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"One arrow does not an archer make" - DB

    It's difficult to believe it has only been one year since we hosted our very first tournament. Following the passing of Don Branson we were challenged to organize the club and to immediately begin organizing the first Don Branson Memorial Turkey Trot. This is an appropriate tournament to dedicate to Don as it was one of his favorites. If you did not attend the first Memorial Tournament you can read about it here view photos here and check scores here.

    This year's Don Branson Memorial Turkey Trot  lived up to the standards set by the first one. Over 50 competitors were in attendance. The weather was not much of a factor although an overnite first of season snow fall left a dusting of snow on the roads, this is how it looked from the patio of the range. 

    The tournament had an international flavor this year with the attendance of Marie-PIER BEAUDET.  Marie is a Canadian citizen,  she is also the Canadian National Champion and holds National and World Records. It was a pleasure meeting her and her father Denis.  She holds the current world record (585) for the Indoor 18 meter 600 round. Marie came very close to breaking that record by posting a score of 583! Marie and her father were hosted by the Miller family while in our area.  Notice Marie is wearing an Italian team shirt. Apparently it has become quite the rage and a big compliment for  national team members to give their team shirts to team members from other countries . I noticed Stephanie Miller wearing one of Marie's Canadian Team shirts on Sunday.

     Each year during the opening ceremony per the Proclamation, one JOAD kid is selected to shoot the ceremonial "One Arrow". This year the honors went to Whay Cheng (picture at left is Whay shooting the one arrow)  the daughter of club Director Of Shooting,  TC Cheng. Whay is a wonderful young archer with an infectious personality, she performed the duty honorably. One note, I asked one of the young archers if he would mind if Whay shot at his target for the ceremony, he said "no, I don't mind". The only problem is the target we selected turned out to be Marie-Pier Beaudet's. Marie I apologize for the extra arrow hole in your target face, its the one outside of the gold!

    The tournament got off to a good start, the first line (see picture below) was completely full. Quite a few requests for the line had to be  turned down. Many had arrived early so as to take advantage of the breakfast menu being prepared by  Auroraland Archers club chef, Gary Awalt. I can't say it often enough, what a great pleasure it is to have a nice hot meal while at tournaments. Often with our schedule, we have to eat fast food for breakfast, then rush to the range and later eat fast food for lunch.  Not only did Gary prepare a full  breakfast and lunch menu, he and Auroraland Archers President  Russ Kunes prepared a Deep Fried Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings that was delicious. Dessert consisted of four kinds of pies, ice cream and something Gary called "The C4". Many of our so-called athletes were seen with this "C4". This thing looks like Mount Everest in a plate and is made of four kinds of chocolate with a cherry on top. I was in the military and I remember that C4 was the designation given to a particular kind of powerful explosive, did Gary have a little tongue in cheek?

    The kids around here are getting better every tournament, many fine scores were shot. Beyond the scores I notice much improved form and shooting technique. Some notables were Jian Cheng and John Nelson. Jians first half was very fine as can be seen in the photo on the right of one of his nice 30 point ends. John Nelson continues to improve, I watched both of his rounds. He is very focused and very consistent. His Junior round score of 551 was impressive.

     Most enjoyable for me was watching the young kids at their very  first tournament. These kids have fun, young Rachel Longman (pictured left) never stopped smiling during the entire tournament.  This was also the first tournament for brother and sister archers Peter and Cara Savage pictured below. Congratulations to you all and I hope you have many fulfilling tournaments in the years to come.

    The turkey raffles were held during the half time of each round each day. Big Bertha was raffled off after the final round on Sunday.   This year she looked liked she had enrolled in Jenny Craig. The winners are listed below.

That's it, there you have it, another TT and a good experience for everyone. We at Auroraland Archers and Chicagoland JOAD hope to see everyone again next year for the 3rd Memorial Turkey Trot. If you did not make it this year, try to join us in 2003. As Kathy Miller said, "come for the food and stay for the tournament". Below are links to larger versions of these photos and some others. If anyone has photos they would like to share please send them to me at webmaster.

    The raffle tickets were drawn during half-time on each line.  The pool of tickets were from the shooters of that particular line, as well as any additional tickets that were purchased.  Since there was a full line on Sat. morning, 4 raffle tickets were drawn.  Two raffle tickets were drawn on each of the remaining lines. 

Sat. a.m. line:  Jake Payton
                       Dane Peterson
                       Whay  Cheng
                       Ron McCormick

Sat. p.m. line:  John Nelson
                      Jon Miller

Sun. a.m. line: Rachel Longman
                      Cindy Savage

Sun. p.m. line: Gary Awalt
                      T.C. Paul

(All of the tickets from all four lines were placed back in the pool for another chance at Big Bertha, with the exception of those who already won a turkey.)

Big Bertha:      Dave Bray

Morning Group	C4	Jian's 30
Whay Shooting "One Arrow"	Field Course Sunday morning	View from indoor range Sunday morning
Field Course Sunday morning	Cara Savage	Peter Savage
Rachel Longman	Marie-Pier Beaudet	Marie-Pier Beaudet