July-August 2010 - New Zealand Clay Target Association

Ellesmere90 years onOn left in hat is current President, Stan Childs, centre is life member Graeme Nairn andcutting the cake is life member Stan Maw who had just had his 90th birthdayClose to 100 past and present members,visiting shooters and friends and wellwishersattended the Robt. PattersonMemorial shoot at the Ellesmere grounds.Robt Patterson was first President ofthe infant Club way back in 1920 andit was thought appropriate to hold thecelebrations on his Memorial Shoot day.Grandson Colin Patterson and grandson inlaw Gerald Ede (himself a former Presidentof the Club) very generously put up around$400 of cooked hams as trophies for theshoot and this was very much appreciatedby the Club (and the winning shooters!).Gerald has been sponsoring this shootfor many years. The shoot is somewhatunusual as it is at 21 targets which is athrowback to yesteryear when everythingwas done in threes – 7 x 3, and is at blackclays on handicap. For the shoot AA andA Grade were on 19m, B Grade 16m, andC Grade 13m. Conditions were ideal forshooting and 14 of the 60 shooters presentrecorded possibles and shot off for thetrophies. Shooters dropped out regularlyand after 15 Targets, with five each trap,Selwyn Everett, Andrew Washbourne, AlanPerrett, Jim Pateman, James Lilley andEthan Garrett lined up on trap 1 to battle itout. Ethan dropped his first, James 7th, Jimhis 30th, Alan his 35th until Andrew missedhis 46th to leave Selwyn the winner afterone of the best shoot offs seen at the Clubfor several years.(61 targets)Parallel to the Anniversary, one of our LifeMembers Stan Maw is now in his 91st yearand nephews Leon Maw and Dave Harkerssvery generously sponsored meat trophiesfor a graded shoot of 25 Targets off 15m.Possibles were registered in A Gradeby T Maaka, B Tait, S Watson, A Harkerss,J McCormick, J Lilley, R Greatorex, SamGawn, Steve Gawn, R Wilson and G Ede.B grade saw Eddie Foster with 25, SimonMcMillan and Russell Wall on 24. C Grade24’s were Ethan Garrett, Karl Perrett andAndrew Washbourne. After the shootoffsresults were as follows. A Grade 1st G Ede,2nd R Greatorex 3rd Sam Gawn. B Grade1st E Foster, 2nd R Wall, 3rd S McMillan. Cgrade 1st E Garrett, 2nd K Perrett, 3rd AWashbourne.Prior to afternoon tea, and the cuttingof the Anniversary cake, made by Mrs Thianand I believe decorated with lanes and atrap house by Sandra & Niven McCormick,President Stan Childs welcomed all andthanked them for attending. He thankedhis partner Paula, and the host of shooterswives and partners for their work in thekitchen – the spread was outstanding andmuch enjoyed by all. Special thanks wereaccorded to Jim Roxburgh, Sarah Rollinsonand Rachael McCormick for ‘manning’ theoffice in place of the regular secretary due toill health. The Club was very appreciative ofthe sponsorship for trophies and Mr Childsthanked the sponsors for their wonderfulinterest and support. Finally Mr Childsthanked the members and visiting shootersfor attending to make it a memorable day inthe club’s history.Past members attending includedformer President Stu Doyle, Mike Preston,Graeme Ede, Stan Childs Snr. (many willremember Stan from his rugby playingdays for Southbridge), Colin Stott who asPresident of the NZ Gun Club Associationopened the current clubhouse in 1977,Kevin (Corgi) McCormick, Ian McCormickand Ken Boal who was a puller for the Clubfor 22 years. The Club was privileged tohave its two Life Members Graeme Nairn,and Stan Maw in attendance. Graeme isfit and well and looking forward to twoshooting trips in the near future. Stan,despite his years is hale and hearty and stilllooks fit enough for a 25 straight! – I thinkhe thoroughly enjoyed his day. BarbaraDonald, wife of the late ELF (“Wig”) Donald,has always been a great supporter of theClub and it was good to see her attending.The Patterson family has had a significantpart to play in the Club’s history. Robt.Patterson’s son Billy Patterson, as well asfollowing in his father’s steps as President,brought fame to the Club by winning theN Z Live Sparrow Title at Sockburn in 1928.The late Murray, and I suspect Colin aswell, were employed by the Club to ‘run’the live birds out to the traps at shoots.Billy’s daughter, Alison, married Gerald Ede.Gerald was interested in shooting and soonintroduced his sons Graeme and Donaldto the sport. Daughter Robyn also shotfor a period. Gerald was President of theClub for the 1983\4 term, and many willremember Alison for the selfless work shedid for many Community organisations.The boys took to shooting like ducks towater and it wasn’t long before they werewinning Club Championships. Strangely ifyou had asked me when the boys startedshooting I would have plumped for Donaldas the better shot by a whisker. HoweverDon gave it away and the rest is history andGraeme won many, many Club, Provincialand Island Championships. He emulated hisgrandfather by winning the NZ Single Risetitle at Yaldhust and went on to representNZ on many occasions, and of coursesurpassed all by winning the Gold Medal atthe Games. “C J” (Colin) spoke briefly on theanniversary and entertained the gatheringwith his poem “Ede Takes the Gold ‘’ theballad of Graeme’s Commonwealth GamesGold medal.Continued on page 4938 gunshot