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Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club give back to the community in many ways |
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Written by Staff Reports
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 |
The first fifty years of the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club will be celebrated in a big way in 2010, but club members are about to unveil the 49th edition of their famous gun, knife and coin show to coincide with the Sweetwater Jaycees Rattlesnake Roundup, March 13-15 at the Nolan County Coliseum Annex.
This year's show has been sold out since early December, but gun show chairman Gene Browning is still receiving requests for display tables from dealers all over Texas and the rest of the nation. Some 74 dealers will fill the show's 200-plus tables with fine guns, knives, coins and related merchandise during the three-day event. New, used and antique firearms, knives and coins will be available for sale, trade or just for display.
“Our show is a great way for a family to spend a weekend. Our dealers will sell you a new gun or a new knife, they will trade for your gun or knife, or they will appraise that old gun you have had in your closet,” said Browning.
The Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club held its first gun, knife and coin show in the old national guard armory at Newman Park in 1960. The show was the brainchild of then club president Claude Wilson and quickly caught on as an annual project of the club.
Later, once the coliseum complex was constructed, the show was moved to the annex to coincide with the annual Jaycees Rattlesnake Roundup.
“We feel the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club and the Sweetwater Jaycees Rattlesnake Round-Up compliment each other by attracting different segments of the public,” added SRPC president Carroll Kearney. “Our crowds spill over to the Rattlesnake Round-Up and their crowds do the same for us.”
The annual Gun, Knife and Coin Show is the major fund-raising activity for the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club. Proceeds from the show cover the club's operating expenses during the year and also finance the club's activities in the local community. The club regularly contributes to activities such as the Goodfellows, the Nolan County Livestock Show and many other worthy charities in the Sweetwater area. This year, the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club established a college scholarship program to benefit an outstanding graduating senior from each of Nolan County's four high schools — Sweetwater, Roscoe, Highland and Blackwell. The club is also working to help the Texas Theater restoration project now underway in Sweetwater.
A major project of the club is maintaining the J. Paul Turner Winchester Collection on display in the foyer of the Nolan County Courthouse in Sweetwater. The late J. Paul Turner, a local rancher, was a longtime member of SRPC and spent a major part of his life collecting the sometimes rare and always interesting Winchester firearms on display
Aside from its charitable activities, Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club regularly conducts Texas Hunter Safety training for young hunters in the area. Eddie Neitzler and Carroll Kearney are the certified instructors for this program and render a valuable service to the area community. The club also offers regular Texas Concealed Handgun License Training classes taught by charter instructor Frank Healer at the SRPC clubhouse and on the SRPC law enforcement range.
The club, as we all know it today, has gone through several transformations since it was first formed in about 1946. A group of local men who served in World War Two first established a club near Avenger Field for recreational shooting and continued until the 1950s. At that time, Gulf Refining-one of the community's main employers-moved its operations from Sweetwater to Port Arthur and took most of the SRPC's members with them.
Within a few years, however, the remaining local members, including current Secretary-Treasurer Eddie Neitzler, revived the club and it has remained in operation to the present.
The club currently boasts some 140 members at present and holds regular shooting activities at the club's range complex northeast of Avenger Field.
Range facilities include a rifle and pistol range with target positions from 25 meters out to 300 meters, a trap range where regular matches are held during summer months, and a training area on the west end restricted to concealed handgun license training and area law enforcement training activities. Members may use the range area for shooting whenever they wish. Visitors are welcome, but they must be accompanied at the range by a club member. Regular .22 caliber rimfire matches are conducted at the club's indoor range at the clubhouse on Loop 170 just off Business 20 west of Sweetwater.
Membership information and applications are available from Secretary-Treasurer Eddie Neitzler at 235-5705. Club meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at the SRPC Club building. Visitors and prospective members are always welcome.
The 49th edition of the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club Gun, Knife and Coin Show will kick off Friday, March 13, at 9 a.m. and will remain open until 6 p.m. Show hours for Saturday are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday the hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 per person, but children under 12 will be admitted free when accompanied by their parents. Active military personnel and law enforcement officers will also be admitted without charge on all three days of the show when they display ID or badges.
The Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club also operates a concession stand inside the show and features homemade chili, homemade chopped brisket sandwiches, candy, coffee and cold drinks, among other treats. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 March 2009 )
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