Trigger Time 4-H Shooting Education Club
What To Do About Our Waiting List
We have 60 kids registered in Trigger Time and 84 kids on the waiting list. The club can't, for a variety of reasons, get any larger. Spots in the club are created only through graduation or attrition, and last year we took in only 18 new kids. At this rate, the next kid on the waiting list can expect to wait over 4 years to be offered membership. We're not happy with that prospect.
One potential remedy might be to start another shooting education club in Prince William County. A new club would need to start with a limited focus - for example archery and/or BB gun - just as Trigger Time did when it started in the early 90's and grow over time. Of course, a new club would need leaders and instructors - adult volunteers willing to put in some effort to provide a safe and enjoyable learning enviroment for your kids. The good news is that there is shooting instructor training and club management help available for dedicated parents and other interested adults.
Is this something that might appeal to you, or would you be interested to discuss the possibilities in more detail? If so, please join Linda King, Prince William County 4-H Agent, and Ron Smith for an informal meeting on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Sudley North Government Offices (Lower Level) 8033 Ashton Ave. We'll be in the 1st conference room on your left as you enter the building.
Please let Ron Smith know if you expect to attend. His e-mail contact is at the link to the left and at the bottom of this page.
Trigger Time Elections
We has our annual elections in conjunction with our holiday pot luck dinner on December 19th. Congratulations to our 2012 officers:
Troy Vigil - President
Kenneth Hawthorne - Vice President
Katie O'Rourke - Secretary
Jenna Fees - Treasurer
John Andrews - Historian
Mark Your Calendars
The list below contains 2012 dates where the event has been finalized, and the old 2011 dates for last year's events left dim for awareness until scheduled.
January 21: Instructor Certification. Training in muzzleloading. Frederick County. Contact Lee Turner
March 9-11: Virginia Air 4-H BB Gun/Air Rifle/Air Pistol Championship at the W.E.Skelton 4-H Education Center
March 17-18: 4-H Instructor Training (Rifle & Archery) at Prince William Izaak Walton League
March 23-25: Virginia 4-H State-wide Shooting Instructor Training at the Airfield 4-H Education Center
March 24-25: Virginia Gun Collectors Association Gun Show at the Prince William Fairgrounds
April 7: Virginia State JOAD at Centreville
April 28: American Legion Regional Air Rifle Match at Vint Hill Farm Station
May 5: American Legion State Air Rifle Match at the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club
May 5-6: Hunter Education Championship, Holiday Lake 4-H Education Center
May 13-18: National 4-H Shooting Sports Workshop in Kansas - Become an Instructor Trainer
June 16: Trigger Time Annual Summer Kickoff Picnic at Ron Smith's house (Saturday!)
June 30: Southeast District Match at the Airfield 4-H Education Center
August 4: Northern/Northwest District 4-H Shoot at the Cedar Mountain Youth, Inc in Culpeper
August 12-16: Virginia 4-H/NRA Shooting Education Camp at the Holiday Lake 4-H Education Center (age 12-16)
August 13-17: Virginia 4-H/NRA Shooting Education Camp at the Airfield4-H Education Center (age 9-18)
September 7-9: Virginia State 4-H Shoot at the Holiday Lake 4-H Education Center
September 22: Virginia 4-H Shotgun Championship at (Location TBD)
October xx: Prince William County 4-H Recognition Day at the Manassas Lions Club
October 12-14: Virginia 4-H State-wide Shooting Instructor Training at the Holiday Lake 4-H Education Center
November 3-4: VGCA Gun Show at the PWC Fairgrounds
Other important events will be added as we become aware of them.
Coming Events
- January 2nd: Trigger Time Holiday
- January 9th: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- January 10th: 7:00 - 8:30 pm, 4-H Council Meeting, McCoart Building, Occoquan Room
- January 16th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- January 23rd: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- January 24th: 7:00 - 8:30 pm, Presentation Training (Western), 4-H Office-McCoy Conference Room (2nd Floor)
- January 28th: 9:00 am - 2:30 pm, 4-H Project Day, Saunders Middle School
- January 30th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- February 6th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- February 7th: 4-H State Capitol Day
- February 9th: 5:30 - 7:30 pm, Share the Fun Rehearsal, Jennie Dean Elementary School
- February 10th: 7:00 pm, Share the Fun Performance, Jennie Dean Elementary School
- February 13th: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- February 20th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- February 27th: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- March 5th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- March 9th-11th: Virginia Air 4-H BB Gun/Air Rifle/Air Pistol Championship at the W.E.Skelton 4-H Education Center
- March 12th: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- March 17th-18th: 4-H Instructor Training (Rifle & Archery) at Prince William Izaak Walton League (Tentative)
- March 19th: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
- March 23th-25th: Virginia 4-H State-wide Shooting Instructor Training at the Airfield 4-H Education Center
- March 24th-25th: Virginia Gun Collectors Association Gun Show at the Prince William Fairgrounds
- March 26th: Archery at Prince William Izaak Walton League
- April 2nd: Rifle/Pistol/BB Gun at PWC Fairgrounds
To see the current Prince William County 4-H Calendar, go to: http://www.pwc4h.org/ and follow the link to the 2010-2011 Calendar. This is also a secondary source for enrollment forms.
