navybowhunter
Active Member
All,
Here is simply a cut/paste off of the RVWA website. Please give it a look. Project Appleseed is expanding exponentially across our country. If interested in some more info, please do PM me.
What the RWVA (Revolutionary War Veterans Association) is all about
roject Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their posterity.
Our heritage program vividly portrays the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the kind of care and immediacy that is absent from most formal schooling. Modern listeners are confronted with the danger, the fear, and the heartbreaking separations that arose out of the choices made on April 19th, 1775. They are also reminded of the marksmanship skills and masterful organization that ultimately helped set the colonists on the path to success. Those who attend gain a better understanding of the fundamental choices faced by our ancestors as they began to set the stage for the nation we now enjoy.
Marksmanship Clinic
Our rifle marksmanship program complements our history and heritage. We teach the traditional American marksmanship skills. There are, however, several aspects of our marksmanship program that deserve special mention. We are particularly proud of our younger attendees. In accordance with applicable local laws, young people with sufficient maturity are welcome to the Appleseed line and can, with parental permission, join the cadre. The RWVA recognizes the importance of introducing a wide cross section of Americans to their marksmanship heritage. Finally, an important aspect of our marksmanship program is called “Adaptive Appleseed.” Project Appleseed is serious about bringing our heritage and marksmanship instruction to everyone so we’ve committed ourselves to adapting Appleseed to the special needs of those who have certain physical challenges.
Why teach marksmanship?
Because good shooting requires learning positive traits such as patience, determination, focus, attention to detail, and persistence. Since these skills are likewise key elements of mature participation in civic activities, we urge our students to take what they have learned about themselves as marksmen and apply it to their participation in their communities and in the wider American society in accordance with their own choices about how Americans should govern themselves.
Civic Involvement
There are those who feel that America’s future is grim, that is, that America has lost something special and it can never be regained. And in their consternation they mutter about “dark choices” and the like. Appleseed has a message for them. Just over two hundred years ago our ancestors genuinely faced a tough choice. They could submit to those they felt were depriving them of their rights as Englishmen or they could fight. Because they chose as they did, we may never have to face their dilemma because we have a third alternative.
So what must you do with your third choice?
Well, you must roll out of the recliner, cut off the computer, turn down the TV and get involved. That’s it. Talk to family, talk to friends, interact with neighbors, take part in local community decisions, and become active in whatever political party best fits your idea of how America should be governed. Write to your elected representative, attend town halls, correspond with newspaper editors, and wholeheartedly enter the discussion in both online and traditional forums.
Read! Think! Debate! Vote! And finally, we'd really like your help in shaping America's bright future by participating in this program as a student, as an instructor, or as a volunteer in other support roles. But even if you never pick up a rifle again, know that you are everything that Project Appleseed works for. You are an involved, committed American making responsible use of the liberties gifted to us so long ago. The future is what we make -- YOU make -- of it.
Through Project Appleseed, the Revolutionary War Veterans Association is committed to teaching two things: rifle marksmanship and our early American heritage. We do this for one simple reason, the skill and knowledge of what our founding fathers left to us is eroding in modern America and without deliberate action, they will be lost to ignorance and apathy.
Is there a direct relationship between understanding our country's founding and civic virtue? The answer should anecdotally be quite clear. As our citizens' knowledge of founding principles has declined, so too has our involvement in this government 'of, by and for The People.' Instead, our citizens seem all too content to relegate governmental decisions and knowledge to those that have been elected, all the while assuming these officials' abilities and agendas are working on their behalf. We believe that if this trend continues, our country will be left with an expansive gulf between the populace and the government.
Anticipating that our nation would one day find itself in its current plight, John Adams warned:
"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it." Our forebearers committed their lives to eight years of war so that their sacrifices would never require repeating. They would endow us, their posterity, with a republic from which our freedoms would be given enduring life.
In 2009, a survey of basic, adult knowledge of the American Revolution was commissioned by the American Revolution Center (a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the public in the history and significance of the American Revolution). The results were startling. Eighty-three percent of surveyed adults scored an average of forty-four percent - a failing score. And, yet, some glimmer of hope exists. This same survey revealed that nine in ten Americans agreed that it is important to know the history and principles forged during America's War for Independence. Does this reflect a muted cry for help? Americans seem to grasp the imperative of learning our nation's founding history, yet seem unable to act.
