Headmaster's end of year report.
Headmaster's end of year report.
HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL
A rather lengthy tome this week but we have a lot to report.
The Coffin Dodgers annual Xmas shoot once again turned out to be something very special. As usual, a great turnout and a magnificent buffet that suggested that Boris Johnson’s 109 new MP’s had been invited to lunch. No worries, as usual, the Dodgers murdered it.
Gareth and Shane tested Mr Butlers equipment stocks to the extreme, putting on 12 superb stands for our 75 targets. A testing and snag free shoot was enjoyed by all.
The results were delayed when it was suspected that an old squad card had been returned to our compiler and adjudiactor for consideration. The mystery was finally resolved when it was realised a squad member had suffered a senior moment and logged his birthday instead of our competition day. Phew… no crisis.
To the results now starting with the Handicap. On a particularly testing course when only 5 shooters beat the handicap benchmark of 75. The gold medal was won by Bob Green. He shot brilliantly and beat his average score by over 3 targets. Well done Bob. He was closely followed by Duncan Scott who’s missed out on Bob’s crown by just 0.15 of a target. After a testing year, well done Duncan. Third place was deservedly won by Rob Perrins. A great result for all three of you.
The Scratch completion was surely a demonstration of the cream always coming to the top. Bob Warder, who always seems to shine when the targets get tough, rubbed it in by taking the Gold medal by 4 clear targets. A magnificent result Bob, well done. The runner up was another veteran who has reached new shooting peaks this year, Bob Jordan. Despite swapping and changing his chosen musket several times, BJ has frequently taken our ‘high gun of the day’ medal home with him. This was a superb result for one of our most accomplished shooters. Great result Bob. The bronze medal was won this year by Julian Wazczak. His unfortunate working arrangements mean that he has to book a holiday to join us. He never misses our Xmas shoot and it is great to see his consistently high standard receiving recognition. Julian sorted out the most testing targets, making them look easy. It will be great when his impending retirement kicks in and he becomes a Wednesday regular. A great shoot Julian.
Most improved gun this year was Simon Honeyborne. Simon has achieved what we all strive for, a marked and steady improvement on our previous results. Hopefully he is passing on the key to this success to most of his fellow s squad members. Keep it up Simon.
The visitors top medal was won this year by Gary Griffiths, a late addition to our ranks. ( six results are required to obtain a handicap and formal induction into the CDA). Despite less than a handful of shoots, he has shown great promise and demonstrated that he will be a competitive force in the future. On Wednesday, he has easily beaten all other contenders for this medal and was only 1 kill behind the top 3 scratch line up. Well done Gary.
Noel Redmond won the last shooting gold medal that will ensure he will receive all the continuing attention of our patron, St Jude, for the next 12 months. It is now our Saint’s chosen task to bring inspiration to Noel and ensure that the ’most improved’ medal is his next year.
Once again, the CDA showed it’s appreciation of the ground and administration staff of our superb headquarters. Special thanks were given to the owners for their continued improvements to the ground and the quality of their targets. Trevor Griffiths has battled through a tough year, but at no point has his hard work in maintaining the smooth administration of the Association been compromised. Thank you once again Trevor from every past and present Dodger.
Thanks were also given to Lord Brockhill of Hewell Grange , AKA, Keith Povall. Who also books a holiday from work to create a visual record of our Xmas shoot. Keith also looks after the regular weekly updates to our CDA website. We owe him a great thank you and we hope the presents he returned home with do not affect the quality of this weeks additions.
Finally, can we wish all Coffin Dodgers around the world, a Happy, Healthy and Better New Year in 2020. and be reminded that St Jude is always there to give a helping hand whenever he is needed.