MDRC, Inc.

Affiliated Since 1926 P.O. Box 136, Morgantown, WV 26508 Affiliated Since 1999

MDRC AUGUST 2004 NEWSLETTER

Dear MDRC Members:

Our last newsletter in April mentioned that MDRC was moving into a new shooting season and with this newsletter, we announce that summer and the shooting season is gradually coming to an end. Yes, as the second straight rainy summer slowly comes to an end, so is our shooting season and the available time we have to complete the range projects. However, first I want to wish Frank Cochran a speedy recovery on his knee surgery and subsequent re-hab. Frank has been one of the matriarchs of MDRC as well as a tremendous asset to our club for many years. Hope everything is going well Frank and we hope to see you around soon.

Now to summarize a very busy and productive summer for MDRC starting with our shooting disciplines. Our shooting disciplines include hi-power, small-bore, IDPA and sporting clays. All have had very productive shooting seasons this year. MDRC successfully sponsored the West Virginia State small-bore championship in July to the credit of Bob Driscole, Gary Devine-King, Pete Deal and others that helped with preparation, implementation and completion of the competition. IDPA continues to grow with a few new shooters each year and our monthly matches average approximately 30 shooters. We started IDPA in 1999 and from that date to the present, we had 125 different shooters participate in our monthly matches and we hope to enhance this growth potential each year. Sporting Clays has also done well this year considering this is only the second year for this discipline at MDRC and we hope the growth potential for this sport will continue to be an asset to our club.

In addition to the success of our shooting disciplines, we have been very successful at implementing the provisions of our seven year plan. As you may know, we completed the construction of our restroom and action pistol bay in accordance with the plan. Keys for the restroom will be distributed to members at the work details and the annual membership renewal. We still need to add a few finishing touches for restroom completion this year which we hope to do at the year end work details. We also completed the fabrication of the bullet trap in the indoor range as well as re-wiring critical circuits, installed a new panel box and exhaust fan. We will complete renovations on the Bench House prior to site-in-days that include; finish painting inside and parge the exterior block; install a new electrical service with panel box and install heaters and lights. As you can see, we have been very busy this year as the weather permitted but it has been a very successful season for our shooting sports, our range improvements and our club in general.

To this end, I would like to thank everyone who has responded to our request for assistance in completing the various projects. For those who have not been contacted as of yet, please be patient as there is only so many days, so much time and so many projects that we can address at any given time. However, we will have two general work days for everyone so if you have not been requested to participate in a work detail thus far or you want to continue to help the club; this will be your opportunity. The first scheduled work day will be Sunday, September 26^th from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. The second scheduled work day will be Saturday, October 9 from 8:00am until 5:00 pm. We ask that you bring shovels, rakes, step latter’s, wheel barrels and weed eaters if at all possible. The goal of these work details will be to finish the painting where needed; landscape, seed and cover the various areas that have been excavated; reclaim some of the overgrown areas and, of course, a general clean-up and burning of material that we no longer need.

Last year, these year end work details went very well and we actually had a lot of fun even in the rainy weather. We had great cooperation for all our members which is an indication that we all want our club to improve and reach its full potential for all of us to enjoy. So, gather a few tools, get some work gloves, pack a lunch, bring rain gear if necessary and come out for one of these two work days so we can continue to improve our club. Having said that, I would like to extend my personal appreciation to each and every club member for your time, dedication and support in our effort to re-vitalize MDRC.

As a reminder to all club members, please keep your NRA membership current as it is a requirement for club membership and it helps the club with insurance issues. Also, the WVU security officers will be utilizing the range on Thursday, October 7 from 8:00am to 5:00pm so plan your shooting activities accordingly. Hope to see you soon.

Respectfully,

Lew Soccorsi, President MDRC