Perhaps the beckoning comfort of couch and television offer an escape to relax in civic complacency. Project Appleseed events are designed to directly counter the average American's living room respite from reality and offer a solution to our nation's paralysis. These two-day, family-friendly clinics encourage civic virtue through the stories of our nation's founding and by cultivating the skills of persistence, focus and determination required for rifle marksmanship. Learning about our heritage while developing marksmanship skills creates the appreciation, expectation and confidence needed to rekindle our civic responsibilities. Through our program, attendees are driven to succeed through perseverance, and subsequently challenged to apply this perseverance and new-found appreciation of our Founders' gifts toward daily involvement in local, state or national government.
John Adams would also write, in reference to the difference between the Revolution, and our War for Independence:
"The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."
These ideals were the foundation of this nation, and are instrumental in returning our nation to its former glory. The intention of our founding fathers was obvious; the "Revolution" was to live on in perpetuity. Through Project Appleseed, we strive to remind our fellow Americans of these "revolutionary" ideals, ensuring that the American Revolution lives on to be cared for and appreciated by our posterity.
A Plan to Save America
Yessir, after years in the gestation, thousands of words flowing under the bridge, there's a plan to save America. "A plan to save America? Are you out of your mind, Fred? How can you save America?”
Patience my friends. You’ll see.
But first, an IQ test, sorta like we do down at RWVA, using the AQT to sort out the cooks from the riflemen - only this time, to see if you are a Doofus Americanus. In which case you have a choice: change/improve yourself or stubbornly remain a doofus. If the latter, there is no point in you wasting your time here — better find another site on the net, one where you don't have to worrying about being thoughtful...or being part of that great American tradition - being "the best you can be..."
True or false:
1. The Founding Fathers of America sacrificed and died so we would not have to drink tea.
2. I will be a great shot as soon as I find a good rifle and scope, and work up a good load.
3. I will be a great shot as soon as I have time like Fred to get to the range every day and fire 5000 rounds, but right now I’m working like a dog to support my family, and my family comes first.
4. I don’t have to worry about things, there are people working behind the scenes to get this country back on track.
5. It will never happen here.
6. Unless I live in New York, Chicago, or parts of California; I really don't have to worry about losing my 2nd Amendment rights.
7. The Constitution will protect my gun rights.
8. The Supreme Court will protect my gun rights.
9. MY congressman understands my feelings about gun control, so there’s no reason for me to bother him.
10. There’s no way they’ll ever get my gun, because I’ve got the perfect hiding spot for it.
________________________________________
Ten points every time you said “False”.
100 points: Good man, add a little shooting skill, and you can be a rifleman.
90: You can be fooled, but not often. Get to the range, and learn to shoot.
80: Gettin’ near the edge. Time to wake up, get to the range, learn to shoot.
70 or below: Man, you are in need of a MAJOR wakeup. Keep reading. And get to the range or to an Appleseed, your only salvation is learning to shoot, and learning what it means to being an American.
30 or under: Real 100% Doofus Americanus — bet it was the one on The Founding Fathers that tripped you up, right? That’s a hard one, sure — time to either 'fess up and straighten up - or move on.
Note: The best thing in all the above, is to get yourself to an Appleseed. (See below)
________________________________________
Now, the rest of you, ready to proceed? Let’s go!
A LITTLE SEED MAKES A BIG TREE
What’s exciting about a little seed making a big tree? Simply this: Plant enough apple seeds, and you soon have a land filled with apple trees. Johnny Appleseed, an early American hero, knew this fact, and believed in it enough to devote his life to it.
So just call me Freddy Appleseed.
When those seeds germinate into riflemen, and their efforts bear forth as fruit other riflemen, we soon have a Nation of Riflemen. The logic of it is inescapable. All you gotta do is plant some seeds. So, why don’t we? Might be f-u-n.
“Fun?” You telling me, Fred, saving America, is fun?
