By Jordan Studer
Wednesday evening, over seventy people of all ages gathered at Lowe-Volk Park to give their best shot at an archery night put on by the Crawford Park District (CPD). The evening was led by Program Coordinator Josh Dyer and Naturalist Lisa Bogard.
All equipment was provided for those attending. The night began with Dyer giving a quick introduction to the basics of archery and archery safety. To prevent any injuries to those shooting as well as those spectating, Dyer mentioned the importance of keeping the bow, as well as the arrows, pointed at the ground until it is time to shoot.
It was also explained that arm guards were available to those shooting to prevent irritation from the bow or arrow. When teaching the process of shooting with the bows, Dyer and Bogard explained the steps that would take place.
The first command involved three steps. The first was to wait behind the line with a bow in hand, pointed down. The second step was to place their arrow on the bow otherwise known as “knocking the arrow.” Third, the archers were to “make ready,” or wait to shoot.
Next, Dyer or Bogard would give the command, “commence fire,” and archers were allowed to begin shooting at the target. Dyer emphasized the importance of waiting to retrieve the arrows shot until every archer at the line had completed their shots.
Dyer then demonstrated the steps and safety procedures the archers should take when shooting. Upon conclusion of the demonstration, it was time for attendees to take a shot at it. With so many attendees and only eight targets, each attendee was initially allotted to shoot two rounds of three arrows.
Throughout the entire event, faces of parents, grandparents, and kids alike were lighting up at the chance to relax, get away from the world, and just focus on a target.
Young Layne Martin, visiting Crawford County from Illinois, said she loved how peaceful the evening was.
“It’s fun to shoot because you get to focus and relax…I love getting it (the arrow) out of the board because I like how it feels. Then when you get it out of the board, foam just falls…and it’s actually kinda cool how the experience is really cool!” Martin exclaimed.
Sitting next to Martin was young Madison Tyrrell, of Bucyrus, who explained how she enjoyed the fact that the arrows hitting the target weren’t too loud for her.
“The noise isn’t too loud so it won’t hurt people’s ears. I like how not loud it is,” M. Tyrrell explained.
M. Tyrrell’s older brother, Gavin Tyrrell, enjoyed getting to improve his archery skills. G. Tyrrell explained that not only does he find archery fun, but he loved how the night helped him learn more about archery. He also explained that the event helped him get better at shooting at different angles than he was used to.
The next Crawford Park District event being held will be the Animal Extravaganza being held July 15 from 12-3 p.m. at Lowe-Volk Park. For more information call the CPD at 419-683-9000, or visit their website at www.crawfordparkdistrict.org