On that date during the lunch break, all interested cowboys, cowgirls, and friends are asked to join his family at the dedication ceremony for Postman’s Living Memorial Cherry Trees just outside the clubhouse.  A few words will be shared by family members and friends.

The ceremony will end with a shotgun salute shot over the dedicated trees with some very special shells.  Anyone who would like to participate in the salute is invited to do so.

Postman passed away on October 28, 2011, and has been sadly missed by his friends and shooting buddies.  In his honor, several cherry trees were planted at the Lefthanders Gun Club where he was a member for many years and where he helped found the cowboy action shooting club — the Long Nine Cowboys.

Several cowboys and cowgirls from the Long Nine Cowboys enjoyed the 2012 Midwest Classic which attracted 140 shooters from over a dozen states at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Illinois, on April 26 – 28, 2012.  See Photos

The match included the 5-stage Illinois Black Powder Championship and a 3-stage Wild Bunch Match on Thursday, followed on Friday and Saturday by a 10-stage Main Cowboy Match with fun and whacky stages that had LOTS of choices for shooting them.

The event included a Friday night Pizza Party with Side Match Awards and lots of door prizes, 2 Lunches, and an Awards Night 50’s Party added in as well.

How did we do? We all came home with awards! The buckles went 2-deep and 3-deep in some categories:

———————————————————————————————————————
Boben Weev – 3rd B-Western in Main Match and Posse Leader
———————————————————————————————————————
Don Jorge – CLEAN! 9th Overall and 2nd 49er in Main Match
———————————————————————————————————————
Lady Viper – Top Overall Lady Wild Bunch and 2nd Lady 49er in Main Match
———————————————————————————————————————
Lt Dan – CLEAN! 2nd Gunfighter in Black Powder Match and 2nd Gunfighter in Main Match
———————————————————————————————————————
Marshal J.D. Oak - CLEAN!
———————————————————————————————————————
Miss Weev – CLEAN! 2nd Lady Silver Senior
———————————————————————————————————————

Results for the 2012 Midwest Classic Main Match are posted below so you can see who attended and how everyone did overall. We don’t have results to post of the Black Powder or Wild Bunch matches.

• Main Match Midwest Classic 2012 Scores
• See Photos

————————————————————————————————————————————
For those of you who may have heard about one of our fellow shooters, Les Hitts, who collapsed at the Friday evening dinner, Sgt Eli posted this update on his friend and asks for your thoughts and prayers as the condition worsened on Sunday:

At the Midwest Classic Friday night pizza party Les fell out of his chair. He thought he had just fallen asleep and then fell out of the chair. I knew it wasn’t that and we got him convinced to take the ambulance ride to the ER. They gave a diagnosis as a probable TIA. He came back and shot with us Saturday. Everything was OK. Sunday, he and his wife were driving home and it happened again. She got him to the ER. They have now shipped him to Barnes Hospital in St.Louis. It is an aneuryism near the heart. He’s dodged a couple, and couldn’t be in better hands now, but keep him in your thoughts, he is definitely one great guy we don’t want to lose.

————————————————————————————————————————————-

Nancee Hughes

The Long Nine Cowboys send our condolences to Kevin and the Hughes family.

Mrs. Hughes leaves her husband and five children.

For more information please read the complete obituary.

She was an army veteran.
A service with full military honors is planned.

—————————————————————————————————

Brian Kenny [a.k.a. Backshooter Brian],  passed away on Thursday, April 20, 2012 in Springfield, Illinois.

The Long Nine Cowboys send our condolences to the Kenny family.  Mr. Kenny was a long-time member of the Lefthanders Gun Club [the host range of the Long Nine Cowboys].

He leaves three children and two sisters.

For more information please read the complete obituary.

A memorial gathering will be held at 10 am Saturday, April 28, at Lefthanders Gun Club, 9364 Rhea Park Road, Loami

See our April Clean Shooters

———————————————————

View April 2012 Detailed Scores

———————————————————

Once again we extend a big “Thank you” to everyone who helped out our new and new(er) cowboy shooters with space on the their gun carts, loaned guns, ammo, tips, expertise and advice.

A huge thanks to EVERYONE who helped tear down the stages on Sunday and for Marley Devereaux for running registration and doing the scores.

Thank you to the crew who set up on Saturday:
- Lemon Drop Kid
- Turquoise Tony
- Marshal J.D. Oak
- Billy the Avenger
- Miss Pistol Whipper

We hope to see you again in May. If you have ideas or suggestions for outdoor stages or side matches, please contact us.

——————————————————

Illinois SASS State Championship

Information and applications are now available for the “Illinois State Shoot” which runs from May 18 – May 20, 2012 at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Illinois.

Once again, our own Boben Weev and Miss Weev are two of the major organizers of the event. You do not need to “qualify” to shoot at the Illinois State Match. You DO need to be a paid-up member of SASS [Single Action Shooting Society].

–>> View printable application.

Congratulations to our April Clean Shooters:
Don Jorge
Lemon Drop Kid
Henry Alexander

We hope to see you at the range for our next match outdoors in May.

What are they and how do you earn them?

You accrue match points each time you attend a Long Nine Cowboys match.