Yes sir, and it doesn’t get better. Save America, and have fun doing it. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? That this world, with all its crazy rules, rules that usually leave you hanging high, can deal you such a sweet hand - but I believe, in this instance, it has. Save America, by learning to shoot, then getting others to shoot (you enthusiasts don’t have to wait, get your friends learning — as you learn!).
Project Appleseed, as we call it, is to help you out. To make it even easier. To provide a source of information, inspiration, motivation, and simple determination. Check out www.rwva.org to find the location of the nearest Appleseed to you.
Project Appleseed is simple: you come to a weekend Appleseed to learn rifle marksmanship. You bring evey friend, every relative, every neighbor, every co-worker you can. While you are learning the skills necessary to shoot a rifle, you hear the story of the Founding - of the first day of the Rev War - April 19th, 1775, "the Day Marksmanship met History, and the Heritage was born..."
Once you become a rifleman, you don the RWVA "Instructor" cap, and become a Teacher of Riflemen.
In three years plus, we've already welcomed the 10,000th Appleseeder to an Appleseed. Our goal is 100,000 by 2012; 1,000,000 by 2016. The only way we make those goals is for you to pitch in and help us bail the ship.
We'll teach you to shoot, then we'll teach you to teach.
Soon you'll be teaching hundreds of people a year to shoot a rifle - and telling them the Story of April 19th, 1775. My friend, you'll no longer be "like everyone else" - this is not uselessly talking about how bad things are, but doing something about it, something that will make a difference.
Don't like public speaking? Don't know the Story?
No problem. Becoming an instructor is like becoming a rifleman. It takes time, and persistence. But just like every American can become a rifleman, every rifleman is competent to pass those skills on to others. So don't worry about it, you can do it - and you'll be a better person for it. A more worthy person. Even an important person. After all, you're saving a country. How important is that?
Take it one step at a time, and simply persist in taking steps, and you'll be there in no time.
First, come to an Appleseed, bringing others with you - as many as possible.
Second, work on polishing those skills you'll learn at Appleseed until you can shoot qualifying rifleman scores.
Then come to an Appleseed and tell the RWVA instructor you want to become like him.
That's all there is to it. (Well, there's a few weekends of training, and all - but when you aim to be the best rifle marksmanship instructor on the planet, you have to expect that, right?)
So let’s start planting seeds. And start with YOU, as the first one. The first step:
TAKE THE PLEDGE
Now everyone is gonna wanna be a Freddy Appleseed, and you can’t blame ‘em. Welcome aboard, I say. But an important task like saving America shouldn’t be expected to proceed without some formality. It is, after all, an important task: we need you to sign up for the duration, not for the moment. So here’s what you do. Pledge the following, to yourself (who better?):
Starting this minute, I pledge to reach down deep inside myself and wake up that sleeping American, the Rifleman.
• I pledge to get my sleeping American to the range, so he can learn to shoot.
• I pledge I will reach out to my friend, my coworker, my relative, my neighbor, to wake up their sleeping American.
• I pledge I will do whatever it takes to help my friends, my coworkers, my relatives learn to shoot as Riflemen, to preserve our tradition of marksmanship for future generations.
• I pledge as a rifleman to get active in passing the great American tradition of the rifleman on to others.
• I pledge to persist, to not give up, to be in this for the duration, to adopt as my motto “Never Give Up!”
• I pledge to plant seeds of marksmanship and the heritage of the Founders whenever and wherever I can, understanding I may never know the results. (Best way to do this: persist until you become a rifleman, then sign on as an RWVA Appleseed Instructor.)
• I pledge to form a rifleman club and to build a range, if necessary.
• I pledge that I understand I cannot do it all myself, nice as that would be, but that I will need help, and I will get that help by enlisting others to help bail the sinking ship. To make them understand, we all have to pick up a bucket, if we want to save the ship.
• I pledge to recruit whenever and wherever I can, understanding some will be better as shooters, some better as recruiters, some as teachers, some as fund-raisers. But that all should have the goal of becoming riflemen, and then teaching others how to become riflemen.
• I pledge I will PERSIST. [So important, you need to pledge it twice.]
