I want to start this month talking about the Illinois All-American team. We don't have as many members as we usually do in a normal shooting year. COVID-19 totally messed up an Illinois shooter's ability to make the team. In spite of this, we still had shooters persevere to get the job done. Chase Horton made the Open First Team. Hannah Martin made the Lady I Second Team. Janice Rigler made the Lady II Second Team. Ian Lawrence is the Captain of the Junior Team. Garrett Helms made the Junior Gold Second Team. Dan Staker and Dave Dressler both made the Sub-Veteran Second Team. Mike Dennis and Frank Payne are on the Veteran First Team. Charlie Bickle made the Senior Veteran First Team. Finally, Ziggy Thaczenko is on the Chairshooter Team. Congratulations to all of you! You showed us how its done in tough circumstances.
I was looking at results of the Autumn Satellite Grand and saw several Illinois shooters shot very well. Something jumped out at me that I want to talk about now. We all like to shoot and win but we also really enjoy hanging out with our friends. It has got to be fantastic to be able to do this with someone who is your friend that you also love. Illinois is blessed with many couples, such as Brenda & Mike Dennis, Sue & Dan Staker and Valerie & Paul Rogers who shot at Tucson. We also have many parent/child teams, such as Harvey and Jeremiah Schultz, who also shot at Tucson. Sharing this great sport with each other has got to be the ultimate shooting experience and I enjoy watching and rooting for all of you.
Sadly I have to talk about the passing of another Illinois shooter. John Engal was a linchpin shooter here in Illinois. What I mean by that is he was seldom the best shooter at a shoot, although he did break a 100 straight in Handicap at the Peoria Skeet & Trap Club years ago. John was the guy that thinking about seeing him as you loaded up your car to go shoot, made you smile and look forward to getting to the club. His friendship was contagious and not having him at shoots leaves a hole that will be hard to fill. My condolences go out to all the family and friends of John.
Get your guns cleaned and your ammo ready to go because Spring is right around the corner. Until next time.
Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate