Lead Shot – click for larger image
Original Post:
As you know we have been in discussions with lead reclamation contractor Gipson-Ricketts for close to a year to arrange to have them come to reclaim the lead from some of our ranges. They have been working in the area this summer and Charlie O’Donnell has been working with them to coordinate this project. They are based in Missouri and their crew travels around the country doing this work and they have been working here in our area this spring/summer. This is something that we need to do as part of our lead stewardship plan. It will be done at no cost to the club, and LSC gets a cut of whatever profits are made on the sale of the recovered lead.
We got word just the other day that they will be wrapping up their project at the N. Leominster club and could be available to come to LSC next. This was reviewed with the e-board and approved and they have been given the go ahead to start as soon as they are able.
This will primarily cause a disruption on our outdoor archery field, as that is where they will be setting up their screening equipment to process the material. The project is expected to take 2-3 weeks so during that time that field will be unavailable. They will be working in the shot-fall areas of the main trap field, skeet/trap field, and possibly the OLD .22 backstop. The trap and skeet fields and the associated shot-fall areas, and the .22 range will be affected only when they are working on those fields. The contractor is willing to work with us to adjust their workflow to minimize disruptions to our normal activities.
They will begin moving equipment to our property as early as this weekend and will likely be starting work this week.
Congratulations to the winner of the Lowell Sportsmen’s Club’s July 4th Archery Challenge!
Lots of people took the Archery Challenge at the Club’s booth during the Country Fair on the Chelmsford Common July 3rd & 4th. It was a lot of fun, and quite a few archers earned extra tickets by getting their arrows into the +2, +10, or +20 targets.
The young man who won the challenge not only shot straight enough to win extra tickets, but he was also the only contender to earn extra tickets with BOTH of his shots! Congratulations on a great performance, and thanks to everyone who participated!
We hope to see everyone out at the Club on Thursday nights for our weekly public archery sessions. They are free and open to the public, and run 6:30 pm – dark. It is drop-in, equipment is available for people who don’t have their own bows, and certified instructors are on hand to oversee the range and answer questions. Thursday night archery takes place on the Club’s archery range, and the club is located at 50 Swain Road, North Chelmsford, MA 01863.
We hope everyone had a great Fourth of July, and we’ll see you next year on the Chelmsford Common!