After a winter that doesn’t really want to go away and a few weeks of so-and-so temperatures but extreme wind, we had finally had a perfect spring day. And I mean perfect in any way: a crystal clear blue sky, a shinning and bones-warming sun, a light breeze, and a ‘house’ full of friends. What else more can one ask for on Victoria Day?

It was the very first event of the year with the extended LTS family: the Teams were announced, the gold uniforms were given to everyone, the official photoshoot took place, and then… oh… then… it was time for FUN!

Targets, hot dogs, pizza, brownies, and lots of laughter – plenty of each for everyone. We all had our chances to smoke targets and we all did our best to smoke each and every one.

The Junior Team (LTS Youth Development) demonstrated amazing talent and I, for one, was extremely impressed with Mathew, Ben, and Gregory: they kept their cool and they focused on what every respectable trapshooter must focus on: breaking your next target. Considering their audience I can tell you first hand it is not an easy thing to ‘keep your head on the stock and your eyes on the rock’ when behind you are parents, grandparents, your coach, the other teams’ members and, at one point, even the President of the Hamilton Gun Club! Congratulations to our wonderful Pre-Sub-Junior team 🙂

Not to be left behind, the A-Team demonstrated that training regularly is the way to go: they started smoking targets and only the smell of Paula’s BBQ stopped them (mind you, for a very short period of time). But as soon as the last piece of pizza was washed down they couldn’t get fast enough back to the gun rack. And between smoking targets, loading up trap machines, and setting them for doubles – they all showed what a true sportsman is made of: respect for their team and coach and a great passion for their chosen sport. Congratulations Chloe, Garret, and Anthony!

And then it was time for everyone else (including some parents!) to try their hands on the triggers. We even had time for a few rounds of doubles, which are, of course, spectacular and the most fun to break, right?

Hopefully, we broke Phil’s bad-weather spell – with so much ‘golden’ energy amassed in one spot he couldn’t stand a chance! Or maybe we simply needed the team attire to make the sun jealous and to have it (the Sun) decide to come up to shine over our extended family! Whichever way – it worked!

Thank you all for the help: Paula for babying the BBQ while everyone was anxious to shot their first round; Karen & Dan for driving back and forth for the Pizza; Phil, Ed, and Perry for being the safety layer for the youngsters; Peggy and Steve for taking tons of pictures and videos; Karen & Perry for being not only overly patient with the branding but also extremely fast in producing the attire; Emma & Vanessa for scoring; grandparents for coming over to spend some time with us; siblings for having fun (and entertaining William) while the older brothers shot and for being eager to move from the ‘white team’ into the ‘gold team’ next year; and each and everyone who participated.

It was a wonderful event and we started to plan the next fun shoot – stay tuned for details!

Until then – break them all and focus on breaking them one at a time.

See, Smooth, Smoke – One!