"The annual meeting of the Belvidere Gun Club was held yesterday afternoon and the following members were elected office—holders for the ensuing year: F. H. Arnaud, Presi- dent, F. W. Hyndman, Vice-President, and W. C. Hobkirk, Secretary/Treasurer. The meeting was held at the hospitable residence of Mr. Walter Mellett, Union Road. After the shooting, all hands sat down to a most enjoyable dinner, prepared by Mrs. Mellett and her fair daughter which was thoroughly appreciated. The shooting during the day was very good, Messrs. FitzGerald and Davies, in the second match, each bringing down eight birds in succession with the single barrel."

On November 26th, Arthur Peters held a casual shoot that included a mixture of singles and doubles. Two weeks later, at Rowan FitzGerald's, they conducted their first team competition. Using no handicaps, they tried to balance the teams by selection. Haviland, Blanchard, Wright, and Hobkirk took on FitzGerald, Davies, Hyndman, and Haszard, in a two match event and defeated them 17-15 (out of 40) in the first and 13-11 (out of 24) in the second. New member George Peake shot for the first time on Boxing Day, at A. B. Warburtons', where the Club held its second team match for an established "pool." Each team shot 50 clay targets, with a close 24-20 finish in favor of Peake's team.

The Belvidere Gun Club was becoming more popular; members were enjoying their shooting competitions and were very, very serious about it. This was an age when confrontations and challenges were not taken lightly. It was not uncommon to challenge or calla shooter because his gun was too high, or his foot was on the line, and many times targets were taken from a shooter because he had tried to outguess the puller, or the trapsetter. Friends would seriously confront friends, and quite often ill feelings resulted, but they were always there together when the next shoot was called.

--36--