Burbank Muzzleloaders January Newsletter
On December 26th, Burbank Muzzleloaders held its annual last Sunday-of-the-year walkthrough match. The range was all abuzz with whisperings about how Sam Baseman and Eric Blakely were in a dead heat for the cumulative prize- two Morgan dollars and a Seated Liberty half dollar and quarter. Sam Baseman was only one shot ahead of Eric Blakely in the cumulative tally, so it was simply too close to tell. The 26th was a gorgeous day for most after Christmas but a rough one for Eric, for he had had to snowplow for six hours the night before and morning of the match. He almost wasn’t going to make it due to sleep deprivation, but lo and behold, he arrived late all honking his horn much to Sam’s chagrin most likely. Sam might have thought that he had this one by default, but no, Eric was going to make him fight for it shot by shot and jestingly let him know it. Eric’s presence at the match may have “perturbed” Sam, but the former made sure not to utter any hey-batter-batter remarks. It was a tense match, full of hilarious hits and mysterious misses, for pretty much everyone had hit a hard one but had missed an easy one. “How could someone miss the 36-incher?!?! Easily, and we’ve all done it. At length, the match was over. Eric and Sam scrupulously tallied their scores more than once in order to make sure. Sam had scored 19 to Eric’s 20; they had cumulatively tied! A cry in support of a shoot-off was uttered, but then the idea of splitting the prize was suggested. Be it that both Sam and Eric aren’t gamblers (perhaps, chickens, though!), they both shook hands and decided to split the prize civilly.
This drama overshadowed the real winner of the match, however, which was Steve Whitt, who scored an amazing 23 hits out of 25. The author has an inkling that Steve has what it takes to eventually become the club’s Shooter of the Year. Might this happen in 2022? And 2021 Shooter of the year was Sam Baseman
After the New Year, on January 9th, the club hosted its January shoot hosted by Sam Baseman. The match consisted of muzzleloading rifles with patched round balls at 100, 50, and 25 yards. Sadly, the author was not present due to having to quarantine, precipitated by a possible Covid exposure at his job. Nevertheless, the match went on, but he has had to rely on a secondary source in order to report. Accordingly, it was reported that Jannu Lorentson came in first with a fabulous score of 200, Lee Bowman second with 198, and Steve Whitt third with 197. Prizes consisted of money, tin, and lead, to name some.
The club is off to a busy 2022, for January has five Sundays, and we all know what that means- another trail-walk match on the fifth Sunday. It’s a new year, ripe with opportunities for more walkthrough drama. See y’all there!
For February, Burbank Muzzleloaders’ next match will be silhouettes with the usual targets at the usual yardages.
Finally, if you have yet to renew your annual membership, please make sure to get your checks for $200.00 to Tom Trevor at 11152 Swinton Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344, or you may drop yours off at the range on one of our regular shooting days.
Well, that’s all for now folks, so don’t forget about Burbank Muzzleloaders, the place to shoot!
