By Tim Leeds
The Havre Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce) will host the 2001 Montana State BB Gun Match in the Havre Middle School gymnasium on April 6-8.
Cliff Plum, the chair of the state match and the chair and head coach of the Daisy and Havre Jaycees Shooter Education Program, said there will be about 105 competitors on 16 teams at the event, from six chapters including Havre.
The match includes a written exam, competition in prone, standing, sitting and kneeling positions, with the top three teams from different chapters qualifying for team competition at the national tournament, to be held in Colorado Springs, Colo., next fall.
"We teach them how to safely handle weapons, also the responsibility of handling them," Plum said. "How to handle the weapons in a safe and responsible manner we teach them all the safety aspects of (guns) as well as teach them how to shoot and compete."
The Havre teams, listed in scoring order, are Tyson Phifer, Monica Laeupple, Megan McAlpin, Vic King and Sara Lippy, with Kelly Walker as head coach and Keith Smith as assistant coach on team one; Haley Lippy, Anthony Filler, Cassie Phifer, Ryan McAlpin and T. J. Daulton, with Cliff Plum as head coach and Bob West as assistant coach on team two; Christina Plum, Adrian Doll, Amber Brown, Markus Walters and Tawni Daulton, with Logan LaSalle as head coach and Shawn Dahl as assistant coach on team three.
Chuck Nottingham is the match director and Jim Griggs is the range officer on Saturday and Bob Doney is the range officer on Sunday. Logan LaSalle, the president of the Havre Jaycees and assistant coach for the shooters education, is co-chairing the match with Plum.
The other chapters participating are Belgrade, Choteau, Dillon, Glendive and Laurel.
The NRA (National Rifle Association) registered event is governed by NRA BB match rules. Plum said the match will be carefully supervised and run by trained personnel the entire time.
The event starts with registration from 5-9 p.m. Friday, April 6, with the set up of gun boxes, stands and back drops from 6-9 p.m. Late registration will be from 9-10 a.m. on Saturday, April 7, with all competitors entering the building from 9:30-10 a.m.
The opening ceremonies are from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, followed by the written exam from 11 a.m. to noon. Montana State Jaycees President Tami Christensen from Sidney will be the guest speaker in the opening ceremonies, and Havre Cub Scout Webelo Troop #426 will be the color guard.
There will be a free lunch for the competitors from noon to 1 p.m., followed by the prone position competition from 1-2:45 p.m. and standing position from 3-4:45 p.m.
There will be competitors' "get acquainted social" from 7-9 p.m. at the middle school cafeteria and a coaches social from 7-10 p.m. at 15 west.
The competition resumes Sunday, April 8, with the sitting position competition from 8-9:45 a.m. and the kneeling position form 9:45-11:30 a.m.
Following a break for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., there will be a fun match from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Plum said they will do things like shooting at Lifesavers® candies or aspirin on the targets. The awards ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m., ending the event.
Plum said that anyone who would like to watch the competition on Saturday or Sunday is welcome to come in.
