We have been resident as a club here at RFP for 3 months now! The dust has settled and we have made our presence known. As a club, we love RFP, and we are enjoying a regular number of holiday makers coming along for our Archery Activity or Experience.
Founders Day Shoot
This year, We turned 8-years-old! We usually celebrate with a Founders Day in-club shoot. John, as the Founder, likes it to be a Windsor Round (his favourite). This is shooting at 3 distances, 36 arrows at each distance. Normally held in mid-June, to coincide with John’s birthday, and because we can shoot an outdoor round in the mid-summer! But this year we moved to RFP on that exact weekend and so the celebrations were obviously delayed.
As our main celebratory event and in-club competition, we have trophies and medals – and there is always cake!!!
Everyone arrived bright and early on Sunday morning, and there were rainbows over the range as setup took place. We have more archers doing the further distances this year than last year, as we had 3 targets at 60 yards and 2 at 50 yards. This shows how our archers are developing their skills and techniques.
We invited all the members of Rockingham staff and management to come along and spectate, have some cake and see what we do. With some fun surprises planned, members arrived ready for the day ahead!
For our first ceremonial volley, we drew raffle tickets. Six were selected, and those archers had the priviledge of shooting the volley. This will be something that happens every Founders Day – 6 feathered whistling arrows shot at the same time, singing as they fly! What a spectacle to witness, even with Carls epic fail!
Shooting started and we had challenged our members to start at a distance that was 10 yards more than they usually shot (or just the 60-yard maximum for our seasoned veterans). The first distance was started, and we had a number of holiday makers and local walkers watching. 10 targets being shot was quite the spectacle to see.
Lunch, and a quiz too!
First distance ended and it was lunch break, just in time for the heavens to open! We all crowded under the gazebos, this actually made the Griffin fun quiz easier to do as we were all so close together. While eating lunch we asked the questions for a bit of fun and to see how much people knew about Griffin! How long has Robyn been shooting? How old is Griffin Archers? What is the name for a group of Griffins? ( it’s a Senate, but in the club it’s also “a family”)
Then it was time to reveal the answers and for the competitors to mark anothers quiz answers, Trevor won the Quiz Cup for 2024, well done Trev!
Cake …
Before we knew it, the next distance had been shot and it was time for “cake break”, we called up the birthday boys – Carl and Rian to blow out the candle after we all sang Happy Birthday. The cake was deliciously chocolate with malteasers and a fondant target. We had donations of sweet treats, so everyone could find something they wanted.
Our new RFP friend and regular visitor “Sheila “ came to see us. She had taken part in the activity the day before and we had built a connection. She is an inspirational lady who has such a zest for life she wants to excel at everything. She is a regular visitor to RFP so we hope to catch up with her again soon.
… and then there was scoring
Di was busy tallying scores and there was some fun competitions opening up, Paul and Rachael had changed lead each distance, Tom had become a front runner, much to his surprise, and was pulling out in front of Steph. Robyn and Borna were neck and neck, with Deniss catching up fast, Alex and Kai were stand outs in their categories throughout. The brilliant thing was that these rivalries were across distances so it was all fun banter and friendly encouragement.
As we went to begin the final distance, everyone full of sugary treats, the sun was out and it was a glorious day. Shannon was too hot and Rian was complaining about melting, Sara was cold and put on more and more layers.
Once that final whistle went, the flurry of activity began. People packed away their kits and then started taking down the range. All the while final scores were being checked and verified.
Some close calls and surprise results, but every score was well earnt.
We were graced by Debs from The Command Post as our days “Legendary Griffin”, to hand out awards and shake hands.
Trev and Robyn did a brilliant job getting the correct awards for the right person!
Carl took “Best Gold” and Grace got the wooden spoon from “Worst White”
It was good that Carl got this prize, as he was determined to win the cup that had slipped away from him last year, but with the new categories he came a very respectable 4th!
Winners Results:
New Griffins ( Any members who had been part of the club for less than 12 months)
Barebow – 1st place – Rachael, 2nd – Slick (Paul), 3rd – Grace
Freestyle – 1st – Tom R, 2nd – Steph, 3rd – Chris
Rising Griffins ( Club members who are under 25yrs old)
Barebow – 1st – Kai
Freestyle – 1st – Alex, 2nd – Shannon
Griffins (Members aged 26 – 59yrs)
Freestyle – 1st – Robyn, 2nd – Borna, 3rd – Deniss.
Vintage Griffins (60 +)
Freestyle – 1st – Alan, 2nd – John S, 3rd – Keith , with a Special mention 3rd – John I
It was a long day, but such good fun! We are looking forward to our 9th Anniversary next June!