Oh, my gosh, it was incredible..it was the most fun I've ever had doing a gun event, in as long as I've been doing them.
We had torrential rains right in the middle of it, which precluded the scheduled K9 demo, there was a misunderstanding about the use of steel targets so the Cowboy Action folks were limited and since this is the first time any of us had done this, we didn't quite have the scheduling down.
On the other hand!! 37 kids attended, despite it being a mostly outdoor event on one of the rainiest days of spring. We had expected a crowd aged 10-15, and got mostly ages 5-9. It worked out ok because we used a 1-to-1 instructor ratio. I don't know who had bigger smiles, the kids or the instructors!
They first shot .22 rifles..shooting balloons and Shoot 'N' See targets. From there, they went to the indoor handgun range where they shot a variety of .22 pistols and revolvers. Then they went to the trap range where we had a set up of 20 ga. youth models..in the case of the trap, one child at a time went up, right up to the "house" (not sure what the proper term is for the little hill thing where the clays shoot out of of.) anyway..they went right up there with the instructor and their parent, one at a time, and shot a series of five clays..they did a great job, too.
Then, just as we were ready go start the Demos and Safety training sessions, it started pouring, so we all went in the clubhouse, had hotdogs and chips and soda and the kids sat through a safety program on guns. By the time that finished, about an hour later, the rain had cleared to the occasional sprinkle, they watched the Cowboy Action Demo and started back in shooting and were still at it when I had to leave at 4:00 pm.
What was really cool is that once the kids got there, I don't think any of them left until the end of the day..even when the weather got back, they still seemed to be having a good time. And there was not *one* *single* behavioral problem..37 kids under 13 and they were so well behaved, I couldn't believe it. And they were so happy. There was one little boy, who must have only been about 6, who came literally hopping up the drive down to the 100 yard range just crowing "I did it, I did it, I broke the balloons!"
I'm giddy, can you tell?
