Thanksgiving Day Shoot A Success
Photo by Rocky Vanoost
While many people were out of town this past weekend for the holiday, many archers descended upon the Rancho Park Archery range.
The range put on a Thanksgiving Shoot. It’s first tournament in a while. It was a small low-key event that provided a great opportunity for many to try their hands at competitive archery.
The event had a good turnout. Most were regulars at the range and many, including myself, were tournament newbies. There were definitely some pre-tournament jitters which quickly faded as the event got going.
Alex Kobe, along with several other range volunteers ran the event. The tournament went from 9am-4pm with a break for lunch. It consisted of 20 ends, 3 arrows each.
After check-in time, Alex explained the tournament format and rules. After which we had some warm up time and were given our targets to place on the wall, at which point some chaos ensued with everyone jockeying for space on the target wall. After that, Alex reviewed the score keeping process. We had to do math in addition to shooting? Well technically, not everyone, only a few selected shooters in each lane were designated as scorekeepers.
Once we got started, after the first few rounds, everybody got into a rhythm and things began to move smoothly.
Once the first 10 ends were completed, it was lunch time. We all took a break to enjoy some good conversation and laughs over a great potluck spread and some delicious BBQ–some of which Alex managed to cook in between rounds–so much for burning off those Thanksgiving calories.
Towards the end of lunch some of the Juniors had some additional fun. They got to take a few good whacks at a candy filled Angry Bird. Why didn’t they string up one of the egg stealing pigs?
Actually, what was more amusing than watching the kids, was watching some of the adults rush in for the candy after the Angry Bird’s demise.
With lunch over, we took up our bows again to complete the remaining 10 ends. It goes without saying that some shooters’ performance declined a bit, due to post lunch sluggishness and the occasional excursion to the food table between ends. The victors would be those who not only shot well but who could stay focused and shoot through the post lunch stupor.
Once the last end was completed and the scores were tabulated, we all gathered around for the awards ceremony to bring the event to a close.
Whether you walked away with some shiny hardware or not, I think it’s fair to say everybody had a good experience. It was a great opportunity to try something different and test your archery skills. A fun time was had by all and it was for a good cause. All tournament fees went to the Pink Ribbon charity.
Rumor has it that more tournaments will follow this one at the range. The healthy turn out this past weekend bodes well for similar events. And if the range gets expanded, perhaps the tournaments might get even bigger.
The Holiday Season is revving up with Thanksgiving just around the corner. What better way for archers to enjoy the season than with a Thanksgiving shoot?
If you have a kid, or kids, who are 16 and under and are experienced archers, there’s a tournament being held this Sunday, June 10th. It’s the Disney/Pixar Brave Youth Archery Tournament and it will take place in Pasadena Central Park. 
