We've Got The County Covered
The Chinook Rod and Gun Club held its Annual Meet and Greet this past Friday at the Chinook Eagles Club.
Once again the event featured numerous Door Prizes, Raffles, good food and a great social atmosphere.
The club has been very active in the community and surrounding areas since its resurrection six years ago. In that time the club has completely renovated the gun range south of Chinook, built its membership up to over 200 as well as actively getting the area youth out for a day of fishing each year. The club also has its own reservoir, that is exclusive to members and is always looking for new ways to expand.
Chairmen Chris Carpenter was plenty excited about the way the evening went, "Great crowd great food, the Eagles did an excellent job providing a great meal as always."
The Club uses the evening as a way to reach out to the community to let folks know what they are doing and in the process of doing, and hopefully increase their membership, "The turnout was pretty good, there were some new faces and plenty of familiar ones as well," added Carpenter.
"I thought we were able to reach out to the community and explain what we are all about and what we are doing. Hopefully we'll have some new members show up at the range April 7 for cleanup and a shoot," stated Carpenter.
The Clubs Trap League is set to begin next month and April 7th has been set aside as a day to make sure everything is in order for the start of the league season. The cleanup day will include a little fun as well, so be prepared to shoot if you plan to take part.
"The trap league seems to be going well and looks like we'll have a good mix of men and women shooters making up the teams. Heading into the summer we have some containers coming in and are looking to hire a youngster to be able to open the trap range and be in charge of getting everything ready, setting up the throwers and the generators as well as keeping score," said Carpenter.
Members of the club have access to a reservoir maintained by the club, "As soon as the snow is off Elmer (Zarn) and I will head up to the reservoir and make sure everything is functioning properly," Carpenter added.
Zarn has also been instrumental in the Clubs 'Youth Fishing Day'. Originally the club invited youngsters of all ages to spend an afternoon at Dry Fork Reservoir but has since began taking fourth graders from Harlem and Chinook fishing where they are joined by representatives of the MFWP as well as game wardens to help educate the kids during the day.
The club has been very successful in all its efforts including its annual Gun and Antique show, which is held every October.
"At the end of the day the Rod and Gun Club is very grateful for the support from the community. It takes a lot of effort from committed members to make these projects happen and our members have been a valuable asset to the clubs operation and we look forward to that continuing for years to come," concluded Carpenter.