Remembering Rebecca Jane Adams: A Champion in Every Sense

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Rebecca Jane Adams, a beloved member of the ORANCO Bowmen community. Alongside her husband, Terry Adams, Rebecca dedicated over 40 years to the sport of archery and our club. As a three-time NFAA state champion, she was a shining example of skill and determination. But Rebecca’s impact extended beyond her titles; she and Terry were steadfast supporters of our club, contributing their time, passion, and expertise to help grow the sport they loved.

Rebecca’s legacy as an archer is matched only by her passion for life. Whether at the range, sharing her love for the sport, or immersed in a good mystery novel, Rebecca lived with a strength and independence that left a lasting impression on everyone she met. She will be deeply missed, but the spirit she and Terry brought to ORANCO will continue to inspire us all to aim high and shoot straight.

Club President   

By: Al Wiscovitch - Club President

Hi there club members,

Well, when would a heatwave hit us? Well, it's here, and boy, it’s been hot. I hope you all are staying hydrated. With our hosting of the State 900, please remember to bring lots of water.

Big thank you to Dave Bacon and his team for putting on this event at our range please when you see them out working so hard show them some appreciation.

For those of you who have started your hunting season, I hope all is going well and have some great photos to share with us. A photo speaks a thousand words and can inspire us to go out and try our luck at hunting. I was able to get out for opening day with Mark Houston and headed out to the AZ. For a very hot weekend the bird hunting was a bit slow but we were able to get a few limits of birds. As we got back to our hotel and shared some conversation with other hunters I was surprised to hear from the other hunters how slow the hunting had been. Locals had shared with Mark and I that there had not been any rain this season and that’s why the hunting has been slow.

I would like to congratulate Steve Greenwood on his very nice pronghorn last weekend and Chriss Bowles on his bird hunting as well. Way to go guys!

A few updates, we are getting close to finishing our broad head sand pit. We will be out there again this coming Saturday. If you would like to come out and give a hand and earn some work party credit give me a call. I am looking for a few strong backs as most of you know railroad ties are very heavy and can humble you. Lastly, I would like to remind you all that are very close to our Tomahawk event. Should be a fun weekend please put this on your calendars 10-5 will be a fun day with clouts during the day and a pig roast dinner finishing the day with a flint round.

As always thank you for reading this newsletter.

Al Wiscovitch

alwisco@msn.com

(909) 322-3869

Club Vice President

By: Pete Whitworth - Club Vice President

Hi Everyone. I am Pete, the Vice President and as such it is my responsibility to run our club invitational shoots. Along with our President Al Wiscovitch, I also deal with the day to day running of the club in general, and specifically we handle any complaints or issues that any of you have. Naturally you are always free to voice any issues at our club meetings held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM in the clubhouse, however; Al and I are here to keep things running smooth on a daily basis. So, when problems arise, you should always feel free to contact either of us for immediate help.

A lot has been going on for me this year and right now we are taking our usual break from Invitational tournaments due to the summer heat. This break always gives me a bit of time to reorganize the animal herd situation and order animals for the upcoming year, make plans and changes for the upcoming year of tournaments, and naturally help Al with the things he has planned to improve the club.

Recently Al has been working on the new broadhead pit with the help of Bill Waltz on the tractor making a raised lane for shooting that will keep everyone out of the pond that develops in that area. Mark Houston and I were out there on Saturday the 24th helping to lay the first two courses of RR ties for the pit. There is a lot more to be done, and the plan now is to get back out there on Saturday Sept. 14th to finish stacking those ties. Please mark that day on your calendar and come out to help. Those things are not light, and I was unhappy to find out that I can’t handle even one end of a tie, so Mark and Al had to do all the heavy lifting. I’m sure Al will have things to say about it so I will keep my comments to a minimum. The one point that I can’t over stress is the shooting angle for that broadhead pit. That lane that Bill is making is not a suggestion. You must shoot along that one lane and you must only shoot at targets that you can place in the pit itself. Any deviation from staying with that angle is DANGEROUS and we will not allow it. As with any NFAA target lane, there must be 15 degrees of separation between your shot and any possible dangerous situations on either side. In this case, you have Euclid to your left, and the practice area 80 yard target to your right. NO OVERHEAD DRAWING and STAY IN YOUR LANE and NO RUNNING TARGETS. There will be no compromise of safety, or this will be shut down.

I managed to get out to a couple of tournaments myself this year, the BTB which was interesting to say the least, and the Safari which is always one of my favorite shoots. This year I paid close attention and asked a few questions about how they run those tournaments. The main thing that I picked up on is their extensive use of paper targets. At the Safari, they use 40 paper targets and 20 3D’s. I had a lot of complaints about our price when we tried going to two days for the Tomahawk, and yet our prices were consistent with the prices up north. BUT, I was using almost entirely 3D’s in comparison. The plan this year was to reduce the Tomahawk to one day and one arrow to keep the price in line with our unmarked shoots and still keep it within reason for target deterioration. So, taking the lesson from Safari and applying it to the Tomahawk, I am now going to use some paper targets (not the percentage that they use, but enough to keep the destruction of our smaller targets down), and that allows me to go back to 2 Arrows.

We have been using one paper target (The 3 yard, shot at the flying buffalo’s). Now we will have a total of 17, with the rest of the 42 targets being 3D’s. I think you will enjoy this new setup. Back in the early 2000’s the Tomahawk used to be an all paper shoot, so I am bringing back some of the original targets for nostalgia. I have updated the flyer on line to say that the shoot will be 2 Arrows and some paper. I also updated the Pig Roast flyer for that Saturday (Oct 5th) to show a starting time for the clouts at 11:00 AM.

