Blue Ridge Cherry Valley Rod and Gun Club

[dodger]

This is a warning to all those who wish to join Blue Ridge Cherry Valley Gun Club, it is being monopolized by a group that I will call the “70’s club”, which is a group of older men (over 70 years of age, lifetime members) who are disrespectful, narrow minded individuals who truly believe, they are self-righteous and everyone including the 2nd Amendment should bow down to them. I joined this club in 2015 at which time seemed to be an amazing place to shoot and have a sense of comradery for the 2nd Amendment, I am sad to say, I was so wrong. This is my review of this disgusting club that could be so great if the 70s club was not there.

My review starts at the beginning, when my wife heard of an even that this club was hosting called “Women on Target”. It is an educational clinic that was started by the National Rifle Association (NRA), to introduce women to the shooting sports. My wife suggested that her and daughter attend and I absolutely agreed as I believed that my daughter should be introduced to firearms at an early age, (She was 14 at the time). Upon returning home from the event my wife and daughter were elated, they said it was truly an amazing day, they were able to shoot multi-caliber pistols, shotgun, .22 rifle and my all-time favorite an AR. My wife explained to me how respectful and helpful everyone was and how safe it was and they projected professional atmosphere. She told me that they offered an amazing training program and that we should look into becoming members. For me, having my wife say how amazing this gun club was truly a blessing, to have my wife and daughter excited about shooting and to join a club. (Or so I thought).

I reached out to the club secretary and she explained to me how to join the club, and the offerings of the club and I was truly ecstatic, especially about the training programs that were offered, I thought to myself there was no better way to teach my family, than to have the certified experts do it. I also felt that having a safe place to shoot was of utmost importance as I have searched around the area for the past year or so and the experiences we as a family have had were horrific. The club secretary also said that part of our membership would include a mandatory “NRA Basic Pistol Course” required by the club for all new shooters, for safety purposes, meaning, how to handle firearms, etc. This to me was a no brainer, “MY FAMILY AND I JOINED”.

I attended the monthly member meeting at the end of May, in order to join the club. I was greeted by the Club Secretary who was truly amazing and friendly, she gave me the required paperwork to fill out and I sat and waited until called upon to introduce myself to membership. While waiting for the meeting to start, I was listening to some of the “70’s club” members, who were telling completely inappropriate jokes to each other, I should have listened to my gut instinct and leave, but I said, let me see how this plays out. The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance and then a moment of silence for lost members, “Wow” I thought, this is great, and I felt a little relieved, then the Vice President spoke. He was a little overbearing, but enthusiastic, not well polished I should say, but when he spoke about the training program, and what they were offering (Personal Protection Inside the Home, Personal Protection Outside of the Home, AR Courses etc) I was enthusiastic, but I was still reserved, so I would wait to sign up until I took their first required course “Basic Pistol”. Leaving the meeting the “70’s club” were still being inappropriate, but I figured they were just a small population of the club, so I wouldn’t judge the club based on their behavior. (Once again I was wrong).

I attended the required Basic Pistol course with my wife and daughter, and the VP was lead instructor, and boy did he get our attention. What an amazing opening speech he made about the 2nd Amendment and safety, and his passion for shooting, I was exhilarated. He was joined by Mr. K, Mr. Z and a few others (I will use pseudonyms or name abbreviations for these people). After the VP ended his topics, Mr. K begin his portion (Member of 70’s club), and good lord, I wanted to fall asleep and my wife whispered to me, “I hope it’s not all like this”. Once Mr. K had finished his portion, the VP jumped back in, and “we were back” and “enthusiastic again”. We finished the course feeling invigorated, and enthusiastic to sign up for the next courses being offered by the club.

I then went to the range to shoot, I was astounded that no one was there, the place was empty, I had the entire rifle range to myself. I was there approximately an hour, when another member arrived “70s club”. He didn’t say hello, he didn’t even acknowledge that I was there, so I went back to shooting. To my surprise out of my peripheral vision, I see this individual starting to walk out onto the range, I yelled “Sir I am shooting”, his response to me was “I put the light on”, I then said “Sir the light is behind me, how can I see that unless you tell me”, his response was “You should be paying attention”. I was dumb founded that this person, had very little respect for safety and his admonishment of me, as if I was wrong somehow. I immediately packed my gear and left, as I wanted no part of shooting with this individual. I figured this was a one off event, I was wrong.

