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Spring Comes to
Hudson Farm
with the Return of Game Conservancy’s
Annual Fundraiser
By Rick Bannerot
Fluorescent
orange clay pigeons flew with deliberate purpose only to explode into
clouds of gray dust against a backdrop of cornflower blue skies,
impossibly green leaves, bright yellow forsythia and puffy white clouds
as gunners came from states throughout the east coast to celebrate the
annual spring Game Conservancy’s shot gunning event hosted at
Griffin & Howe’s gorgeous Hudson Farm. Binney & Smith would have been
proud of the riot of Crayola-like colors bursting forth on the hillsides
of New Jersey’s foothills.
Tweed jackets and breeks, custom boots and polo
shirts, shooting vests and sneakers, corduroys and fedoras, the aroma of
fine illicit cigars and green Wellies matched up favorably as gunners
arrived to a giant marquis tent, hot coffee, pastries, fresh-squeezed OJ
and a gorgeous selection G&H’s fine blunderbusses set out on
custom gun racks for sale just in case someone needed another shooting
iron. Patches and pins on
vests attested to prior events and club affiliations. Purdeys and Parrazzis, casually
broken over shoulders, were the order of the morning as Guy Bignell and
Steve Polanish welcomed the contestants to the farm and reviewed details
of the morning’s shoot and gave appropriate safety
admonitions.
Nineteen teams of five nimrods each took up their
pre-shoot stations to listen to the plan of action and watch the
ceremonial firing of the cannon by Edward Shugrue,
(with an able assist from his father, whom, appropriately enough,
just so happens to be the President of the Game Conservancy. Tractor-pulled
wagons and golf carts were loaded to take teams to the farthest reaches
of the Farm’s sporting clay course; others were pointed down the
appropriate paths to start the day’s shoot. Teams were comprised men and
women, some expert, some just beginning to shoot sporting clays, with
ages ranging from young teens to almost octogenarians. (Is this a great
sport or what?)
As the morning went along, the bluebird skies
started to fill in with more clouds and a mild zephyr started to play up
a bit causing more than a few clays to hop like kangaroos in front of a
spreading bush fire, much to the chagrin of some of the better shooters,
especially when they were cheerfully catcalled by their fellow shooters
for missing an “easy” pair. Thank goodness President Bignell
sold “mulligans” in the form tickets for extra shots at
$20/shot, all for a good cause, and to spice up the teams’ shooting
strategy.
“Do we ‘spend’ one of our
tickets on this tough crossing shot that needs five-foot of lead, or do
we save it for an unconscionable miss on an easy floater?,” decisions, decisions!
A brief, albeit robust shower, which turned out to
be the leading edge of a wild cold front, did not dampen the luncheon pig
roast and auction that followed the morning’s shooting. Credit, as always goes to the staff
of Hudson Farm and Griffin & Howe for putting on a fabulous event;
easy laughter and ear-to-ear smiles were heard and seen throughout the
day. Special note goes out to the high
junior team of Mike Geitz, Jr., Len Logsdail, Jr., Eric Bannerot, Nunu
Chimblo and Dean Dewey. Truly
they represent the bright future of our sport and we hope to see them and
their friends back again this spring.
High Gun (Score
95): Dr. Paul Googe
Second
Overall Shooter (Score 94): Chip Weinberg
Top Overall Woman
(Score 79): Melissa Thorpe
Overall Youth
(Score 78): Matthew Ford
1st
Place Team (Score: 460): Tom Peterson, Chip Weinberg, Lars Magnusson,
Tom Donoghue and Mike Powers
2nd
Place Team (Score 442): Michael
Geitz, Michael Geitz, Jr., Mike Normile, Allen Pana, Steve Polanish
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