This pledge given voluntarily on this ___________ day of ___________________, 20___ and if I fail to live up to it, I understand I can lose my firearms, my freedom, and my country. And that no true American will be willing to see that happen. So help me God.
/s/________________________________________ (American Patriot)
OK, so you pledge to go to the range and have fun shooting, get your friends into shooting with you, which is even more fun, vote, ‘one minute letter’ your reps, take advantage of the talents of others to help win the goal, help form a club if needed, and maybe a range. Along the way, you not only become a rifleman, you soon start teaching others to be riflemen. How sweet is that? Believe me, offer this deal to the boys back in 1775 and there’d be no hesitation. Hm-m-m-m-h, let’s see, an 8-yr bloody war, home burned, sleep out in the rain and mud, lose 50-60 pounds on bad rations (OK, this one is good, right?), watch your friends die of “fever” and British ball and bayonet - or go to the range, and shoot with some friends?
Tough one, Fred! Let me think it over. Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...Tick... Just don’t think too long, friend. Tempus is fugiting.
Now, let’s look at this project from a different point of view:
We’re not asking you for any money. Keep that thirty-five bucks a year that might be dues, and put it into shooting. We are not asking for your name, or you to go on a list - anxious as most freedom-loving Americans are to be defiantly on that list.
All we want is your commitment.
Your resolve, the resolve to carry out your part of the program. To learn to shoot, to shoot with friends, to make more friends — all of them awakened Americans — can you get better friends? Vote and write a few ‘one-minute’ letters to reps (this prob the only ‘onerous’ part), maybe form a club and get a range going. And to persist. To persist in not only becoming a rifleman, but in passing the heritage and the skill on to others. To persist until the end of your life. So you can look back, on your lonely deathbed, and take as one bright ray in your life your faithfulness. To the cause of Liberty. So your last breath can whisper “Semper fidelis...”
You are right: Fred cannot save America.
But this plan can.
But only if you ‘take the pledge’. It costs nothing, unless you chip in for a range. Most of it is fun. Can you do it? If you do it, we will save America. If you don’t do it, we won’t.
The Founders of the Nation are watching.....will they be disappointed by your decision?
Here is simply a cut/paste off of the RVWA website. Please give it a look. Project Appleseed is expanding exponentially across our country. If interested in some more info, please do PM me.
What the RWVA (Revolutionary War Veterans Association) is all about
roject Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their posterity.Our heritage program vividly portrays the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the kind of care and immediacy that is absent from most formal schooling. Modern listeners are confronted with the danger, the fear, and the heartbreaking separations that arose out of the choices made on April 19th, 1775. They are also reminded of the marksmanship skills and masterful organization that ultimately helped set the colonists on the path to success. Those who attend gain a better understanding of the fundamental choices faced by our ancestors as they began to set the stage for the nation we now enjoy.
Marksmanship Clinic
Our rifle marksmanship program complements our history and heritage. We teach the traditional American marksmanship skills. There are, however, several aspects of our marksmanship program that deserve special mention. We are particularly proud of our younger attendees. In accordance with applicable local laws, young people with sufficient maturity are welcome to the Appleseed line and can, with parental permission, join the cadre. The RWVA recognizes the importance of introducing a wide cross section of Americans to their marksmanship heritage. Finally, an important aspect of our marksmanship program is called “Adaptive Appleseed.” Project Appleseed is serious about bringing our heritage and marksmanship instruction to everyone so we’ve committed ourselves to adapting Appleseed to the special needs of those who have certain physical challenges.
Why teach marksmanship?
Because good shooting requires learning positive traits such as patience, determination, focus, attention to detail, and persistence. Since these skills are likewise key elements of mature participation in civic activities, we urge our students to take what they have learned about themselves as marksmen and apply it to their participation in their communities and in the wider American society in accordance with their own choices about how Americans should govern themselves.
Civic Involvement
There are those who feel that America’s future is grim, that is, that America has lost something special and it can never be regained. And in their consternation they mutter about “dark choices” and the like. Appleseed has a message for them. Just over two hundred years ago our ancestors genuinely faced a tough choice. They could submit to those they felt were depriving them of their rights as Englishmen or they could fight. Because they chose as they did, we may never have to face their dilemma because we have a third alternative.
