CHAPTER 11 MOUNT ALBION

As another decade turned, it was obvious the bottom of the activity cycle had been reached. There was no shooting done at all until late August, and then it as more as a warm up for the hunting season than anything else--a dozen rounds was considered a good day. Because it was late in the season a mere $2.00 was charged for a club membership, and only George Carson, Harley Ings, Bill Morrell and Ted Woodruff purchased one...a far cry from the active Maritime Club of 15 years ago that only Bill Morrell would remember. In early September the few members drove to Summerside to shoot with members there and to lend some support, but only three westerners showed up indicating they too were on the verge of collapse. The Montague Club had held just two get-togethers all year and, apart from the annual effort to assemble for a provincial shoot, it appeared that clay target shooting on the Island might be in a state of termination. On September 19th, the 1970 Island championships were held with ten entries. Arnold Boswell, a casual shooter at the Charlottetown Club, won the skeet title with a 48, Art Clements won the trap with 47, and Bill Morrell's 93 took high gun overall.

By year end it was obvious that the handful of remaining members were not going to give up. They had contacted many former club members in an effort to rekindle the flame but, in most cases, it was met with the same apathetic attitude that Harley Ings was confronted with when he approached Ron Atkinson...I had developed new interests, new responsibilities, and a growing family who commanded a lot of my time. Down deep I was 'timid' about going out again to shoot skeet after 10 years, knowing full well, with my love of guns and gunning, that it would only take one round to be hooked again...perhaps some day. Unknown at the time a major problem was developing that would cause a

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