Jul/Aug - uspsa

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BY DAVE THOMAS, L-796
f you are looking for the match results
from the 2000 Shirley Skinner
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Benefit match you won't find
them posted on the web page or in the
pages of this magazine. If a friend attended
the match and you wish to learn
how they finished, you're out of luck.
In fact, no competitor won or lost, but
the Make-A-Wish Foundation finished
way out in front of the pack.
Officially, the match never
happened, having fallen victim to
the unpredictable south-central
Texas weather. The first day was
pleasant, if overcast, with only a
few light showers in the early
morning, and most competitors
completed five of the eight stages.
Saturday night brought thunder
storms, and the high wind and
rain leveled props and produced a
quagmire of red, sticky, slippery
Texas mud, leaving Match Director
Cheryl Leck no choice but to
cancel the balance of the competition.
Sunday morning revealed the
sad sight of ruined stages, rain and
mud drenched volunteers, and a
disappointed contingent of competitors
who had braved the elements
to get to the range. A large
pot of jambalaya prepared by Cajun
chef Ray Gautreaux and intended
as an after-match Sunday
feast was enjoyed only by those few
who stayed to help tear down, visit,
and commiserate with Cheryl and her
husband, Range Master Michael Leck.
Souvenir concessionaires Alice and
Homer Johnson sold a few last shirts
and caps, then packed to go. Gunsmith
Dave Dawson hooked his trailer to his
4-wheel drive pickup and put the pedal
to the metal, blasting through the mud
in a successful attempt to avoid getting
stuck. USPSA President Michael Voigt
visited with members, answering questions
about the upcoming rules
changes and other issues. Soon the
range emptied and this gathering of
friends sputtered to a close.
Even so, the match was a huge suc-
Shirley Skinner Match
cess. This "match that never was," with
its attendant raffles and live auctions
organized by Yvonne and Dennis
Lemoine, raised S30,500 for the benefit
of Make-A-Wish.
The Shirley Skinner Make-A-Wish
Benefit match is not so much about
competition as it is about love. Shirley
Skinner, wife of STI Chief Executive
Dave Skinner, who died in 1998 of
breast cancer, loved the sport of prac-
rWishes Fulfilled
Make-A-Wish is an organization dedicated to
fulfilling the wishes of seriously ill, frequently
terminally ill, children. If a child in New York is
stricken with cancer and expresses a desire to see
the Grand Canyon, Make-A-Wish will see to it
that it happens. If a sick child in California wants
to spend time on a Montana dude ranch, Make-
A-Wish will provide the necessary funds and help
with the arrangements.
In 1980, a seven-year-old boy named Chris
Greicius had a dream to become a police officer;
however, the odds were not good that he would
live long enough to achieve his goal as he was suffering
with leukemia. Officers of the Arizona
Highway Patrol heard of him and made him the
only honorary state trooper in the history of that
force. The Make-A-Wish Foundation has grown
from that small beginning to become the largest
wish-granting organization in the world.
More information is available on-line at
http://www.wish.org or contact the chapter in
your community.
tical shooting and practical shooters.
Those practical shooters who knew
Shirley loved her and want never to
forget her. The Make-A-Wish Foundation
cherishes sick and dying children
and works hard to "supplement medicine
with magic," in the words of
Make-A-Wish Marketing Director
Wally Pryor.
Before Shirley's death, she and
Cheryl were looking for a charity worthy
of the effort required by a large
benefit match. Their first choice was
the Breast Cancer Foundation, but
their offer was rejected because it involved
shooting. Shirley made the
comment that the only thing she could
think of worse than what she was go-
ing through would be going through it
as a child. The result of that statement
was that they approached Make-A-
Wish, were accepted, and this year became
the single largest money source
for that foundation in the South-Central
Texas area.
This event was also about good oldfashioned
fun. Competitors seemed to
be there for all the right reasons. Competition
was in the top five of those
reasons but, for most, it was not
number one. Nowhere was the
spirit of fun more in evidence than
at the Saturday night banquet and
auction. New arrivals found the
room lined with tables containing
a huge variety of merchandise including
shooting equipment,
tools, cosmetics, and handicrafts.
Volunteers were selling tickets
which could be dropped into a
bowl in front of the item you were
interested in having. Later in the
evening, drawings were held for
each of the items, a process that
took some time but resulted in
most people who had purchased
tickets winning something. Other
tables held merchandise that was
sold at auction under the guidance
of a professional auctioneer.
James Louque, Steve Southland,
and Dave Dawson volunteered to
give their all to charity; dressed in
grass skirts and coconut bras, they
worked the crowd soliciting bids.
As the evening progressed, even table
dances were bought and sold. These
were definitely not the lean and lovely
ladies of travel agency posters, but no
one could fault their good natured contribution
to the evening's fun and to
the success of the auction.
Planning for next year's match is already
underway. Watch for the announcement
of the match date in the
pages of Front Sight and don't waste
time once you see it. This match fills
quickly. Next year they hope to crown
a match winner, but whether they do,
Make-A-Wish and the children in its
program are sure to win big.
"ri
36 FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2000