To see the current Virginia 4-H Shooting Education Calendar, follow the link at: http://www.4-h.ext.vt.edu/programs/nree/shootinged/indexshootinged.html.
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I still use Ron's page for non time critical information and to hold enrollment forms, but I stopped maintaining the separate Google calendar. Since we're listing upcoming activities and events of interest here on the home page, it was time consuming and redundant.
Joining USArchery
When you reach the bowman level and have been awarded the Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) the Black Star pin you must join USArchery to receive any more JOAD awards. This is a rule imposed by JOAD and US Archery, whose award program we use to recognize archery performance. The cost is $35/year and includes a publication.
Website Information
The folks who host our webpage (pbwiki) are instituting a mandatory upgrade to the new 2.0 format. The good news is that the editing of the page will be easier and also, still free. The website may look a little different, but we can work with it. There will no longer be a "shared password" access procedure. This means that anyone having access to edit the website will need a user account (also free). Then you will need to be added on to the wiki. There are several levels of participation from reader to administrator. The reader level will allow you to make comments to the page. I have already added the two people I am aware of who make regular changes. If you would like to join the wiki, click the request link. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Coach Mary (marylecompte at gmail dot com)
Important information for joining Trigger Time:
Due to unrivaled populatity, we now take in new members only through our waiting list.
- Trigger Time is very popular, and we have to manage membership numbers carefully;
- We do not run open enrollment and can take new members at orientation meetings by invitation only;
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Please email or call Ron Smith to be put on the waiting list for the next orientation opportunity;
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New members will be invited to join in the order they get on the waiting list;
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As of the end of 2011 the waiting list is at least two years long;
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Please contact Ron Smith to be placed on the new member interest list.
Background
Trigger Time 4-H Club is one of Prince William County's longest running clubs, organized in 1993 initially under the direction of Fred Fees and later Bernie Malo. The goal of the club is to develop youth teamwork, responsibility, self-confidence and decision making through shooting education. Trigger Time conducts safety and education programs for air rifle, small bore rifle, archery, skeet and trap, black powder, hunter education and wildlife conservation. Trigger Time is historically and predominantly and air rifle and recurve archery club, and hence there is minimal expense to members for participation in these disciplines, as the club already owns a large quantity of air rifle and recurve archery equipment.
Times and Locations
Trigger Time meets every Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Prince William Fairgrounds in Manassas, the Izaak Walton League in Brentsville, or other locations as necessary or available. We participate in local, district and State competitions and have sent individuals and teams to National competitions.
Organization and Leaders
Our volunteer leaders and instructors are trained by one or more nationally recognized shooting sports organizations and are certified by the Virginia 4-H Shooting Education Program. We adhere to 4-H principles and values and fall under the guidance of the Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Prince William County Cooperative Extension Office.
New Members
We welcome new members, girls and boys, ages 9 through 19, only during scheduled orientation sessions usually held at the Izaak Walton League in Brentsville. We conduct new member and parent orientations, fill out the requisite paperwork, and get the kids shooting as soon as we're all safe. New members need only attend one orientation, but the orientation and paperwork are required before new members are allowed to shoot.
Eligibility
While 4-H membership is available to kids as young as 5 years old through the Clover Bud programs, the minimum age for Shooting Education (and Equestrian, by the way) is 9 years old. The 4-H program measures age as of the end of the current 4-H year, which is September 30th. So, as long as a kid will turn 9 years old during the current 4-H year, they are considered "4-H 9." Said another way, as long as a kid is 8 by September 30th, 2009 they are considered "4-H 9" for the current 4-H year, which starts October 1st, 2009, because they will actually be 9 years old before the end of the 4-H year. It can be a bit confusing, but it's National policy and we're bound by it. Maximum age is 19, and a young adult member loses 4-H eligibility on December 31st of the year they turn 19 years old.
Annual Dues
We made a recent change to our financial policies in lieu of the uncertainty of our recent sources of outside funding. Effective last year we are charging an annual membership fee in addition to our weekly $1 dues collection policy. Here’s the wording of the annual dues policy:
This 4-H club will assess an annual membership fee of $25 per youth member with a maximum fee of $75 per family. The membership fee is $25 each for the first two members of a family. The third member of a family is assessed a $15 fee, and the fourth member a $10 fee. There is no additional membership fee charged for the fifth or higher member from a family. This fee is due in the fall when annual membership forms are due.
Contact
There's much more information, but most of it can wait until the orientation. Please call me at 703-753-6537 if you have any questions, or to have us hold a place for you at the next orientation.
Ron Smith
4-H Leader/Coach
Trigger Time 4-H Shooting Education Club
email contact: ronald dot smith at mantech dot com
or email trigger_time at verizon dot net (note: this account is checked very infrequently!)
and substitute "@" for "at" and "." for "dot" in the above addresses.
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