The Big Piney Sportsman Club held the 4th Annual Don Wells Second Amendment Shoot Oct. 4 with almost 100 present. The recent ribbon cutting ceremony by the Houston Chamber of Commerce was well covered in local newspapers as remodeling of the buildings and the addition of the new trap and skeet field was completed. Club members are from Missouri, but from all the surrounding states as well as from as far away a Texas and Indiana.
Under the sponsorship of John Casey, young Courtney Gibson of Cabool put together a team call the Clay Busters that walked away with the first place trophy. Along with Courtney, the team consisted of Bob Roach, Cody Huffman, Abraham Jones and Caleb Smith. There were six other teams in the competition.
She is a freshman at Cabool High School but inasmuch as it does not have a shooting team, she has been accepted and is shooting with the Houston team. She has been helpful in their last few wins, and is working toward having the Cabool High School set up a similar program.
Shooting sports is a program for families and the Texas County 4-H Shooting Sports Club is the fastest growing club in Texas County. There are about 60 kids for FFA and 4-H who are members and next year has scheduled their regional shoot at the Big Piney Sportsman Club.
The right of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, safety in the handling o f weapons, sportsmanship and commitment are some of the topics stressed in this type of program.