With zero complaints from their range neighbours and an increase in memberships in 2014, the past year has been a strong one for the Stettler Rifle and Pistol Club.
Members of the club gathered at their indoor range in downtown Stettler on Monday, January 6, for their annual general meeting, where the results of changes made at the 2014 AGM were revealed.
In 2013, the club received multiple complaints, from neighbours and from some of its membership, about the damage being done to neighbouring property and to the range itself by people using shotguns loaded with shot-filled cartridges. The tiny pellets chewed up the target backboards, requiring multiple replacements throughout the year, sometimes as frequent as within three days of a new backboard being put up.
To deal with this problem as well as heed recommendations from the chief firearms officer, the club initiated an orientation process that all members are required to take before being allowed to use the outdoor range.
Since then, complaints have completely fallen off, as has the use of shotguns on the range. The decrease in damage and the lack of any complaints in 2014 are being attributed to the change in policy.
The club set its annual spring-cleaning day for May 9 at 10 a.m., with a bad-weather reschedule date of May 30. The club has a long list of projects for the clean-up day besides just clearing away winter’s detritus.
One of the projects being undertaken this year is a levelling of some parts of the site, especially where the benches are located.
Currently, the benches are on a bit of an incline so people sitting on them are sitting “downhill.” Once the area is levelled, too, water retention issues will be resolved.
One of the things the club is investigating this year is rubber matting, not unlike that which is found in the arenas, for the shooting area. The matting would make it easier to clean up the site, enabling the brushing away mud and dirt from the seating and firing areas.
The outdoor range’s fencing will also be replaced this year, as it was found to be at its end-of-life earlier this year when a member went out to repair fencing that had been knocked over by neighbouring property cattle. The barbed wire had become so worn that anything could knock it over, a member explained.
Use of the indoor range continues to be steady, the club was told. The range is located in the basement of the post office building, and is open to members on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The outdoor range, which has targets up ranging as far away as 200 feet, is located near Nevis.
Annual memberships are $60 per individual, or $70 for a family. There’s no age requirements for the range, though minors must be supervised by an adult. The membership fee helps pay for the rental of the indoor range, the upkeep of the outdoor range, and insurance costs.
The club also elected its new executive. The new president of the club is Kurt Reisinger, with Dale Kennedy holding on to the vice position. Donna Strohschein returns as secretary/treasuer, and the four directors this year are Scott Miller, Quincey Schowalter, Matthew Redelback and Kevin Clark.