At the end of each calendar year, each shooter’s Match Points are totaled to determine the Top Five Guns of the Long Nine Cowboys from among its members.

For each match, you earn Match Points as follows:
1 point for attending the match without disqualification
5 points for shooting a clean match (no procedurals or safety violations)
3 points for being 1st in category
2 points for being 2nd in category
1 point for being 3rd in category
1 point for each place below your overall standing

Example:
Annie Oakley attends a match and comes in 3rd place overall.
Here are the points she would earn:

1 point – She attends the match and is not disqualified.
5 points – She shoots a clean match, hitting every target with no procedurals.
3 points – She comes in
first in her Lady Cowboy category.
27 points – She comes in 3rd out of 30 shooters.
————————————————————————-
36 Total Match Points are awarded to her for the match

Get your feet on the ground for Earth Day 2012!!
Join us at the cowboy range and make some noise…

Registration is 8:15 am to 9:15 am
Please be at the Registration Table [in the club house] NO LATER than 9:15 a.m.

———————————————-

Long Range Rifle Side Match runs from 8:15 – 9:30 a.m. BEFORE the cowboy match.
Read more about Long Range Rifle Side Match.  It’s FREE with your entry fee.

New Shooter’s Meeting starts at 9:15 am
[Please let us know at registration if you are a new(er) shooter to Cowboy Action Shooting]
———————————————————————-
Mandatory Shooter’s Meeting starts at 9:45 am
You must be on time and attend the Shooter’s Meeting in order to shoot the match.
Match begins at 10:00 am

———————————————————————-
See April Match Stages – Hope you can join us

———————————————————————-

Cost is $10 for Members, $12 for Non-members [You can become a Long Nine member at the match].

If you haven’t shot for awhile, you may want to review the SASS Shooter’s Handbook for current rules.

If you’re pretty sure you’re coming, we’d appreciate it if you could RSVP [to any one on the Contact Us page].

Also, please tell us ahead of time if you have SPECIAL NEEDS or wish to be on a PARTICULAR POSSE with specific people.

Due to safety concerns and issues that we had during the winter, the Board has made a policy for 2012 that if you have two instances of squib loads or guns that will not feed properly during any given match, you’ll be asked NOT to shoot those loads and those guns for the remainder of the match. [Other shooters may loan you guns with their working ammo if they choose].

————————————————————–

If you can help set up for the shoot at the Lefthander’s Gun Club in Loami, it’s happening on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

————————————————————–

We’ll shoot 5 or 6 stages total, depending on the number of shooters. Bring extra ammo if you shoot side matches.
Lunch is available for $5 at the Club House.
We’ll break for lunch after 3 stages as usual.
Our Match Director this month is Don Jorge.

—————————————————————-

It’s time to make reservations for the 2012 Illinois State
SASS Championship SPRING ROUNDUP
which is May 18 – May 20, 2012 in Sparta, Illinois.

————————————————————————
Print out Entry Form for 2012 Illinois State Shoot
————————————————————————

Once again, our own Boben Weev and Miss Weev are two of the major organizers of the event. You do not need to “qualify” to shoot at the Illinois State Match. You DO need to be a paid-up member of SASS [Single Action Shooting Society].

Enjoy three great days of shooting, hosted by the Kaskaskia Cowboys and the World Shooting Complex, or just come for the Main Match on Saturday and Sunday.

The main match is limited to 300 entries.

Accommodations

• Hotel & motels fill up, so make your Sparta hotel reservations early.
• Camping is available at the shooting complex.

Schedule includes:

* Cowboy Sporting Clay Championship on Friday May 18th
* Side Matches on Friday, May 18th
* 3-Stage Practice Matches on Friday, May 18th

Main Match
6 Stages on Saturday, May 19th
4 Stages on Sunday, May 20th
Awards for Main Match on Sunday afternoon

Saturday Evening is the Banquet with awards for Sporting Clays, Side Matches, and Costume Contest.
Banquet is included with match fees.

All SASS rules and class dress rules apply.

———————————————————

View March 2012 Detailed Scores

———————————————————

Thank you to everyone who helped out our new and new(er) cowboy shooters with space on the their gun carts, loaned guns, ammo, tips, expertise and advice.

A big thanks to EVERYONE who helped tear down the stages on Sunday and for Marley Devereaux for running registration and doing the scores.

We hope to see you again in April. If you have ideas or suggestions for outdoor stages or side matches, please contact us as the board and club organizers will planning our outdoor season in the next couple of weeks.

Congratulations to our Long Range Cowboy Revolver Side Match participants who hit a little bitty target from ~15 yards with a single shot and each won a fabulous prize [and thanks to Don Jorge for organizing the prizes and the side match]:
Boben Weev
Buffalo Burr
Errol Plain
Jesse Cain
Mad Jake Mattson

——————————————————

Illinois SASS State  Championship

Information and applications are now available for the “Illinois State Shoot” which runs from May 18 – May 20, 2012 at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Illinois.

Once again, our own Boben Weev and Miss Weev are two of the major organizers of the event.  You do not need to “qualify” to shoot at the Illinois State Match.  You DO need to be a paid-up member of SASS [Single Action Shooting Society].

–>> View printable application.