At zero dark thirty, the roads were clear, the sky overcast and the air temperature a brisk 26 degrees. An hour later, a quick-moving band of rain/sleet/snow dusted the area, but none of this dampened or deterred 18 brave and hearty shooters from coming out to the Red Nose Open at Fairfax Rod and Gun Club in Manassas, Virginia, on the morning of January 18. A week before, we had clear skies, still air, and 70 degrees – weather we ordered for the Red Nose Open but delivered a week too soon. Shoot management has spoken to the provider and requested that our preference is for our solicited weather to be delivered on the exact date. Cold weather and less than ideal conditions on this morning probably prompted some to stay in their warm beds and hibernate a little bit longer, but they missed the roaring fire, hot coffee and fresh Krispy Kreme donuts served up in the pavilion.
After noses warmed and fingers thawed, Jonathan Honey captured the gun championship with a solid 99, missing only one target by a single millimeter. Runner-up was Jason Armstrong, and third was Col. T.W. Williams. Class firsts, with no shoot-offs required, were Bob Myers (B), Garret Baisey (C), Sam Rathbone (D) and Mike Osgood (E). Some interesting results were posted in our options: only one shooter won the handicap option with a 99 and took all the handicap money. Sometimes it really pays to participate in the option events.
Starting with the Red Nose Open, Fairfax has a registered skeet event every two weeks into mid-March. These early shoots at Fairfax focus on getting new shooters involved, introducing shooters from our two winter leagues into registered skeet and showing both of these groups of shooters how much fun we all have coming out, breaking targets and making smoke. The newer shooters today become the experienced shooters of tomorrow.
We had one honey of a squad participate in challenging conditions, but all participants had a good time catching up with shooters that they had not seen since last year. Everyone is looking forward to all the other 12 planned shoots at Fairfax later in the year.
Thank you to our club manager Jamie Martin for getting up with us and to the referees for performing their duties on such a chilly day.
– Contributed by Jeff Bond