So what must you do with your third choice?
Well, you must roll out of the recliner, cut off the computer, turn down the TV and get involved. That’s it. Talk to family, talk to friends, interact with neighbors, take part in local community decisions, and become active in whatever political party best fits your idea of how America should be governed. Write to your elected representative, attend town halls, correspond with newspaper editors, and wholeheartedly enter the discussion in both online and traditional forums.
Read! Think! Debate! Vote! And finally, we'd really like your help in shaping America's bright future by participating in this program as a student, as an instructor, or as a volunteer in other support roles. But even if you never pick up a rifle again, know that you are everything that Project Appleseed works for. You are an involved, committed American making responsible use of the liberties gifted to us so long ago. The future is what we make -- YOU make -- of it.
Through Project Appleseed, the Revolutionary War Veterans Association is committed to teaching two things: rifle marksmanship and our early American heritage. We do this for one simple reason, the skill and knowledge of what our founding fathers left to us is eroding in modern America and without deliberate action, they will be lost to ignorance and apathy.
Is there a direct relationship between understanding our country's founding and civic virtue? The answer should anecdotally be quite clear. As our citizens' knowledge of founding principles has declined, so too has our involvement in this government 'of, by and for The People.' Instead, our citizens seem all too content to relegate governmental decisions and knowledge to those that have been elected, all the while assuming these officials' abilities and agendas are working on their behalf. We believe that if this trend continues, our country will be left with an expansive gulf between the populace and the government.
Anticipating that our nation would one day find itself in its current plight, John Adams warned:
"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it." Our forebearers committed their lives to eight years of war so that their sacrifices would never require repeating. They would endow us, their posterity, with a republic from which our freedoms would be given enduring life.
In 2009, a survey of basic, adult knowledge of the American Revolution was commissioned by the American Revolution Center (a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the public in the history and significance of the American Revolution). The results were startling. Eighty-three percent of surveyed adults scored an average of forty-four percent - a failing score. And, yet, some glimmer of hope exists. This same survey revealed that nine in ten Americans agreed that it is important to know the history and principles forged during America's War for Independence. Does this reflect a muted cry for help? Americans seem to grasp the imperative of learning our nation's founding history, yet seem unable to act.
Perhaps the beckoning comfort of couch and television offer an escape to relax in civic complacency. Project Appleseed events are designed to directly counter the average American's living room respite from reality and offer a solution to our nation's paralysis. These two-day, family-friendly clinics encourage civic virtue through the stories of our nation's founding and by cultivating the skills of persistence, focus and determination required for rifle marksmanship. Learning about our heritage while developing marksmanship skills creates the appreciation, expectation and confidence needed to rekindle our civic responsibilities. Through our program, attendees are driven to succeed through perseverance, and subsequently challenged to apply this perseverance and new-found appreciation of our Founders' gifts toward daily involvement in local, state or national government.
John Adams would also write, in reference to the difference between the Revolution, and our War for Independence:
"The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."
These ideals were the foundation of this nation, and are instrumental in returning our nation to its former glory. The intention of our founding fathers was obvious; the "Revolution" was to live on in perpetuity. Through Project Appleseed, we strive to remind our fellow Americans of these "revolutionary" ideals, ensuring that the American Revolution lives on to be cared for and appreciated by our posterity.
A Plan to Save America
Yessir, after years in the gestation, thousands of words flowing under the bridge, there's a plan to save America. "A plan to save America? Are you out of your mind, Fred? How can you save America?”
Patience my friends. You’ll see.
But first, an IQ test, sorta like we do down at RWVA, using the AQT to sort out the cooks from the riflemen - only this time, to see if you are a Doofus Americanus. In which case you have a choice: change/improve yourself or stubbornly remain a doofus. If the latter, there is no point in you wasting your time here — better find another site on the net, one where you don't have to worrying about being thoughtful...or being part of that great American tradition - being "the best you can be..."
True or false:
1. The Founding Fathers of America sacrificed and died so we would not have to drink tea.
2. I will be a great shot as soon as I find a good rifle and scope, and work up a good load.
3. I will be a great shot as soon as I have time like Fred to get to the range every day and fire 5000 rounds, but right now I’m working like a dog to support my family, and my family comes first.
