County Fair honors all military - Mountain Mail News

mountainmailnews.com • Mountain Mail • August 25, 2011 • Page 5
Trail Drivers host annual shoot ‘em up
Up to eighty shooters from all over the southwest expected to attend
About three miles west of the village
the old west comes alive for
three days during the annual
Cowboy Action Shooting at Old
Magdalena, a mock up of a typical
western town in the late 1800’s.
The Magdalena Trail Drivers
will be hosting their annual
Cowboy Action Shooting three day
match September 16-18 at Old
Magdalena located three miles west
of the Village of Magdalena. The
road to Old Magdalena is three
miles west of town on highway 60
just past Airport Road at mile
marker 109.
The Shootout at Old Magdalena
features a long range competition,
Wild Bunch shooting
competition (after the movie the
Wild Bunch) and 12 cowboy
action stages. Also, a black
powder night shoot will be featured
Saturday
evening.
“Tall Ted” Bending said coming to
Old Magdalena during the annual
shoot is like stepping into New
Mexico’s cowboy past.
“There’s a lot more going on
during the annual shoot. It’s a regular
food and western bazaar,”
Bending said. “There’ll be clothes
and leather goods, accessories,
ladies jewelry and food vendors
with the usual corn dogs, cotton
candy, ice cream, funnel cakes.
Lots to eat.”
Magdalena blacksmith Z.W.
Farnsworth will also be set up with
his portable smithy.
The public is invited all three
days, on Friday from noon to 5
p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1
p.m.
“We have a lot of fun, but the
one thing we are most serious about
is safety,” Bending said. “That’s
the paramount part of the whole
game.”
Formed in 2003, the club boasts
about 55 to 60 members, and sees
shooters come in from surrounding
states.
Although the club shoots at Old
Magdalena are twice a month, for
the annual shoot up to 80 are
expected.
“We have them from all over
the state and Arizona,” Bending
said. “We get people to come down
to shoot from Wyoming, Iowa,
Texas, Colorado, Utah and
Arizona.”
He said some come to shoot
against World Champion Heather
Kresser.
“She has lots of friends and
associates, and many to see her
shoot and shoot against her,” he
said. “She travels to shoots across
the country and that’s how they
find out about Old Magdalena.
During Old Timers we had people
come down from New York looking
for her, but she was shooting that
weekend down in Silver City.”
Another draw to Magdalena,
Bending said, is Steve Pawlcyn’s
Bang and Clang bullet shop.
“People also like the range. Our
facility is nicer than many others,”
he said.
He said members make sure
their weapons are clean and in
good working order.
Most shooters use replicas of
period firearms, but some are 130
years old.
“We have hard and fast rules on
loading and unloading procedures,
and members will double check
others’ guns. If you have a misfire,
that gun is taken out of play. If you
drop a loaded weapon, you’re done
for the rest of the day.
“Everybody cares about everybody
else and we actually have fun
following the rules,” he said. “Eye
protection and ear protection is
worn by the shooters.”
Bending stresses that following
strict procedures allows shooters to
have fun.
“Where else can you go out and
shoot the crap out of something and
laugh about it and everybody
laughs with you” Tall Ted joked.
“It’s a very safe way to have fun.”
A member of the Magdalena Trail Drivers fires at target at Old Magdalena at a previous shooting event.
Photo by John Larson
Junior Firefighters train at Magdalena Fire Dept.
The Magdalena Fire
Department instituted a new program
this summer designed to give
high schoolers a chance to learn
what it is to be firefighter.
Acting Fire Chief Donna
Dawson said the Junior Firefighter
program is open to all 15 to 17
year olds, providing they have
signed parents’ permission.
The current roster includes
Jacob Lawless, Jesse Madigan,
Weylin Melton, John Rhoades
and Justin Sandoval.
“We started this to let the kids
know what fire service is all about
and give them something to outside
of school. They take on the
responsibility of what it’s like to be
a firefighter,” Dawson said. “They
can decide if it’s something they
want to do when the turn eighteen.”
She said the Junior Firefighters
are not allowed on active fire
scenes.
“They take part in training and
being around the equipment,”
Dawson said. “Learning how to
operate the truck’s equipment,
working the hoses, basic things.
They do all this wearing bunker
gear. It’s important to know how it
feels to wear them.”
Training sessions are every
other Tuesday at the Fire
Department on First Street.
“On a monthly basis, they can
put in anywhere from three to eight
hours training,” she said. “If they
work on any practice fire, it would
be during a training session with
adult supervision and not an actual
active fire.”
“The only other requirement is
schoolwork comes first,” Dawson
said.
Once a students turns 18,
“they’ll be way ahead of the game
if they decide to become a firefighter.”
The next training session is
Tuesday, August 30.
“We can take a new member at
any time,” Dawson said.
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