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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1961)
Hie AND NlWt, Klml Flh, On. City Policemen Teach Area Youngsters fundamentals Of Sun Handling Safety By DEAN A. KRE.N'Z What would you say is the safest organized youth recreation program conducted across the nation today? Basketball, pirn" pong, swimming, target shooting or baseball? If you decided on ping pong, baseball, swimming or basketball, you were wrong! While partici pants in these sports suffered sprains, fractures and lacera . lions, 250,000 junior shooters in organized National Rifle Associa tion clubs finished 1959 without a single accidental injury. When the records are in, 1960 is ex pected to be another credit to riflists. Klamath Falls has a share of that amazing record through its Police Beneficiary Association sponsored gun handling courses conducted here since 1934. Dur ing that time 1,143 Klamath Falls area youngsters have learned the basic tenets of gun handling and safety during 10-week cours es. ' "We're not telling them guns are not dangerous," said I t. Bud .Adkins, .founder and promoter of the program. "We teach the youngsters that guns must be han dled with care and respect at all times. "Only in that way can shooting be the safest recreation." up, so I asked them if they " to take a gun handling course," Adkins recalled. Started With Five The energetic rxilice officer started the year with five slu-course is aimed at marksman-dents- and ended it with 8t. Thcship alone. Adkins explained that course has been going full throt-ionly a third of the time is spent tie ever since. Now the Police on the range. The major portion Association puts about 100 stu-jof the course is taken up with dents through the course twice a classes in safety and related sub- year, jects. A pioneer effort in Oregon, the I It ' fT'' "n Jf " J Klamath Falls program started C f V 7-... " in 1954 when Adkins was coaching ij 4 J j I I a young baseball team. " Ve$,? J J, I TJC lJ "I hnted to see the team break jr Jjjt' ' ' J 'I DIANE COOK and Nancy Clark jokingly aunt John De troit with results of their target shooting In the Klamath Falls Police Beneficiary Association-sponsored gun han dling course. Girls are generally as good or better shots than the boys. All shots in these two targets are well within the center black circles. Photos by Don Kettler. The course is open to boys and girls, 10 to 15 years old inclusive, with signed consent of their par ents. Cost of the course is modest. indeed. There is a SI fee for the across the habits of course. Ammunition is sold w hole-i handling. Being able sale at 55 cents a box at the range. and rules are provided. The .22 caliber target rifle. used arc provided on basis by Civil Defense, Safely Is Aim The idea is not to make sharpshooters out of these young sters," he said. "We want to get safe gun to hit a bullseve is incidental to thai goal."" Getting the prized charter from a loan the National nine Association Adkin.vtook some doing on ihe part of explained. Recently the district counselor of the parent National Rifle As sociation commended the local NRA club as the most active and best-operated group in the West Coast area. ' Credit .can be claimed by the rolice Association alone. In spon-j marksmanship medals and diplo- soring the program, the as-'mas and instructional materials. Being a part of a national or ganization, local shooters have an opportunity to be. ranked nr- Adkins and his compatriots. In der NRA lules there was no pro vision for a training club with changing membership. After ef fective arguments by the Klam ath Falls men the NRA officially sanctioned the club. As a mem ber of NRA the club receives socintion donates the use of its own firing range, provides for all utilities, and unselfishly devotes many hours of spare time for in struction. The program is not s function of the police 'department and taxpayers in no way con tribute toward it. lionally. Perhaps not so surprisingly, girls have shown a strong inter est in the course, Adkins pointed out. About two out of five mem- The Police Association is justly jbers of each class are girls in proud of its accomplishmentSjtent on proving they can hit the with the young people who have targets just as well as the bovs. gone through the course. "We feel certain that t h c courses have been a factor in saving several lives and in avoid ! f " ' 1MWIWIJWWPJ t yNv BUD ADKINS had good reason to grin after his girls' team defeated a boys' team coached by Phil Chlopck. Adkins and Chlopek are regular instructors in the gun han dling program. Youngsters 10 to 15 years of age can take the course with parental consent. v or better. And how they prove it! It's not unusual for the girls to outshoot the boys in matches. The in" many injuries," Adkins de- most recent class last month held dared. "This is something no one can measure, but we're confident the benefit I .est the is with us." public believe tlie alike, take the course because 'they are interested in hunting. Adkins soirl, recalling the old days when "you learned it all on your own." j The Klamath has attracted attention v THE COVER Oscar Gerleve, ber of the Klamath Falls Folic Meficiary Asso ciation, gives yowto, Date Knapp of Klamath Falls some pointers on gun handling. Policemen do nate their own time and some of their association funds for a gun handling course that is serving as a model for the remainder of the state. -Adkins' class of girls won'lhe state- and " is not surprisu.g 416-403. The boys were good.,hat rnany commun.ties have for feminine ability. "Tlie girls are generally more attentive, and serious about the course," Adkins explained. , Top Marksman It is a boy, Adkins' son Ricky. however, who is top marksman of Fair Maidens, Wind Get Blame HONOLULU (API Fair windishipping was halted through the and fair maidens were blamed 480-foot wide harbor entrance, to Falls program pa'."y for blinBinB Hie 30.000-loniork the Arcadia free. i diiumi iiner nrcauia to cnei on ine om I'&u-rieni liner car- uiuui.iii t . . , , . , a reel jusi omsiae Honolulu s nar-.rying i.iuc passengers ano a crew bor entrance Thursday. of 713 was scheduled to leave at It appeared that as the shio ma-lmidn'gh' Thursday night for the ncuvered to pick up an off-shore 1Soutn Pacilic and Australia. "Thei-e has been talk of thc;boardinS Pa,,y she ir' in the WM.n,ir rpnuirinn a run h.m. s,ca1y trac wind and crunched tiling course diploma before a 8en"y on a coral rwf- The board 'youngster can gel his first hunt! Par'y included one of Honor ing license," Adkins said. "It 'I vicuinuiB lasworces oi nuia makes us even more oroud toiBlrls- Dul " als0 naa customs in- thc lociU club. Ricky shot his be providing this training betore way to tlie highest NRA medalsi't is legally required." after staying with the club as n junior instructor. Oilier learners also have an opportunity to keep on pi inking for higher awards aft-'.Lilly and Walter Conrady, Policemen who conducted the last course included Adkins. Oscar Gerleve, PhU Chlopek, Dennis in-1 cr they iuush tlie gun handling stnictors, and Jonn Kennant, Ai course. Rianconi, Russell Mattmiller and Most youngstei-s, boys and girls Kay Howard, assistant. spectors and shipping agents. No one was hurt. Tlie only dam- HOT STAKE STREAK BALTIMORE (API During a six-day period early in No- ember, Bill Hartack won three stakes while dividing his talents at three racetracks. He scored in Garden State features with Tick T u,nnema"oniTock and Royal Native and at about a foot long and half an mch'pimiico wilh yBrandy Sea. Ear deep emMdcd with bits o coral, jier ha(J ,nnncd'to ride out about S fee below the water line the Now Yor w ilnout forward of the bridge, Lrruption but he consented to But it took several tugs more travel 800 miles in one week to jlhan two hours while all olher'ridc stakes races, ' '
