The morning of July 26 dawned foggy with drizzling rain.  Even though we have had a severe drought this summer in WNC and we desperately needed the rain, this wasn’t good!  My husband Gary and I had scheduled an introductory to archery class and had

20 youth from the AGAPE School based in Asheville already signed up to participate.  Our phone started ringing early that Saturday and the question was always, “Are you going to cancel the class?’  We decided to wait until lunch time to make the final decision and by then the rain had stopped.  Even though the skies were still overcast, we notified everyone that we would have the class and by the start of class the sun was shining and the weather was perfect. 

We had all 20 kids show up ranging in age from 2 to 16 years old.  Skills obviously varied greatly with some having never held a bow and some with a lot of years of experience with archery as well as hunting.  We started the class with safety instruction and how to hold and shoot the bow.  Before they shoot, we also provide a shooting demonstration that helps reinforce the safety aspects of the class.  Our bows are set up for hunting – Gary shoots the Pearson Z34 and I shoot the Pearson Z32.  Some of the kids told us first thing they did not want to shoot the youth bow, they wanted to shoot the hunting bows!  We keep the safety orientation and demonstration short because you can tell from the eager looks on the faces – they just want to get their hands on the bows! 

Each participant gets a chance to shoot the Pearson Pathfinder as well as the Barnett Wildcat Crossbow. The hands-on experience is the most important part of the class.  Each child got to shoot both bows several times, moving quickly from one line to the other.  The targets and shooting lines are set up to allow every one to hit the target.  Youth and parents alike were amazed at how quickly the kids were hitting the bullseye!  Each child got a sponsor gift bag including decals and catalogs. 

After a great class and all the shooting fun, no one was ready to go home.  The parents provided a covered dish supper for all the participants so there was plenty of additional time for questions and answers.  At the end of the day we said good-bye to new friends and old ones.  Hopefully we have provided the start for at least one child to enjoy the lifelong pleasure of archery.

We continue to hear about the need to involve our children in the outdoors.  Statistics indicate that one in six children is overweight.  But all the time we are encouraging them to sit in front of the television or the computer - to play a game, watch a movie or surf the Web.  There are several great programs in our area for our youth to become involved with - the NWTF has a great JAKES Program as well as Hunters Education Certification classes available through the NC Wildlife Commission.  Check out any of these programs or look for ones in your area.

Our thanks to Frank and Rhonda Seamon for the use of their home as well as our sponsors - Pearson Archery and Barnett Crossbows.