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AZJOAD NEWSLETTER
“AZJOAD, where Arizona JOAD clubs meet and
compete”
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May 26, 2002
Informal Ben Avery Discussion
Over the
past three weekends AZJOAD has had the pleasure of meeting informally with Ben
Avery Shooting Facility (BASF)/ Arizona Game and Fish Department Staff. While George Frangos ran the FITA Training
events, Fred Grant and Bob Pian visited with Larry Collins, BASF Range Master
and Don Turner, BASF Chief Range Master/Manager. Larry was
sincerely pleased to see the FITA range used by the target archery community
and encouraged it’s continued use with particular attention to youth
programs. Larry was quite pleased to
hear that Jim Hamilton was authorized to proceed with the FITA Range
operations proposal. Larry strongly
believes that our youth are our future and will be happy to support and do
what ever he can to help the JOADs!
Thanks Larry. . Don
Turner tracked us down as we were dumping the FITA range trash. Don was equally enthusiastic about the
FITA range use and mentioned several items to consider in no particular order
of priority. ·
Youth and Women FITA range use is strongly
encouraged. The AZJOAD use of the
range is just what the Game and Fish Department is looking for. See picture of First Training Event It is essential that the shooting sports
support new shooters with proper education. ·
BASF has observed from Day One that the FITA range
needs more parking spaces. Don was
happy to hear that the proposed improvement plans include additional parking. ·
Storage is best accommodated in a roll off
container just as AZJOAD has in place.
BASF has found the containers to be a good value and well built. An additional container can be located on
the range or in the BASF fenced yard immediately east of the entry gate
complex. The ASAA trailer could be
put in the fenced area if desired. ·
Consider a classroom with a small kitchenette in
lieu of a storage area in a building.
The need for restrooms is a given.
When the building is in place the Game and Fish Department will own
and maintain the facility. To that
end BASF would like the building air-conditioned in lieu of evaporative
cooled. Classroom space will be
helpful for our education programs. ·
Range improvement Architectural/Engineering plans
need to be submitted to BASF who will in turn have them reviewed by the
Arizona Department of Administration and the State Fire Marshal’s
office. BASF will seek as many of the
approvals as they can. ·
BASF has a few catering companies on the web site
that would be more than pleased to provide foodservice. ·
Gun clubs must have 10 events a year to be able to
manage their own range. BASF
encourages archery and asks that only 6 events a year be scheduled. (An ASAA/AZJOAD FITA every other month
take care of this item, just a thought) Fred and
Bob offered that plans have been reviewed and approved and the “Archery
Group” is in the process of putting a submittal package together. We closed our tailgate pickup truck
meeting with a tour of the last Game and Fish project, an air-conditioned
shooting sports mobile classroom trailer with hands-on pellet gun
shooting. We
finished emptying the trash knowing that we have friends at BASF/AZ Game and
Fish! Trivia: What do Papago
Park and the Ben Avery Shooting Facility have in common besides desert
archery ranges? Answer By Bob Pian 2002 AZJOAD Coordinator Ben
Avery has several of the prison camp huts in the fenced storage area and to
the north of the Archery fields.
These prison huts were originally located in the WWII prison camp at
what is now Papago Park, north of McDowell Road. Today BASF uses them for storage. |
