Generations Skeet Club’s 19th annual Firebird 400 was held at their beautiful four-field club near Patton, Pennsylvania on July 7-9. The weather was changeable all weekend, 70 to 80 degrees, cloudy to clear, wet to dry and windy to calm; all-in-all, good weather. Fifty-two shooters shot at least one gun. Chris Kline was HOA Champion with a fine 396 and Joe Vescovi was runner-up with a 393. Missy Vescovi was the Lady HOA Champion.
Doubles were shot on an overcast and windy Friday afternoon with 25 shooters. Mike Wollard’s 98 won him champion honors. Class firsts went to Kline (AA), Pat Leyo (A), Mark Postlewait (B), John Davies (C) and Doug Long (D).
The 28-gauge shooting with 40 participants began on Saturday morning under overcast skies with a few sprinkles. Joe Vescovi shot the only 100 straight and was champion. Class firsts included Kline (AA), Pat Leyo (A), Bob Myers (B), Mara Leyo (C) and Jared Voris (D).
Shooting continued on Saturday afternoon when 45 shooters took the field for the 12-gauge event. Weather included clouds, a few heavy downpours and some sun. Kline posted the only 100 straight and was 12-gauge champ. Frank Smithmyer, Wollard, Pat Leyo, Postlewait, Jared Shaffer and Vance McLaughlin, respectively, were AA, A, B, C, D and E class champs.
As usual at Generations, the Saturday night feast in the youth barn was superb! Joe Vescovi prepared the delicious prime rib. A cadre of ladies, including some of the shooter spouses, worked together to prepare lobster mac-and-cheese and other yummy dishes, complimented by home-made wine and other beverages. The kids enjoyed playing sports at the youth barn each day, and Saturday night the group headed to Lake Eddie to enjoy swimming, jet skiing, tubing, fishing and a campfire.
On Sunday morning, it was time for 42 shooters to take on the .410 bore. The skeet gods were obviously confused by the different scheduling, and the weather was great: cool, clear and no wind to speak of. Joe Vescovi’s 100-straight took the championship outright; class firsts went to Kline (AA), “Frenchy” LaRosa (A), Michael Vescovi (B), Mitch Chirdon (C) and Doug Long (D).
The 20-gauge event was last and took place on Sunday afternoon with 47 shooters. Great weather with a few puffy white clouds prevailed. Kline had the lone 100 and was 20-gauge champion. Bob Rairigh, Ryan Holtz, Fred Wood, Voris, and Becky Myers took firsts in AA, A, B, C and D classes.
The newly engaged Tori Holtz handled registration, scorekeeping and posting; congratulations to Tori and Zach! Michael Vescovi performed chief referee duties, and a fine group of young referees including Paige McMullen, Zach Stoltz, Kelsey Krug, Mikayla Lansberry and Jake Beebe did a great job. Numerous members of the Generations family pitched in as needed to keep things running smoothly.
The three-man blind, based on .410 scores, was won by the team of Joe Vescovi, Jeff Meidinger and Doug Long, each receiving a $50 prize. George Gleich bought the winning team in the blind auction and pocketed $138.
Joe McGarvey and Vance McLaughlin shot monthly targets and applied for Complimentary Limited Memberships to NSSA in June and shot their first registered tournament birds this weekend. Joe shot a nice 85 in Doubles, and Vance took E1 in the 12 and D1 in the 20. Welcome to registered skeet shooting, Joe and Vance!
– Contributed by George Gleich
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