Sandpoint Archers

The February Sandpoint Archers Newsletter is ready for you to peruse.  Check it out.  :)  Sandpoint Archers Newsletter

Here's the Sandpoint Archers website: Sandpoint Archers Website

It needs help!  I really can't figure out how to work with the "GoDaddy" program it's built with.

Sandpoint Archers Newsletter

Interested in archery?  Check out the Sandpoint Archers January 2010 newsletter.  Here's the link to the home page.  Scroll down a little bit, and you'll find the link for the newsletter. Sandpoint Archers

I'm the editor now, so, I'm putting my journalism skills to use again.  I did the school newspaper at Sandpoint Middle School for about four years, and one year at Griffith Junior High in East Los Angeles.

Before that I worked for World Vision in Arcadia, CA, in their public relations department.  I wrote/edited the staff newsletter there (about 2000 employees).  So it's kind of fun to get back into a little feature writing,... reporting. :)  Sort of.  Very "soft" news.  Here's an archery pic to whet your appetite.

This shot is from the 2009 Traditional World Championships in Erie, PA.  I earned fourth place.  Don was in the middle of the pack.  We hope my shoulder is working well enough to go back this year (and do better!).

I'm still in physical therapy twice a week.  Trying to pull my bow, but can't bring it to full draw yet.  Soon, hopefully.  :)

Archery Rules!

Just found an article about Sandpoint Archers in our local paper, the Bonner County Daily Bee: Sandpoint Archers Indoor Target League Opens


I can't shoot the target league.  Too weak.  Maybe by the time we shoot the indoor "animal" targets league I'll be ready.

Pick Up a Bow

Sitting here at school, trying to make my new computer do what I want it to do. Just spend 15 minutes trying to get the signature right on my email. Vanity, I suppose. Thank God for new computers, even if it is a hassle setting them up at first. My old computer was starting to act up, so I'm glad Dell had the recall. Every model of that computer was recalled, and we got a good deal on tech support, I guess, when we got new ones. So I have 10 new computers in my room (including mine). With my school laptop, that means I can have 10 students on a computer at a time. At this point, my largest class has 21 students. What are the chances that all 21 kids will show up on the same day?

So we went to one more shoot: Thompson Falls, Montana. Don and I really enjoy this shoot, for one reason really, the Clark Fork River. It is so cool to go down to the river to swim after a hot day of trudging around in the dusty hay fields and through dense underbrush in the forest, sweating going up hill and down shooting targets.

The river (I'll have to put a picture in later) is cool and strong. It has deep spots so you can climb the boulders at the edge and jump in. Don likes doing that more than I do. Mostly I just like crawling upstream, using my hands to pull against the current. You have to be really careful swimming there. It is just a few miles below the Thompson Falls Dam, and the current, when you get far out, is very strong. At the edge, it's not too bad. It did frighten me imagining Don getting towed downstream and not being able to get out. I'm not sure what I would do. It takes about 20 minutes to get back up the hillside to the hotel. He'd be far away by then... Thankfully, it was only my overactive imagination.

It was not the best shooting weekend for Don. The first day, I shot really well. The second day, not so good. I still won my class. I was the only one in it. :) That has happened several times this summer. Where are all the recurve women? Come on, girls. Pick up a bow, buy some arrows, and get out there!

It takes practice. The first time I shot a bow, I tried about three shots and said, "Forget it." It was about a year later I tried again, and kept trying. And now I'm pretty good (but not consistent!). We'll see how I compare to the competition at the IBO World Traditional Championship, in Erie, Pennsylvania, in September. There's definitely going to be some quality shooters there. Hope I turn out to be one of them.

Another thing about archery, make sure the weight of your arrows is consistent with the requirements of the bow and your draw length! Find someone who knows how to help you set up your equipment. It doesn't take a lot of money to start shooting traditional, but it does take a good set up. You can save yourself a lot of anguish with the right bow and arrows. Make sure the bow is not too heavy (in the pull weight). Lots of people make the mistake of using a bow that is too heavy. It is frustrating, and can hurt you. Don't let your personal vanity get in the way, i.e., "I can shoot a heavier bow that this!" Start with the lighter bow. You'll be happier and more confident. You can always move up to a heavier bow later, if you want to. My bow is only about 35 points. I shoot a DAS metal riser with some Olympic style (low end) composite limbs. It shoots great! Some people prefer an all wood bow. There are some really nice ones out there. Just find something you'll like!

We really need more female traditional shooters. Pick up a bow!

Back Home

Even though school has been out for a month, I'm just now feeling like vacation is beginning. I did have 10 days at the end of school when I wasn't officially working, but four of those days were taken up with a conference. Then I came home, and went to see my mom for four days, and then I came home and went to the "We the People: Citizen and the Constitution" Institute for 8 days. So now I'm home, and as far as I know, I'll be home until September. We do have a few more archery shoots on the weekends to go to, but I don't consider that as really being gone. Those are just little weekend getaways.

I am teaching two courses this summer: English 10A and Entrepreneurial Economics for Idaho Digital Learning Academy. Anyone needing to take high school (and some middle school) courses should check out IDLA. It is the best in Idaho! (of course I'm biased.) :) Anyway, that will continue until the end of August, just before school starts again. So it's not as if I'm totally on vacation, but, ya, I'm on vacation.

The most exciting thing I want to share with the world today is that I get to teach three English/three Social Studies at my middle school this year! I've wanted to do that for about 10 years. Four years ago I got my social studies endorsement, so I was finally qualified to do so... And at last it has come through. I am sooooo excited.

This is my first blog ever. Hmmm... we'll see how it goes.