4. I don’t have to worry about things, there are people working behind the scenes to get this country back on track.
5. It will never happen here.
6. Unless I live in New York, Chicago, or parts of California; I really don't have to worry about losing my 2nd Amendment rights.
7. The Constitution will protect my gun rights.
8. The Supreme Court will protect my gun rights.
9. MY congressman understands my feelings about gun control, so there’s no reason for me to bother him.
10. There’s no way they’ll ever get my gun, because I’ve got the perfect hiding spot for it.
________________________________________
Ten points every time you said “False”.
100 points: Good man, add a little shooting skill, and you can be a rifleman.
90: You can be fooled, but not often. Get to the range, and learn to shoot.
80: Gettin’ near the edge. Time to wake up, get to the range, learn to shoot.
70 or below: Man, you are in need of a MAJOR wakeup. Keep reading. And get to the range or to an Appleseed, your only salvation is learning to shoot, and learning what it means to being an American.
30 or under: Real 100% Doofus Americanus — bet it was the one on The Founding Fathers that tripped you up, right? That’s a hard one, sure — time to either 'fess up and straighten up - or move on.
Note: The best thing in all the above, is to get yourself to an Appleseed. (See below)
________________________________________
Now, the rest of you, ready to proceed? Let’s go!
A LITTLE SEED MAKES A BIG TREE
What’s exciting about a little seed making a big tree? Simply this: Plant enough apple seeds, and you soon have a land filled with apple trees. Johnny Appleseed, an early American hero, knew this fact, and believed in it enough to devote his life to it.
So just call me Freddy Appleseed.
When those seeds germinate into riflemen, and their efforts bear forth as fruit other riflemen, we soon have a Nation of Riflemen. The logic of it is inescapable. All you gotta do is plant some seeds. So, why don’t we? Might be f-u-n.
“Fun?” You telling me, Fred, saving America, is fun?
Yes sir, and it doesn’t get better. Save America, and have fun doing it. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? That this world, with all its crazy rules, rules that usually leave you hanging high, can deal you such a sweet hand - but I believe, in this instance, it has. Save America, by learning to shoot, then getting others to shoot (you enthusiasts don’t have to wait, get your friends learning — as you learn!).
Project Appleseed, as we call it, is to help you out. To make it even easier. To provide a source of information, inspiration, motivation, and simple determination. Check out www.rwva.org to find the location of the nearest Appleseed to you.
Project Appleseed is simple: you come to a weekend Appleseed to learn rifle marksmanship. You bring evey friend, every relative, every neighbor, every co-worker you can. While you are learning the skills necessary to shoot a rifle, you hear the story of the Founding - of the first day of the Rev War - April 19th, 1775, "the Day Marksmanship met History, and the Heritage was born..."
Once you become a rifleman, you don the RWVA "Instructor" cap, and become a Teacher of Riflemen.
In three years plus, we've already welcomed the 10,000th Appleseeder to an Appleseed. Our goal is 100,000 by 2012; 1,000,000 by 2016. The only way we make those goals is for you to pitch in and help us bail the ship.
We'll teach you to shoot, then we'll teach you to teach.
Soon you'll be teaching hundreds of people a year to shoot a rifle - and telling them the Story of April 19th, 1775. My friend, you'll no longer be "like everyone else" - this is not uselessly talking about how bad things are, but doing something about it, something that will make a difference.
Don't like public speaking? Don't know the Story?
No problem. Becoming an instructor is like becoming a rifleman. It takes time, and persistence. But just like every American can become a rifleman, every rifleman is competent to pass those skills on to others. So don't worry about it, you can do it - and you'll be a better person for it. A more worthy person. Even an important person. After all, you're saving a country. How important is that?
Take it one step at a time, and simply persist in taking steps, and you'll be there in no time.
First, come to an Appleseed, bringing others with you - as many as possible.
Second, work on polishing those skills you'll learn at Appleseed until you can shoot qualifying rifleman scores.
Then come to an Appleseed and tell the RWVA instructor you want to become like him.
