As the person who registered the Mountainview Marksman's Range in 1983 and has been a continuous member of the executive for 35 years I would like to give a brief history.
As far as I know the range is still three miles west of Olds and one mile south where the road ends at Innis Lake.
For 28 years of operation we never had a complaint or an accident. Our membership was always below 350 members.
We had a number of shooters from all over Alberta. When our range was discovered and taken over by a group, mostly from Calgary, our placid existence was destroyed.
Bullets began to leave the range all weekend and many in dangerous directions, and we were unable to use our own range as various competitions were continuous, even to having night shooting. Thankfully Reeve Paddy Munroe forced closure.
In November of 2015 I called a meeting, sold memberships and we voted in an executive. In February of 2016 we had the Provincial Firearms Officer inspect the range for safety and instructions to bring the range to provincial standards were provided. These could have been done in one work bee. Unfortunately there was no followup by the executive. We have limited membership to 300 members at present.
We have eight short pistol or small bore rifle bays with sixteen-foot-high earth backstops and regulation high earth sides. We have a 200-yard rifle range which is at least twice as high as the government range at Bowden and at least twice as wide, and our range is far more secluded. Our buildings are modern steel sheet covered and will be foam insulated. This is a fine safe site now that we have sent our guests back where they came from.
Prior to our being taken over by the people from Calgary we usually had a general meeting around the end of the year to elect executive, an organizational meeting in March to program the summer work, and a meeting in September for housekeeping. There were executive meetings when needed.
As a longtime member of the club I note that we have had only two election of executive meetings in three years and I called both of them. I feel we have need of a professional chairman who knows Robert's Rules. I could explain this further, but I feel that executive should be elected at meetings that have been advertised as the provincial government society act requires. I urge members of the club to come to the meetings as the $50 membership is a real bargain. Our range is debt free.
I would like to thank Jeff Holmes (county CAO) for his attention to our situation and Reeve Bruce Beattie for his common sense approach. To the others in the county I would like to say that almost every weekend you can hear people shooting here and there in the county but I defy you to find a safer, quieter place then our Mountainview club.
Dennis Combs
Olds
