Learn safe trapshooting at St. Charles Sportsmen's Club in Elburn
George Wolf of River Forest is an avid competitor in clay target shooting. While the sport is very popular, he believes that participants don't necessarily introduce it to others and bring in fresh faces.
That's why he is volunteering to teach gun safety and target shooting at the St. Charles Sportsmen's Club on Keslinger Road, one-quarter mile west of Route 47 in Elburn.
"We want to teach proper practices and make sure people understand how to operate the gun safely," Wolf said. "There are subtleties, such as how to pick up a gun. We try to bring people into the sport safely with the proper attitudes."
Wolf created the course which was offered last year in Elburn for the first time.
All classes are free, but there will be a charge for the clay targets thrown during the shooting. The first two-hour class will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 21. Additional sessions will be held at 1 p.m. the third Saturday of each month through October 17.
A classroom seminar on firearms safety and basic shooting will be followed by target shooting on the range.
Participants must bring their own guns and have a current firearm owners identification card. Students can bring their own target grade ammunition or purchase it at the club. Children younger than 18 can participate with an adult.
Wolf has been shooting for about 18 years. He is certified as an instructor by the Amateur Trapshooting Association. He competes at other clubs but believes the drive to Elburn is worth it to be at the St. Charles Sportsmen's Club.
"It's a wonderful club and I enjoy the people," he said.
Wolf explained that trapshooting is the art of hitting a clay bird traveling at 45 miles per hour thrown by a machine away from the shooter. Skeet is hitting a moving target from any angle, and sporting clays is a combination of both trapshooting and skeet, according to Wolf.
The 70-acre St. Charles Sportsmen's Club was named gun club of the year in 2008 by the Amateur Trapshooting Association.
To sign up for classes, call the club at (630) 365-9881 or visit scsconline.org.
Send Jeannette to France: Elburn artist Jeannette Rehmel is one of several local artists invited by the Geneva International Cultural Exchange Committee to participate in a festival in Croissy sur Seine, a suburb of Paris, May 14-18.
Her students and friends are holding a fundraiser to help raise her airfare. The fundraiser is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 27 at the Sugar Grove Community House, 141 S. Main St. in Sugar Grove. It will feature pasta, salad, desserts, raffles and a silent auction. One of Rehmel's paintings will be auctioned, and there will be a craft table for children.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for children younger than 10.
Artist Nancy Hannah of St. Charles, who has also been invited to the festival and will be going to France, is one of the organizers.
For tickets, call Hannah at (630) 587-9763. You can also call Mary Kintz at (630) 466-3996 or Beth Tickle at (630) 466-1067.