That's all there is to it. (Well, there's a few weekends of training, and all - but when you aim to be the best rifle marksmanship instructor on the planet, you have to expect that, right?)
So let’s start planting seeds. And start with YOU, as the first one. The first step:
TAKE THE PLEDGE
Now everyone is gonna wanna be a Freddy Appleseed, and you can’t blame ‘em. Welcome aboard, I say. But an important task like saving America shouldn’t be expected to proceed without some formality. It is, after all, an important task: we need you to sign up for the duration, not for the moment. So here’s what you do. Pledge the following, to yourself (who better?):
Starting this minute, I pledge to reach down deep inside myself and wake up that sleeping American, the Rifleman.
• I pledge to get my sleeping American to the range, so he can learn to shoot.
• I pledge I will reach out to my friend, my coworker, my relative, my neighbor, to wake up their sleeping American.
• I pledge I will do whatever it takes to help my friends, my coworkers, my relatives learn to shoot as Riflemen, to preserve our tradition of marksmanship for future generations.
• I pledge as a rifleman to get active in passing the great American tradition of the rifleman on to others.
• I pledge to persist, to not give up, to be in this for the duration, to adopt as my motto “Never Give Up!”
• I pledge to plant seeds of marksmanship and the heritage of the Founders whenever and wherever I can, understanding I may never know the results. (Best way to do this: persist until you become a rifleman, then sign on as an RWVA Appleseed Instructor.)
• I pledge to form a rifleman club and to build a range, if necessary.
• I pledge that I understand I cannot do it all myself, nice as that would be, but that I will need help, and I will get that help by enlisting others to help bail the sinking ship. To make them understand, we all have to pick up a bucket, if we want to save the ship.
• I pledge to recruit whenever and wherever I can, understanding some will be better as shooters, some better as recruiters, some as teachers, some as fund-raisers. But that all should have the goal of becoming riflemen, and then teaching others how to become riflemen.
• I pledge I will PERSIST. [So important, you need to pledge it twice.]
This pledge given voluntarily on this ___________ day of ___________________, 20___ and if I fail to live up to it, I understand I can lose my firearms, my freedom, and my country. And that no true American will be willing to see that happen. So help me God.
/s/________________________________________ (American Patriot)
OK, so you pledge to go to the range and have fun shooting, get your friends into shooting with you, which is even more fun, vote, ‘one minute letter’ your reps, take advantage of the talents of others to help win the goal, help form a club if needed, and maybe a range. Along the way, you not only become a rifleman, you soon start teaching others to be riflemen. How sweet is that? Believe me, offer this deal to the boys back in 1775 and there’d be no hesitation. Hm-m-m-m-h, let’s see, an 8-yr bloody war, home burned, sleep out in the rain and mud, lose 50-60 pounds on bad rations (OK, this one is good, right?), watch your friends die of “fever” and British ball and bayonet - or go to the range, and shoot with some friends?
Tough one, Fred! Let me think it over. Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...Tick... Just don’t think too long, friend. Tempus is fugiting.
Now, let’s look at this project from a different point of view:
We’re not asking you for any money. Keep that thirty-five bucks a year that might be dues, and put it into shooting. We are not asking for your name, or you to go on a list - anxious as most freedom-loving Americans are to be defiantly on that list.
All we want is your commitment.
Your resolve, the resolve to carry out your part of the program. To learn to shoot, to shoot with friends, to make more friends — all of them awakened Americans — can you get better friends? Vote and write a few ‘one-minute’ letters to reps (this prob the only ‘onerous’ part), maybe form a club and get a range going. And to persist. To persist in not only becoming a rifleman, but in passing the heritage and the skill on to others. To persist until the end of your life. So you can look back, on your lonely deathbed, and take as one bright ray in your life your faithfulness. To the cause of Liberty. So your last breath can whisper “Semper fidelis...”
You are right: Fred cannot save America.
But this plan can.
But only if you ‘take the pledge’. It costs nothing, unless you chip in for a range. Most of it is fun. Can you do it? If you do it, we will save America. If you don’t do it, we won’t.
The Founders of the Nation are watching.....will they be disappointed by your decision?
