As I just mentioned in the Training Resume thread, I successfully passed my very first NRA Basic Pistol Safety course today. Yay me. 
What made today especially interesting was that during the portion of our training where we were actually at the range firing the pistols, the First Annual Proctor Charity Ride stopped by the range and had a dedication ceremony officially renaming the range at Atterbury in honor of Sgt. Joseph Proctor.
If you don't know Sgt. Proctor's story, you can read it here: The Attebury Crier
The short version is that he was killed in active service in Iraq. Essentially, the base he was stationed at was victim to a coordinated insurgent attack. Hearing the shots fired, Joey left the safety of the barracks he was in, assessed the situation, and stopped a dump truck laden with explosives from reaching the barracks by firing 25 shots into the cab of the truck, killing the driver. Unfortunately, Joey was killed in the explosion that occurred, but ultimately saved the lives of hundreds of other people.
What makes this special is that I have an indirect connection to Joey. His wife was the sister of my own sister's ex-husband; essentially, Joey is my nephew's uncle. So it was quite a surprise to me to go to a training class and end up having a small family reunion as several of my family and friends were directly involved in the dedication. As happy as that was, hearing Joey's story again and seeing how it moved my family made me over-emotional and completely ruined whatever grasp I had at improving my shots today.
So that's the rose-colored glasses part. Now that I know the guys at the range pretty well, haven taken one of the trainings they offer, and largely because I now have a very emotional connection to the range itself, I like Atterbury even more.
The pink hat bit --- haha. After the class was over, I called my sister to see if she was still in the area to perhaps try and convert her to the dark side (ie, have her come shooting with us for a bit). Long story short, she was at the end of the Charity Ride at Proctor Park in New Whiteland, where they were having a hog roast. So Lars and I drove over and had supper with them.
As we were leaving, a young family was waiting by their vehicle, waiting on some friends to arrive. The man noticed the pink hat I was wearing and asked if I was at Atterbury last weekend. He said, "You were the girl with three pistols laid out on the table, right?" I laughed and said it was actually five, but yes, that was me. It made me laugh more when he said that he noticed the pink hat and wondered. So, not only was he NOT an INGO member, nor part of my extended family, nor were we at the range, and he STILL recognized me because of the pink hat.
Sorry guys, but I think the hat might have to become part of my permanent wardrobe. LoL!
Anyway, today was in general a very good day, I think.
What made today especially interesting was that during the portion of our training where we were actually at the range firing the pistols, the First Annual Proctor Charity Ride stopped by the range and had a dedication ceremony officially renaming the range at Atterbury in honor of Sgt. Joseph Proctor.
If you don't know Sgt. Proctor's story, you can read it here: The Attebury Crier
The short version is that he was killed in active service in Iraq. Essentially, the base he was stationed at was victim to a coordinated insurgent attack. Hearing the shots fired, Joey left the safety of the barracks he was in, assessed the situation, and stopped a dump truck laden with explosives from reaching the barracks by firing 25 shots into the cab of the truck, killing the driver. Unfortunately, Joey was killed in the explosion that occurred, but ultimately saved the lives of hundreds of other people.
What makes this special is that I have an indirect connection to Joey. His wife was the sister of my own sister's ex-husband; essentially, Joey is my nephew's uncle. So it was quite a surprise to me to go to a training class and end up having a small family reunion as several of my family and friends were directly involved in the dedication. As happy as that was, hearing Joey's story again and seeing how it moved my family made me over-emotional and completely ruined whatever grasp I had at improving my shots today.
So that's the rose-colored glasses part. Now that I know the guys at the range pretty well, haven taken one of the trainings they offer, and largely because I now have a very emotional connection to the range itself, I like Atterbury even more.
The pink hat bit --- haha.
After the class was over, I called my sister to see if she was still in the area to perhaps try and convert her to the dark side (ie, have her come shooting with us for a bit). Long story short, she was at the end of the Charity Ride at Proctor Park in New Whiteland, where they were having a hog roast. So Lars and I drove over and had supper with them. As we were leaving, a young family was waiting by their vehicle, waiting on some friends to arrive. The man noticed the pink hat I was wearing and asked if I was at Atterbury last weekend. He said, "You were the girl with three pistols laid out on the table, right?" I laughed and said it was actually five, but yes, that was me. It made me laugh more when he said that he noticed the pink hat and wondered. So, not only was he NOT an INGO member, nor part of my extended family, nor were we at the range, and he STILL recognized me because of the pink hat.
Sorry guys, but I think the hat might have to become part of my permanent wardrobe. LoL!
Anyway, today was in general a very good day, I think.
