Manitoba Junior Rifle Club set to celebrate 60 years in Neepawa

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By: Lanny Stewart

myWestman.ca

The Manitoba Junior Rifle Club has been around for a long time and will soon be celebrating its 60th year as an organization in Neepawa later this month.

On Saturday, May 31, the club will be holding its annual provincial rifle championship at the Yellowhead Centre grounds, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and will consist of youth competing in three events; one of which is the gun and muzzle control field trials, which consist of youth showcasing an ability to carry a gun safely through a myriad of different scenarios.

"It's to make sure that they can carry a gun and cross a fence safely," said Ray Drysdale, host chairman for the event. "It's to see if they can get in and out of a boat safely with a gun or vehicle.

"They also have to identify all the different guns during the field trials," continued Drysdale, who has been with the club since 1994. "Whether it's a pump action or a bolt action, they've got to identify all the different types of actions. It's basically gun knowledge."

The other two events are a hunter safety written exam as well as live ammunition target shooting.

Following the competition, there will be a banquet that focuses more on the 60 years of the club beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. at the Yellowhead Centre. What better way for the club to celebrate its past, considering it was Neepawa that played host to the first Manitoba Junior Rifle provincial championship in 1955.

"It's a place to handle guns. If you're going to handle guns, you might as well do it safely," said Drysdale, regarding the MJRC.

Neepawa played a key role in the beginning stages of the rifle club. It was in the winter of 1948 where the Neepawa Game and Fish Club had some members who were wanting to begin shooting and hunting and eventually began a program on safety, range procedure and gun handling.

According to a historical reference, a group of hunters, known as the "Ospreys" held strong convictions that hunting should be conducted in a safe and sportsman-like manner. They also believed that education was preferable to legislation to reduce the carelessness and misuse of firearms. In 1954, the Manitoba Junior Rifle Club was born.

The club is also a program of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation and is considered the largest and only program of its kind in North America.

"It is the grass roots program of all shooting programs across the continent and is respected for its safety first training for all future hunters," states the Manitoba Wildlife Federation on its official website. "The junior rifle motto – safety, sportsmanship and shooting – has stood the test of time and continues to prove that Junior Rifle has what it takes to train upcoming firearms shooting enthusiasts and hunters."

The Manitoba Junior Rifle Club is active in several communities across the province and offers members .22 rifle and .177 calibre live-firing safety training as well. Members also learn about calibre and gauge, breathing techniques as well as how to sight in a rifle.

Neepawa has held the MJRC annual competition several times, including a six year stretch from its inception in 1955 to 1960.

There were also several Neepawa chairpersons on the MJRC committee, including Bob Todd (1954), Bob Burns (1955-1960), Al Campbell (1964) and Roger Haynes (2002-2004).

Points of interest worth noting. . .

- Bob Burns of Neepawa was considered the father of the Junior Rifle program due to his countless hours of promoting firearm safety throughout the province. He passed away in 1980 and left a legacy due to his dedication.

- In 1976, MJRCC introduced the Intermediate competition. Its aim was to encourage
students of the age of 17 and older to continue to work with the Junior Rifle Club program.

- In the first provincial championship in 1955, only boys competed; the first time girls competed was in 1957 from Wawanesa and Neepawa Junior Rifle clubs.

- A big bonus to winning the overall team rifle championship at the MJRC annual event is the John Labatt Trophy, considered the most impressive award ever handed out to junior rifle competition in all of North America. Clarence Tellenius, a well-known wildlife artist, wound up making the trophy for Labatts Brewery and was donated to the MJRC committee in 1962.

"The trophy is cast in bronze and depicts a boy hunting, partnered with a magnificent Labrador dog," states the historical reference.

The trophy replaces the former championship team trophy and is retained by the champions for one year with individual replicas for team members and their coach.

The John Labatt Trophy is just one of several other trophies handed out at the event.