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Shooting for the Stars takes aim at discipline, respect
The Putnam County 4-H Archery Club hosted its first Archery Banquet on Saturday evening in the open arena at the Putnam County Fairgrounds. Sixteen archers, ranging from grades four to 12, partnered with the stars of Putnam County to raise funds for the archery club and educate the public on all things archery.
"It was supposed to end up being the stars (of Putnam County) and the archers shooting together," Nichole Taylor, a volunteer for the club who helped organize the event, said, "but we couldn't get insurance to cover the stars. So we changed it to 'Shooting for the Stars,' where our archers are going to shoot for them. The archer who wins, the star and the archer both get a trophy and a prize."
The stars for the event were Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory, Putnam County Sheriff Scott Stockton, Greencastle Fire Chief John Burgess, Greencastle Police Chief Tom Sutherlin, Jim Baird (current member of the Indiana House of Representatives, District 44), Kim Fidler (candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives, District 44), John Pickering, Vivian Whitaker, Paul Jedele and longtime instructors Peg and Allen Royer, who were surprised with the honor.
"Deciding a food menu was probably one of the hardest things, I think," Taylor said. "I wanted it to be a nicer dinner. But no matter where we went, we couldn't find prepared meals. So we ended up having to change our menu. We searched for several weeks. Getting the donations, to me, was probably the easiest thing."
Food was ultimately provided by Restaurant Depot of Indianapolis, and the archery club received donations of money and materials from multiple area businesses and individuals: Suzanne Travelstead, 31, The Inn at DePauw, Monster Mini Golf, McDonald's, Don's Garage, On the Flipside, Monical's, Tupperware, Crackers Comedy Club, Auto Zone, Anthony's Pizza, Tractor Supply Co., Smart Styles, Creations Museum, T&T Nails, Snap Fitness and Taco Bell.
Other donors were On Target, Goody's, Mason Jewelry, Big Splash Adventure, Party Lite, Magnetability, Wilson Photography, Kroger, Headley Hardware, Pizza Den, Big R, Parker Archery, The Barn Archery, Starbucks, Burdge Boots, Almost Home, Mona Lisa Spa, Katy Conrad Reflexology, Kelly McKinny Massage, Greencastle Aquatic Center, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Barnes & Noble and Eli Books.
Funds raised by the event, Taylor said, will be used to purchase materials for archers in grades 6-12, who are required to make their own bows, arrows, quivers and arm guards.
"We provide them with all of that material, if they come to the workshops," Taylor said. "And we don't charge them for that stuff; it's part of their dues. So we want to make sure that we have that kind of money in the account, so that we don't have to raise their dues. Doing little fundraisers like this, it's helpful to them."
For the event, the students shot traditional, or recurve, bows at targets sitting 10 yards away. Traditional bows weigh under 30 pounds and have no sights.
"Another reason we wanted to do this was because so many people say, 'Yeah, your kid pulls back a string and shoots an arrow. Whoopee,'" Taylor said. "It's so much more than just that. The kids can tell you, going to a hunter's education course, it's 10 hours of sitting in a classroom straight through. You get instruction and then it's hands-on. Peg Royer (head leader) teaches them discipline, safety, responsibility and respect."
Mark Carr, an instructor, said that these characteristics are important for safety reasons as archery is a dangerous sport. Student archers respond to whistle commands during shooting and are not allowed to even touch their arrows without permission from the two overseeing instructors.
"They have to have the discipline," Carr said. "If we see that they don't have the discipline, we'll kick them off the (shooting) line. They have to have the respect to do what we say. If you touch your arrows before we tell you you can, we pull you out that round. And it makes you learn. It sounds silly, but it's just another safety thing."
Even just failing to use the proper technique can be painful, as one archer, Kristina Taylor, has learned the hard way.
"I am the 'Queen of Souvenirs' in our whole archery group," Kristina said, "because when you pull the string back, if you don't have your arm right, the string rubs it. And I get them so bad that they bruise and then start bleeding."
In honor of Kristina's habit, the archery group had a T-shirt with the words "Queen of Souvenirs" made for her.
"Our archery club is not just about archery," Kristina said. "We are creating our own family. On any day, if I don't feel good or something, I look up to (Andrew Carr) and not because he's taller than me. I feel like any of those little kids could come up to me and get help with something. When we create all this respect for each other, then we learn about each other better."
In the future, Nichole Taylor hopes the club will be able to host shoot-offs against archery teams from the surrounding counties, but until then, this family will continue shooting for the stars.