TexasCHLforum.com

I appreciate the kind words and from all of us on the TexasCHLforum Day crew we are glad you had a good time. There is no denying the fact that putting on this event is a lot of work, but you folks make it worthwhile. All of the instructors and the crew have commented that it’s easy to put in the required effort when people appreciate it. As many of you know, our club (PSC Shooting Club) hosted the Texas State IDPA Championship for six years and I can honestly say that in all those years I never saw a group of people have so much fun and show their appreciation like we see every year at the TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. Thank you for the support you have given our crew through your participation in this event and by letting them know their many hours of hard work were well-spent.

I want to add my thanks to the entire volunteer instructor staff including (in the order they appear in the Event Description Page): Steve Vandermolen, Donna Vandermolen, Marc Gentine, Jim Longley, Gregg Garrett, Eric Achord, Jim Duncan, J.P. Guidry, Jason Hall, Ed Williams, Gary Montgomery, Tim Fisher, Tom Estep and Gordon Carroll. These folks developed their own courses and I think their commitment was evident by the comments made by their students.

The Texas Stars were a big hit (and ammo hog) again this year and once again, Dave Eickhoff ran “the stars” the entire day! Thanks Dave and I hope you had as much fun watching people as did I!

Our “ground crew” included Jim Pierce, Eric Achord, Kevin Svetlik, Mark Stavrakis, Jeremy Thompson, Steve Vandermolen, Donna Vandermolen, Dave Eickhoff, Danny Stowers, John Nash and some attendees who came early and jumped in and gave a hand with the setup Saturday morning. We also had a few hardy folks stay after the end of the day and help us put up the props and clean the range. I know there were others who helped that I didn’t see, and I’m sorry for leaving you out of this list of volunteers. Thanks guys and gals!

Marc Gentine handled the sign-in process, along with preparing the name badges and individual schedules. Thanks Marc!

I also want to acknowledge incredible amount of work that went into getting the running target system installed for the 2009 TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. For 10 years I have dreamed of having a running target system at PSC. The project always seemed to get pushed to the back burner because of personal commitments and higher priorities at PSC. Almost years ago, the PSC Board voted to fund the project and Jim Pierce, Marc Stavrakis and I started the planning stage of the project. Jim wound up designing and building the system and put in well over 2,000 hrs. just to get it to the field testing stage! Jim probably knows of others who assisted him. Jim did the tractor work to level and square pistol Bay C so that it would accommodate the new target system. Then grass was laid in about 1/3 of the bay to cover the dirt exposed by the tractor work.

Jim Pierce, Eric Achord and Kevin Svetlik also put in many hours building the protective walls that sit in front of the “runner.” (This was a huge job.) Mark Stavrakis and Kevin Svetlik put in a lot of hours to get the project to the point where it could be installed in time for this year’s TexasCHLforum Day at PSC. This really was crunch time and I didn’t see any way the runners would be ready for this year’s event. But Mark, Kevin and Jim were determined not to have to cancel the running targets mini-clinics and they got the job done. You did an incredible job guys and we all thank you!

I’m sure there were other people who helped on this project when I was not there, so I apologize for leaving them out of this very condensed project review.

The runner used at the TexasCHLforum Day is just a glimpse of the final target system. While both runners were operational, they were “manually” controlled using switches. When the computer controls are installed, both runners will be independently computer-controlled, as will be 10 pneumatic turning targets that will be part of the system. (Jim designed and built the turning targets as well.) Hopefully, the system will be complete in the next several weeks.

We had perfect weather, a dedicated, crew, good food and a great group of folks to make the 2009 TexasCHLforum Day at PSC a success. Thanks again for coming and for letting the crew and instructors know you appreciate their work.

As Jim Pierce said, we need to start working on next year “six months from now.” Remember, the TexasCHLfory Day at PSC is moving to April and in 2010 it will be on April 24th.

Chas.