akapennypincher said:
Randy Johnson said:
The late Max Vickery once stated something to the effect that he could go to a shoot with nothing but the clothes on his back and still be able to have a place to sleep, eat, and shoot all week. A lot of things have changed in the muzzleloading game since he made that statement. I like to think that the spirit of what he said is not one of them.
We were out in Friendship a few hours in the Spring of 68 when I was living in Indiana, the people seem kind of friendly.
But I would not show up today with nothing but the cloths on your back, as you will not gat passed the gate gestapoat the NMLRA.
Brink an NMLRA Membership Card, or the Required Fee to join the NMLRA, bring lost and lots of money, as you will need it for registration fee, match fee, camping fees, etc., etc., etc.
The good old day of the Friendship Shoot are history, like most good old when you could buy a Coca Cola for a Nickel, a New Car for a Grand and a Half, and a Gallon of Gas for your New Car for $0.19.9/Gallon.
Wake up to 2012. :applause:
While I have to agree that the Friendship shoots are not what they once were, I stand by my contention that - for the most part anyway - the spirit of Max’s statement still prevails.
For sure, if a person makes the long trip and discovers he forgot to bring a critical item he will not have to purchase a replacement. Someone will have an extra whatever it is and will volunteer it for the duration of the shoot. At least. I got a personal taste of this last October when I arrived at the Southeastern to discover that two of the three poles I needed to erect my tent were still in Indiana. Temporary replacements were quickly provided from a fly setup until I could get into Yadkinville and get a couple of 2Xs to use for the duration. It didn’t happen at Friendship, but if it had, the outcome would have been the same.
I started shooting at Friendship in the early 1970s. In order to do so, a membership card was required, and any match I ever shot in required an entry fee. I’d be willing to bet that such was the case way before either of us had ever heard of Friendship. Are you proposing that it should all be free? If so, please explain how YOU would cover the cost of putting on a shoot the size of Friendship.
I will agree that the NMLRA has made some serious mistakes over the years in relation to attracting new members and keeping the ones they have. Some of these things, like expecting you to pay gate fees if you are a member, have been dropped, although if you are just down for the day you still pay to park. And as someone who can remember when you couldn’t park in the Laker Lot PERIOD unless you were a member, (and you parked free) I think that’s a crock. In 1993, one of the Gate Gestapo pulled my cork sufficiently enough to cause me to resign an active membership. I rejoined this year to be able to attend two events. At present, it’s something under 50/50 as to whether or not I’ll renew when my membership runs out. Regardless, Friendship will go on. It’s survived the loss of folks who have done much more for its continuance that I. Or you.
And I’m glad, because even if some of us are disenchanted with what the NMLRA in general, and Friendship in particular, has become, there are still those who feel the passion for it that we once did. Let’s try being happy for them.
