CMP State Junior Directors Attend Nationals

Submitted By Michele Makucevich, Rhode Island SJD

With its rich history and storied ranges, Camp Perry’s allure to competitive shooters neatly melds the traditional sense of family gatherings and the instinctive call of a yearly migration. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, shooters, coaches and volunteers flock to the instinctual beacons of those welcoming lighthouses and unmistakable water tower. But nowhere is the mixture of dedication and love of sport, which calls so poignantly, more present than among the ranks of the CMP State Junior Directors.

Utah State Junior Director, Arnie Vitarbo, has been both a line officer and line referee at the National Matches.

For many, attending the Nationals is a family affair as well as a deep-seeded tradition. Arnie Vitarbo, Utah’s SJD, has been coming to Perry since the 1960’s, a time that he fondly remembers. “We enjoyed camping off base all during the sixties. In those days very few people flew, but we drove and set up a little tent camp at a farm just east of the fence of the base. There was a lot of socializing, with evening barbecues.” A highly successful competitor, who has placed as high as third and has won several individual pistol events, Vitarbo frequently cooks on the range as well. A favorite shooting experience of his was when the Air Force made a clean sweep of all of the pistol team matches at Camp Perry. Arnie was a member of each of those teams! Most recently, Arnie’s participation consists of making it possible for others to compete. This year he was the head coach of the NRA Junior Pistol Camp and also acted as a line officer and referee. His wife is involved too, volunteering in the Stat Office and assisting with scoring.

Though she is a competitive shooter herself, Massachusetts’s SJD, Maureen Trickett, has found that the demands of coaching have curtailed her own participation. “I feel I should be watching the kids and the targets, especially my new kids, in case they have trouble or targets are mis-scored.” Maureen coaches one of her state’s most successful programs, and has been watching her kids for the past seven years. She is both an educator and a mom, and all of her own children have shot. Her youngest, Kevin, was initiated at Perry as a nine-year-old volunteer (the youngest on the line) in 1999. Now he shoots for his mom’s team.

Michele Makucevich's daughter, Danielle, shoots competively in the National Matches at Camp Perry.

Another competitive mom is Rhode Island SJD, Michele Makucevich. A regular participant since the early 90’s, she is a national record holder in long range and smallbore rifle. Coach of the Newport Rifle Club Juniors, she has had several athletes go on to receive NCAA scholarships. Her favorite Perry memories center on shooting with her family. “In ’93 my husband coached me in the team match in what was one of the most fun and best performances of my life. In ’97 we fired on a team together. For the past three years I’ve had the opportunity to shoot the Mentor Match with my daughter, Danielle. This year, at 8, she was my Randle Coach.” So, what’s next? “Someday I’d really like to have a family team with my husband and two kids.”

One person who has experienced what firing as a family team is all about is Pennsylvania SJD, Erin Gestl. Growing up in a shooting family, Erin has the distinction of having fired with his father and siblings on a team that actually placed at the Nationals. He’s come a long way since then. An NRA Distinguished Smallbore Rifleman, he is equally respected as a coach and as a competitor. His Palmyra Wrecking Crew junior teams have written and rewritten the record books. When Erin is not winning matches, he is running them. His Palmyra Invitational is one of the best attended and most hotly contested shoulder-to-shoulder indoor matches in the country.

For those who may wonder where Santa goes in July, you need look no further than the Camp Perry ready line. With his white beard and congenial smile, Virginia SJD, Jim Morgan, has been putting in Perry appearances every year since 1985. Coaching teams in both highpower and smallbore, his athletes have become members of the Dewar and Randle teams, as well as setting national records and winning the Infantry Team Trophy Championship. With all those successes it’s hard to lock down a favorite Perry memory, but one ranking at the top of the list would be coaching the Whistler Boy with a pair of young ladies. The weather was wretched and the girls spent two days lying in puddles on their shooting mats. Jim was reading the wind based on the rain and the girls pumped out a 192 and 194 at 600 yards while the rest of the field whined about the conditions. Bringing multitasking to new levels, Jim currently acts as a sponsor, coach, and instructor for various junior programs throughout the state in smallbore, highpower, black powder, and pistol.

Ohio’s dynamic duo, Russell and Vickie Evans, have been Perry stalwarts for 19 years. The two have spent their time in support of the NRA Junior Camp (run during the Prone Nationals). One of their fondest experiences is having coached a 15-year-old shooter several years back who has returned as a coach. For the past 18 years the two have coached the Cougars Junior Rifle Team (which has gone undefeated in league competition for the past 16 years). As state association trustees, they also run the smallbore program for the association, conduct indoor and outdoor junior smallbore championships and a 10-week introductory course in gun safety and position shooting.

New Hampshire SJD, Dave Polonsky, is a consummate volunteer. Coaching multiple teams and individuals in his home state, Dave is a fixture at matches throughout New England. Always ready to lend a hand, he frequently acts as range officer or scorer at local matches. He also volunteers as a coach at the Rhode Island Camp, and at Perry’s NRA Junior Camp. A highpower shooter, Dave’s athletes have gone on to the National Junior Olympics and even the collegiate ranks.

Distinguished Prone Shooter and SJD for New Mexico, Ginger McLemore, continued to add to her string of Perry successes as a member of this year’s Randle Team. A National Record holder in both smallbore and highpower, Ginger is the faculty sponsor of New Mexico Tech’s Shooting Sports Club. Bolstered by the support of husband, Jim, a 14 year Perry volunteer, Ginger has been shooting and volunteering since 1984. Among her many special memories of Perry would be the opportunity to coach the 1998 Whistler Boy Champions, which included her daughter, Christine.

Alaska’s new State Junior Director, Bruce Bowler, left, with Lones and Mary Kay Wigger. This was the first trip to Camp Perry for Bruce, who volunteered in the NRA Scoring Shack.

New to his role as Alaska’s SJD, Bruce Bowler made his first trip to Perry this year as a volunteer in the scoring shack. Impressed with the dedication and selflessness of those who keep the matches running, he is hooked for the future. Coach of the University of Alaska SE Rifle Club in Juneau, he serves on the 4-H state shooting sports trainer team, and is a NRA Training Counselor/Coach.

Other SJD’s to visit Perry this summer were New Jersey’s Harry Jacobs, Minnesota’s Larry Sawyer, and Texas’ George Brenzovich. Maine’s Julian Beale continued to patrol the Smallbore Championships as the Range Director and Tennessee’s Ray Harvey notched another year as a coach at the Junior Camp.