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BY GARTH HURLEY When Ron Atkinson mixes his love of clay target shooting with his keen interest of Char- lottetown history the end

result is an engaging 250- ° ull.

page book titled ull is more than a look at the 100-year his- tory history of clay tar- et shooting on the Is- and. It is also a glance at the changing lifestyles in the capital city area from 1884 to the present.

“This book is not just’

‘for people interested in shooting but for those who also have an inter- est in a story rich with history of the city,” said

Atkinson of Charlotte- |

town.

He estimates that he Spent one to two. hours every night for two years putting the book to- gether.

HISTORICAL AC- COUNTS

Stories of past shoots are related to other his- torical accounts. The cover, designed by the author, features four

generations of Island _

shooters; from an early shooter (William Weeks) dressed in a three-piece suit and hat to the pre- sent shooter with gog- gles, head-set and shorts. The book is jam- packed with pictures and diagrams.

An elderly area gen- tleman’s stories about clay target shooting at the Charlottetown Driv- ing Park many years ago sparked the author’s interest and threw Atkin- son into investigating the sport’s history.

The author said much of the information for the book came from count- less hours of discussions with older people living in the area, the Provin- cial Archives and the

: bee Foundation of

“My biggest motivator at the beginning was thinking if this story wasn’t captured now, it would be lost for for- ever,” said Atkinson, who started shooting in 1952. :

He said now with one sport’s history in print,

he hopes other sports will do the same before ast accounts become

ost or forgotten.

“T wonder how many sport stories are lost for-

ever.”

BELVIDERE SHOOT site elvi- dere (now spelled Belve- dere) Wood, approxi- where the fifteenth hole at Belve- dere Golf and Winter Club is located. The four- some of Bill Hobkirk,

by been just for the elite in Francis Haszard, Ernest | the early days, but now Blanchard and William _ | its for everybody. CARRIES STIGMA

| Worden were the first to

The first shootin was established at

mately

take part, with Hobkirk breaking the first target ever on P.E.I. on July 4,

1884.

Sites were later estab- lished at Summerside,

| St. Nicholas, CFB Sum- merside, Montague, — Bridgetown, Dundas. Now there are sités’ in Charlottetown, Dundas and St. Nicholas with a combined membership

of about 200 shooters.

| champ, also boasts’ a

-| a fatality or serious acci-

dress at a shoot was mandatory and was open only to men. The sport is much more relaxed now, and more competitive. The shooters took aim at ipa balls in the early

ays before the introduc- tion of the clay targets in the 1880’s.

The book also features names of families who have carried the sport from generation to gen- eration including the Hyndman’s and, Heartz’s, and house | names that included Fal- conwood, Knockrour and Watermere.

The author, a former Maritime shooting

second generation , Shooter in ‘his family. | Ron Atkinson Jr. is a for- | mer national team mem- _ber and an international | Shooting medal winner. - | Atkinson said clay tar- /get shooting may have

“The sport carries the stigma of a rich man’s game. But, to shoot on a regular basis is no more expensive than belong- ing to a golf club.”

He said the sport is: ‘“growing tremen- dously” on the Island and is one of the most rapidly growing sports in North America.

“There never has been

| dent in North America. |Safety is seriously

Atkinson said the sport . stressed.

is different now than in its early years. Formal

- Pull is available at major bookstores on the

es 1S}and for $9.95.