A brief description of the "Project Appleseed".
Project Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their posterity.
Here is the link to read more ... http://www.appleseedinfo.org/
To start our weekend you must know a few things....... This was a very very last minute situation. My boys are 11 years old and 7 years old. They both are Highly Adhd and both were non-medicated. Both boys recieved .22 LR's for Christmas and had only gotten to put about 50 rounds per rifle through them sense we got them. They have BB Guns but aren't very experienced as of yet. The closest training was an hour away in a city called Cloverdale, Indiana. Fortunately for us....We are very familiar with that area, so it wasn't an issue.
I had looked into them this last October but its one of those things that got put in the "BOOKMARKS" and was forgotten about. The Indiana Project Appleseed Facebook page
( https://www.facebook.com/IndianaAppleseedProject?fref=ts ) wrote a post about the current training coming up that weekend and it triggered my memory of checking out their site.
I went and looked up the pricing and WOW......I couldn't believe that it was actually affordable. I don't know about you...but I have priced the NRA training classes.....and well, as much as I Love my Guns.....I just can't pay that kind of money. Anyway.... The cost for this event was $20 per child and a $5.00 range fee per child. I sent some emails to the person who is running the Indiana Facebook page and asked them about bringing my youngest who is 7 years old. She informed me that as long as I had a rifle and ammo for that child that he was welcome to participate. I pondered over it for a few hours and decided to let both of the boys participate.
When we arrived, we got signed in and got to listen to the Starting of our History Lesson of April 19th, 1775. They had some really great stories about the Revolutionary war. (Did you know that Paul Revere did Not go into town yelling THE BRITISH ARE COMING) That was a tidbit of information that my oldest son B really enjoyed. Even went back to school to tell his teacher about it. We went out to the range around 10ish in the morning. The boys and I were all a bundle of nerves. My boys around strangers with rifles and just me to keep them in line......It was pretty scary at first.
They went over the basic safety rules with us. Showed us all the lines....what they meant... Told us who was Line Boss, and the trainers... I'm not sure if it is because this was our first training course or they were that good.......but we had an amazing time. There was a 16 year old girl there named Kate and she was training to be an Instructor. She was the best of the best......My boys still talk about her and they can't wait to see her again. Heck, I can't wait to see her. She is just AMAZING. She's a pretty good shot too......She spent most of her Saturday training with my boys. She would take one and I would take the other...and she would run down the range with them to see their targets. One the first day.....Targets were more for decoration with my boys than for actually shooting...We figured out a few tricks to actually getting them on target...but it took awhile...and Kate was right there each time Cheering them on.....Telling them what they could try to help get on target, and giving them encouragement. As much as I would like to say that my boys liked Kate best........I'd have to say he really liked Dave. Dave was the Shoot Boss.. He was an older gentlemen that was a very kind man. I remember when B got on target with at least half of his shots....He ran RIGHT PAST ME.....to find Dave and show him his Target....Dave gave him a BIG SMILE and some Encouraging words....and B walked towards me a PROUD 11 yr old. That right there was the turning point of the whole experience..... It went from Good to Great!
Everyone that we encountered with Project Appleseed was very pleasant and patient. And in my life, Patience goes pretty far with my boys. They are very very full of Energy. I, honestly can NOT remember a weekend that was as good as the one we had with them. It definitely has been a long time. I can Not Praise them enough for their Understanding, Patience, Willingness to Repeat things Over and Over. They were never out of line at all.....They did everything that was necessary to keep the Range and everyone safe at all times.
My boys's first real training experience has lead them to doing this again in 2 weeks in Noblesville, Indiana which is much closer to home. We have found some really kind Gun owners that are willing to donate some ammo for the cause of making sure that B and K are Riflemen in Training. They both really would like to complete the program and some day soon be trainers like their friend Kate. I have even considered training to become a rifleman as soon as the boys don't need someone right over them helping. We Loved listening to the History of how our country become what it is......They do NOT push you to become anything other than a person who loves their weapons, knows how to use their weapons....and to know how we become the country we love so dear. I Love that Most about them. This is a group of people that I would call Genuine People!
The thing the boys loved the most was we had a Volley with many other Appleseed training in Indiana and all around the U.S. They all fired shots all at the same time.....Both of my boys thought that was amazing...>To know that Men, Women and Children of all ages were Shooting their weapons all around the US at the exact same time they were......It was a Great Great Experience.
There are about 30 other things I want to tell you about our weekend.... but this Review is pretty long so far..... Check out my Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheBipolarPrepper
and go look at the pictures.....They are self explainatory.
There is something that I need to make sure everyone knows.... This training is about History 1st....Gun Safety 2nd and Marksmanship 3rd. It is really important for you all to know that once your child leaves this training they will be MORE safe than you have ever been around Weapons. My boys are much more comfortable with their weapons. They know how to safely disarm a weapon if they needed to.
I am NOT an easy woman to please and it is very difficult to get an A+ in my book.....But they did it... I have told anyone I know that has children that are interested in teaching them gun safety.
Go to this Map and Click on your State and find your Local Project Appleseed, You will NOT be sorry....and that is a promise. If you have any questions reply to this....and I'll help you out....
http://www.appleseedusa.org/search-states-map.php
