Hello Everyone. I would like to start out with a request for help from all of the Charter Clubs, and a thank you in advance.

We are preparing 2 new programs to reach out to our clubs. One program is oriented toward reaching out to the young (not necessarily theyoung at heart) to introduce and experience the joy of our sport. And the other we will call an awareness campaign, designed to tell the world so to speak about your club’s their activities and of course the NMLRA.

The success of both programs will only occur with the help and cooperation of the charter clubs themselves. I’m including a letter of request by Ethan Yazel that includes a list of information needed for the beginning stages of both of these projects. As we get input from the clubs we will be able to define as well as improve what we are setting out to do. I am very pleased with what we are setting out to accomplish.

 Please respond to help us help you. More next month. For now I present to you Ethan’s letter of request.

Dear NMLRA Charter Clubs, Charter Club Members, and Field Representatives, 

We know this has been a tough year for any kind of gathering from shoots to rendezvous, here at the NMLRA we’re working hard to do what we can to help. We’ve shared NMLRA Territorial information on our website for a while now and we’d like to use the NMLRA Website to do more to help our charter clubs across the country. 

We’d like each and every charter club to add just a bit more information to our charter club directory to help us help you. 

When possible, please send these items to media@nmlra.org   

1. Your yearly event calendar for the rest of 2020 and 2021 if you have it. 

   1. We ask that your event list include an address, course of fire, alist appropriate muzzleloaders for each match, event costs, and event times. Indicating whether or not an event is open to the public will help as well. 

2. Links to your club social media profiles like your club website, Facebook, Instagram, or youtube. 

With these items linked to the NMLRA website, our growing online presence can be used to direct possible club members to your events and gatherings. With your social media profiles linked on our site, the NMLRA staff can easily share and promote your club using the photos you take with over 100,000 muzzleloading fans each month.

In other news, August is “National Shooting Sports Month” from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). All through August, the NSSF will be promoting and sharing Shooting Sports events that focus on bringing new shooters into the hobby. For several years now, the NMLRA has been involved in this program and seen success with the NMLRA Family Fun Shoot and other small weekend shoots. 

If possible during the month of August, please consider hosting an open house at your club with a focus on youth and an introduction to muzzleloading or shooting sports in general. If you are interested in hosting an event, be it this year or next year, reach out to the NSSF at NSSF.org. You’ll share your event information with them and they will put your event on the nationwide online calendar as well as send you a box of goodies like shirts, hats, and banners for you to give away. 

This is all voluntary of course, but we’re seeing good progress with these efforts at the Association level and we want to share that success with all of our charter clubs to keep this great sport around for generations to come.