As its year has gone on, Jones County’s 4-H shotgun team has enjoyed and felt the support of the hometown community.
One tangible element of that support, for example, comes through the fact that team members and coaches show up to competitions wearing jerseys instead of t-shirts, something made possible through the support of local businesses.
This Saturday, April 5, team members will vie for a spot in the state finals very close to home as Jones County hosts a state shotgun qualifier at Wolf Creek Farm, located at 608 Nathan Roberts Road. The first shots of the event, where competitors will aim for clay targets, are scheduled for 10 a.m.
George Luther, one of the team’s 13 coaches, estimates more than 140 shooters will be on hand Saturday from schools across central Georgia.
Also on hand for attendees Saturday will be food trucks, other food vendors and bounce houses. Around 20 acres of parking will also be available with parking support coming from the Masonic Lodge.
“The community has really gotten behind us,” Luther said. “We have a strong support system and families that do a lot to help us.”
The Jones County program, by the way, is hardly short on participants with roughly 59 currently on the roster, a number that Luther says is the most of any team in the state.
It’s also one that has won grand champion at the previous two state finals. That size has helped the case in recent years to have the qualifier in Jones County. Whereas previously there was a need to transport equipment for meets to other locations, local shooters now only have to show up at the local site where most of what they need to compete is there.
As Luther notes, when Jones County made its case to have a qualifier in Jones County, “We’ve got the biggest team in the state of Georgia, so why should we go elsewhere and drag our kids there? Why not have it here?”
That’s exactly the type of setting for Saturday’s qualifier, with shooting stations capable of handling 250 shooters.
“We have everything we need here. We don’t have to bring anything except for our shooters,” said Lance Clay, another of the team’s coaches.
The shotgun team will also host a fundraiser April 19, selling boiled peanuts at the Masonic Lodge.
For more info on the 4-H shotgun team, contact the Jones County 4-H office at 478-986-3958.
