Chief Paduke Gun Club (Paducah, Kentucky) hosted the 59th Kentucky Lake Open on July 20-22. At the completion of Friday’s Doubles championship, Dennis Burns Jr. of Fancy Farm, KY, topped the leader board with the only 99. Kevin Parrott of Louisville won AA with a 95. Tom Selley, Mt. Juliet, TN, led A by breaking 98. The B class was taken by Joe Marr, Troy, IL, with a score of 94. Dick Ferguson, Lake St. Louis, MO proved best in C with a tally of 86 hits. Nathan Harrington, Benton, KY, was first in D, with 89 Xs on the scoreboard.
At the end of the day’s shooting, many of the participants spent a fun-filled evening at Harrah’s Casino in nearby Metropolis as guests of the casino. This has become somewhat of a tradition with our out-of-town guests who look forward to the outing each year. This was the 24th consecutive year for Harrah’s to host our shooters, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Burns won the shoot-off of 100 straights in the all-gauge event, besting Rodney Reinier, a class B gunner from Lebanon, IL, who had just posted his first 100 straight. Perennial KLO contender Mark Presnell, Jackson, MO, was AA winner with a 99. Josh Beard, also of Jackson, led A class with 97, and Richard Ladd, Collierville, TN, bested C with his 96. Club officer Mike Hatler, Bandana, KY, was the D winner with 96. Harrington was the best in the E division with 92.
Burns kept rolling in the 20-gauge shoot-off, beating Vernon Shedd of Ludlow, IL, in the Doubles tie-breaker after both shot 100. Ken Ford, Calvert City, KY, came out on top of AA class with his 99. Class A first was taken by Barry Stevenson, Calvert City, KY, also with 99. Shedd was the B winner, while Harrington led C by smoking 90 clays. A 93 by Dennis Owen, Medon, TN, was good enough to top the 20-gauge D rank.
A new twist at this year’s event was the operation of the kitchen by Kathy Toy and her fellow members of the Paducah DAR chapter. It was agreed unanimously that both the appearance of the help and quality of the lunches served was vastly improved over the days when Roger Hazen attempted to perform this task! Another major part of what makes the KLO a great shoot was the efforts of B. J. Yates and her staff of top flight referees – Denny Edwards, Jay Byrd, Seth Crawford and Brad Felton.
After three events, the smart money was on Burns to run the table, but then the 28 gauge reared its head, and a 98 went on the scorecard; Ken Ford was the only entrant able to survive unscathed with his 100 straight. Presnell was the AA top gun again with an almost-perfect 99. Davis Minton, Dexter, MO notched a win in A, also with a 99. Richard Ladd didn’t cut them any slack in B, breaking 99. Pat English, Jackson, TN, took the top prize in C by busting 89. John Oliver, Kevil, KY, 87, was the conqueror of D.
Burns righted the ship in the .410 event, posting a brilliant 99, to take another gun crown sans shoot-off. Parrott wound up atop AA by virtue of his 96. Stevenson triumphed in A by squashing 97. Minton again prevailed over the B group by virtue of his 94. When the smoke cleared, Pat English and his 87 sat all alone at the top of the C heap. D class .410 first was taken by Ferguson with 80.
Burns added another KLO HOA crown to his lengthy string of major victories, by virtue of his 397. Ford managed AA1 with his tally of 393 markers. Larry Blount, visiting from Tuscon, AZ, was a great help in preparing for the shoot and also notched a nice 388 to lead the pack in A class. Stevenson bested the B category with his 385. In the C HOA race, Mike Burrell, Blodgett, MO, came out on top of the pack with his total of 362. Harrington beat Oliver, 349 to 341, to claim D honors.
We will be back again in 2019 for the 60th version of our shoot, third weekend of July. Plan now on signing up early.
– Contributed by Bob Toy