2014 Jenny Cole Memorial Shoot

This year’s Jenny Cole Memorial Shoot was held at the SSAA Victoria Eagle Park Range on Saturday, October 18.

The event began as an interclub shoot between The Little River Raiders and The Big Game Rifle Clubs to allow members from both clubs to try out each other’s disciplines and firearms, and owing to its popularity, this event has been expanded to include shooters from all disciplines. The day was then made into a Memorial Shoot to remember Jenny Cole who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010, while showing support and raising funds for the McGrath Foundation in its continuing efforts to support those going through this disease.

Sue Bowles, a McGrath Foundation Breast Care Nurse in Geelong, gives up her own time to attend as a special guest for the day. Unfortunately, Sue was unable to attend to pick and present the winner of The Jenny Cole Memorial Trophy this year. An engraved belt buckle went to Charles McHugh, as he was the shooter deemed to have had ‘the most fun on the day’.

The day was a huge success, with a group of spectators and an excited group of shooters enjoying a fun-filled day. Among the group of shooters were several SSAA Victoria board members, as well as well-travelled visitors Yowie from NSW, RusLer and RusLing from Warnambool, JayBird and Molly Dooka from Bendigo, and Barry Evans from Tasmania.

The weather was again spectacular. A quick safety briefing and some instruction on Single Action firearms was held and then the day began, with the participants starting the event off at ranges 15 and 16 with two stages of Single Action. Some very credible scores were posted from shooters new to the discipline. The use of single-action revolvers, lever-action rifles and shotguns all in the same event was a pleasant change for the BGRC shooters. The top scorer of the Single Action events was Rattlesnake (Adam Simbert).

Lunch was a barbecue at the Little River Raiders clubrooms. Then the group swapped ranges for the afternoon session. Three events incorporating Hunting Class and Double Rifles were enjoyed by all and to add some extra interest, we held side events, where shooters were able to challenge each other to the duelling tree. A donation to enter gave the contestants a chance to pit their skills against each other, with bragging rights going to the best on the day.

Adam Simbert was again the top scorer of the day, with Tom Zamanis the winner of the BGRC events. The Little River Raiders came out the overall winner of the competition and gets to hold the Jenny Cole Memorial Combined Shoot Shield until the next event, where the friendly rivalry between the clubs will again explode to see which will be victorious and win the shield.

Thank you to Sambucca Kid and Adam Simbert for taking care of the scoring, and thanks to JayBird for photographing the event.

The raffle run over the preceding weeks to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation was a great success. Congratulations to all who won raffle prizes and thank you for your support. Sincere thanks too to the local Geelong and Victorian businesses that donated prizes, including Adrian from Norlane Tyre Service, David from Associated Cold Treads, Simon from Middleton’s Heating and Cooling, Rod from The Outdoor Sportsman, Dale from QAH Auto Spare Parts, Steve from Silver Shadow Projectiles, Andrew from Precision Engine Reconditioners, Clive from Winchester Australia, Alex from Hunters Haven, Denis at the SSAA Victoria Retail Shop, the SSAA Eagle Park Range Management Committee, Paul, Andrea and Sue from the SSAA Eagle Park Range, CEO Jack Wegman, Wilda and the staff at SSAA Victoria, and the SSAA clubs and members who donated prizes. These businesses are proud to support us in our endeavors to raise funds to support the McGrath Foundation, so please support them when you can.

The total handed over to the McGrath Foundation was $4200. The great success of this event is thanks to the very hard work and dedication of the few people who always stand-in to assist and the generosity of the organisations and individuals who have donated prizes. The next event will be held on Saturday, October (Breast Cancer Month) 17, 2015, and is open to any person interested in having a try or a look at some different disciplines. We look forward to seeing you there.