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Range Detail at Camp Stasa - April 7, 2001
The abridged version…
We came, we saw, we hammered.
The End.
The unabridged version…
By: Kristin Stoner
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This weekend was assigned as a range detail weekend to do any necessary repairs to the range including the backstop, shooting tables, shooting stations, and whatever else may need done – mostly in preparation for the Tax Blast the following weekend.
We arrived to find our Range Engineer, Denis, already there and assessing what needs to be done for what has become our annual range detail weekend. Shortly thereafter, several dedicated militia folk from Wayne County and Macomb County arrived to pitch-in.
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The first thing on the list was repairing the beams on the backstop. This required ripping all the old wood off and putting new wood up and leveling it. One of the horizontal beams also got replaced, and this required several hands and strong backs. Nothing like teamwork to get a job done.
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While this was going on, the guys from Macomb County were attempting to repair the foxhole. It had accumulated a lot of water and the sides were caving in. They spent most of the day working on this, as well as entertaining the kids in the heavy, wet mud. It has been determined, however, that the foxhole is going to be moved to a better location; we are extending the range to approximately 200 yards this year, and the foxhole blocks a good portion of the shooting area.
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Somewhere along the way, a stray crayfish was discovered out near the field. It was alive (barely) and had eggs under its tail. So, being the great and wonderful people we are, we rescued it and put it back in the water. Odin smiles upon us…
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Back to work...Adam and Frank L. worked on a temporary second outhouse specifically for the Tax Blast. They did a bang-up job for what was to be a temporary structure, complete with pallets for walls, and a tarp "door". Lee is to install the seat first thing next weekend.
The shooting tables were in really bad shape, and several of them found it to the burn pile. New ones were built from the pallets Frank L. had donated several weeks earlier. They turned out great.
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Walt from Macomb County arrived about this time, and jumped right in. At this point, Nick and Denis were looking over the storage shed to see what needed done. It was cleaned out and the walls and roof were repaired so it was structurally sound again.
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The engineers decided that the best place for the shed was downrange next to the bleachers. It was then put onto a trailer and driven down the range and set into place. I make this sound easy, but it required a come-along, lots of strong backs, and several of the guys. It is now in place, and clean.
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Another item that required attention was placing one of the swinging shooting windows back on the swing arm. It had been blown down by the wind and was wet and HEAVY. It took five guys working together to get it back in place.
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The kids played throughout the afternoon on the tire swing and "helping" whenever they could. They had a lot of fun on this beautiful spring day.
The last thing accomplished was getting the chain and motor oiled on the moving target assembly. Walt bravely climbed onto the top rail and applied oil to all the parts.
All in all, a lot got accomplished: the beams on the backstop were replaced, including one of the horizontal beams; several shooting tables were replaced, and the others were repaired, a second outhouse was built, the shed was cleaned out and moved, the moving target assembly was oiled, and – oh yeah, we saved a crawfish.
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It’s amazing the amount of garbage we cleaned up and burned. Camp Stasa got its yearly clean-up and fix-up; big thanks to all the people that came and helped out.
See you next weekend at the Tax Blast!
