Air rifle club update

Air rifle club update

Another successful meeting of our air rifle club has taken place. Officers were elected, a logo with its elements, a colour scheme and a final draft of a membership application form were finalized and agreed upon. The expected Sport Ministry official did not attend, but she promised to be present at the next meeting.

The new executive got through the agenda in three hours, as opposed to four in the first meeting.


GAS PRODUCING COUNTRIES FORM NEW GROUP: GECF

Fifteen of the world’s major gas producing countries, including T&T, attended a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow, last week.

Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, T&T, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Equatorial Guinea and Norway were there as observers.

Russian PM Putin offered St Pietersburg as a permanent home for the offices of the new entity, along with full diplomatic staus. but the GECF leaders adopted a charter and agreed to establish a permanent office in Doha, Qatar, instead.

The group signaled the end of cheap natural gas, but were quick to deny any talk of ‘price cartel’. What this portends for T&T’s economic future, we’ll wait and see.



SUPERMARKET CHAIN RUNS OUT OF SHOPPING CARTS

One of the largest national grocery chains had a run on their carts on Monday 22nd Dec. We arrived at the store to find shoppers standing around awaiting other shoppers to return with trolleys from their cars.



OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT WOMAN REFUSED EXPRESS SERVICE

Pregnant woman with a couple items in hand, asked shoppers to allow her to skip in express line at well-known supermarket chain. All refused, vehemently. Sounds like the story of baby Jesus.


MORE PREPS

Bought a pair of steel toe garden boots, a clip-on bicycle pump and some more tinned foods. Took an old towel that lost its ‘fluffiness’, cut it into several smaller pieces, serged the edges and now we have several washrags and hand/face towels for the BOBs.

We are planning a family emergency evacuation and relocation drill. It should be a learning experience. Hopefully we can have someone videotape the entire event for learning and posterity. No point discovering during a real emergency that we overlooked a critical aspect of the plan. Better to find the flaws and glitches now, fix them and make any necessary changes. One prepares for war in the time of peace.

- Trini Funshooter

Seminal meeting of air rifle club

Yesterday evening we had our seminal meeting of what may be the first air rifle club in the country. Maybe by organizing ourselves, and cooperating in an activity that contributes so much fun in our lives, we may well be creating national history at the same time. The meeting went well, with many points raised, and many challenges and solutions discovered. A first draft of our club rules was settled on, along with a club name. Issues to enquire about were listed, and the next meeting date was decided.

It is said that “In the multitude of counsel there is wisdom”. The meeting was proof of this, as we accomplished in four hours more than anyone could, on their own, in weeks. I look forward to working on this project with these individuals, who I respect and admire, holding them in high regard.

Air gun shooting is really a fun activity that engenders discipline, focus, commitment, safety and security awareness, leadership, loyalty, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. Many of these qualities are essential for good citizenship. As a bonus, the shooter also develops skills that can put food on the table, and maybe even save lives, in an emergency. It is also evidentially safer than all other sport, as there are zero injuries recorded in this country. How many other sports can claim zero injuries?

To emphasise how air gun shooting develops an individual into a good citizen with the above qualities and skills, we need only to look at the country’s most successful air gun shooter, TT Defence Force Corporal Roger Daniel, who is an accomplished national and regional champion, as well as an Olympic athlete. If you spend five minutes in his company, you’d know what the term ‘quiet professional’ means. A true national role model for our nation’s restless youth.

Once up and running, the club should have programs that targets our youth; involving them in healthy, legal––but more importantly for them––fun activities.

- Trini Funshooter