I am also bringing back the STUMP and VARMINT shoot. That is a really fun Marked Yardage shoot, 42 targets and 2 Arrow with 11/10/8 scoring just like the Tomahawk. We now have a club member, Kurt Gairing, who has a large format printer and he will be printing the targets for this shoot, as well as the paper targets for the Tomahawk. We used to hand paint all those targets and with the date of the Stump shoot being in January, the timing was just terrible for getting everything painted and ready for the shoot and that is the reason I canceled it back then. We are all happy to be getting that shoot back on the schedule. Look for that flyer coming out for next years line up. The shoot will be in January and I know you are going to like it.

That’s all for now folks.

Pete.

Pete Whitworth

ob.vicepres@outlook.com

(909) 223-5822

Range Captain

By: Jim Teel - Club Range Captain

The range is looking good as we head into September and the new additions to the mountain and paper target crews are handling their new roles like the champions that they are. 

Last week’s target gluing party was a huge success with ten highly motivated members making all of the difference in terms of how quickly we were able to replenish a variety of targets. Special thanks to Todd Dancer for taking the lead while I finalized the sale of my 12’ jon boat (aka Carp Killer 1). I always appreciate the experience of the usual work party heroes, Mark VanPatten and Lloyd Wellington and to the Ross family for their amazing work ethic. Jason, Karen, Wyatt and Charlotte - you guys are all rock stars in my book. Thank you very much. 



And not to be outdone, we had a few very solid PMs also pulling their weight. Thanks, Pedro, Dean and Reiichi. Nobody had their hands in their pockets that night and I couldn’t have been more pleased with how much we accomplished.

We had another chipping work party and plug-painting effort a couple of weeks ago that also went extremely well. Without the help of our members who aren’t afraid of a little hard work and sweat, our club wouldn’t be what it is today - so a big THANK YOU to everyone who comes out to do their part. 

There will be another work party soon to clean up the seven barn owl nesting boxes. Our colony of barn owls is hugely responsible for managing the gopher and ground squirrel population without the use of traps or poisons that could prove detrimental to our pets and small children. So keeping them happy also keeps us (and our ankles) happy. I will probably only need about 4 or 5 people to help me with this one, so if you want to be included in that effort, please send me a text or email in the next week or so. If I have enough volunteers, a membership-wide email might be unnecessary. 

On a personal note, I’m just 200 lbs away from my 5k goal of carp killing for the season, but the Line Fire just might prevent any of us from returning to Big Bear Lake anytime soon. It’s firebug season and all the crazies are doing what they can to make it even worse. 

My heart goes out to all of the families in danger and to those displaced. 

Be safe out there, everybody. 

Jim Teel

ob.rangecaptain@outlook.com

(818) 317-91109

Range Secretary

By: Mark Houston - Club Range Secretary

Nothing to report.

Mark Houston

houstoncru@aol.com

(760) 605-1155

Tournament Chairman

By: David Bacon. - Tournament Chairman

Hi All,

I just wanted to take a minute to update you on what’s going on in the education department, specifically our JOAD team. Recently, 13 of our archers went to New Mexico for the JOAD nationals. If you think it has been hot here, it was 115 deg and windy but they endured the heat and made it through.

Mykel receive a silver medal and Ella received a gold medal…Congratulations to them both and to all our youth archers who braved the heat to compete with their peers.

Here are just a few words from a couple of our archers.

From Matthew He 10years old

My experience in the JOAD nationals is very good. My feeling during the tournament was very exciting but I am also nervous at the same time since it’s my first major tournament. The archers and judges are very friendly and the environment there is hot and sunny.  But it is good that there is wind to stay cool and grass that helps keep the dust from arising.

 Clovis Hung 14 years old

This is Clovis HUNG, who has joined JOAD at Oranco for a year.

I feel honored to participate in the JOAD Target Nationals Tournament 2024 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have been practicing for the JOAD Nationals

throughout the last year. Coming into the competition, I was not

expecting to place well but to learn how to compete in real life.

The tournament was an exhilarating experience filled with tension and

excitement. The shooting line was anxiously silent as the arrows flew

toward the targets. Each arrow tested my skills, consistency, and

composure. Competing with skilled archers challenged me to adapt to

the new environment under high pressure. On a few ends, I reacted to

my shot because of my nervousness, which caused it to be a bad shot.

Despite the barrier, I managed to regain my composure by taking deep

breaths and talking positively to myself. This moment taught me that

archery doesn’t require not only form or skill but also mental state

and how adaptable and resilient an archer has to be. This is a

valuable experience that I cannot learn from my textbooks.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Coach Vernie for her

patience and sincere guidance throughout my archery journey and the

volunteers of Oranco for providing such an affordable and neat outdoor

practice range. I could see the volunteers removing weeds so I could

spot my lost arrows with ease and pruning branches from falling. This

is the hard work of volunteers behind the scenes. Thank you!

“Rest at the end, not in the middle” by Kobe Bryant. I will keep

practicing hard on my archery form and look forward to better results

at the 2025 national JOAD tournament. Yes, I can do it!

David Bacon

ob.tournament@outlook.com

(909) 217-4441

Membership Chairmen 

By: Steven Baker - Club Membership

Nothing to report.

Steven Baker

ob.membership@outlook.com

(951) 285-1550

League Chairman

By: Brad Belvedere - League Chairman

Nothing to report.

Brad Belvedere

ob.leagues@outlook.com

(951) 545-9462

If you are looking for photos of previous shoots, check out Tony Nguyen's fantastic photography in the link below! He has an amazing gallery organized by shoots and dates he's participated in:

tcnguyen-Oranco

Oranco CBH 900 Sept. 7, 2024

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