My family and I then attended the Personal Protection courses that were offered at the club and taught by the VP, “THESE WERE AMAZING AND EYE OPENING”. They had a lawyer come in and explain to the students “Castle Doctrine” and Pennsylvania state law when it came to firearms, to me this was worth the price of admission. The VP ran this class and kept is entertaining, lively and funny while talking about a serious topic. The firing lines were ran professionally and most importantly safely. The VP was assisted by Mr. K and Mr. Z and again when Mr. K led the class, people barely had their eyes open. Overall though this was truly an amazing event for me and my family.

The next class that I attend was “Introduction to AR” or as they called it AR-101. I had just purchased an AR but from what I understand the VP was the lead instructor, who had over 20 years of military experience, so I figured I couldn’t find a better person to learn from. He was assisted by Mr. P, who was extremely knowledgeable, and between the two of them, there was no question left unanswered. When it came to range time, I was astounded. I thought we would only be sitting a bench to shoot at targets, boy was I wrong. The instructors had us standing, kneeling, laying down, sitting, all of which was done with a strong emphasis on safety, truly was an eye opener, and well worth it.

I attended the monthly meetings as well and the usual cast of “70’s club” was there, and their comments and attitude were truly deplorable, but every month I was amazed to see at least 10 new members joining, and every time they were asked by the President why they were joining it was because “They heard great things about the club”. This kept me optimistic about the club and the direction it was headed.

The President announced that the club will be offering a “Christmas Dinner free of charge” for club members, and I was truly honored to be a member of this club when this was announced. I signed my family up for the event. Upon arrival to the even I was greeted by the President and VP, it seemed to be very festive, that didn’t last long. When it was announced it was time to eat, they were going to be going by table, but the “70’s club” seemed to be entitled, they all just ran up to the kitchen to get in line, as other members were being respectful and awaited their turn. I shrugged it off yet again, and let their behavior go by.

2016, the year that determined that I would no longer be a member of this “Disrespectful, narrow-minded club, being solely influenced by the “70’s club”.

My wife and I heard of a program started by Mr. K (the Chief Range Safety Officer, CRSO), where he and other members would volunteer their time to work with new shooters on Monday nights. It started off great, members trying to help other members improve their shooting skills. There were some hiccups, on one evening there was a member, the husband of the club secretary, I will call him Mr. Cheese. While on the firing line, he had what appeared to be loaded firearm, and swept another shooter, the shooter then went over to Mr. K, and told him of what happened and Mr. K, said “don’t worry about it, it’s just, Mr. Cheese”, He then said “Mr. Cheese, don’t do that again”, Mr. Cheese, objected to the admonishment, and kept shooting. I packed my gear and left with my wife.

During the early summer months, the club was offering a “Rimfire Challenge”, I thought this was great, I signed us up as a family, we attended the first one, and we had a blast, then at a subsequent one, there were huge safety issues. During the event, there were shooters on the firing line, and then I heard “Mr. Cheese, STOP”, I turned my head and to my surprise, I see Mr. Cheese walking into a live firing line, as they are trying to stop him from getting injured, he starts yelling back them. I just couldn’t believe it, the “70’s club” back at it again. I then ask Mr. D, why this behavior is being tolerated at the club by Mr. Cheese, he tells me his is the Club Secretary’s husband, and they don’t want to upset her, they don’t want to lose her as Club Secretary. I said, how can the safety of this club and its members be jeopardized by one member for the sake of not losing the Club Secretary, surely she is smart enough to see that his actions are jeopardizing members safety and others. Mr D. had no response, just shook his head. We never went to another Rimfire Challenge.

I then attended the August member meeting, I was on the fence on whether or not we should stay as members as things we enjoyed doing were being taken away by the “70’s club”. At this meeting I became enthusiastic again; the VP gave a long presentation on the club, where it was just 2 years ago and where it is today. He explained that the club never had any money at the end of the year, there was no real accounting, barely any receipts were kept, and this year under the new Board of Governors they had over $20K in reserve, a new accounting system was in place, and the club was truly now in the “Black” (Truly Amazing). This was truly a positive thing for the club. He stated that in order to keep the “Lifetime Membership” program viable for the club, they needed to bring in younger “paying” members. He explained how much money each program that the club offered, training brought in more than all other programs combined (Trap and IDPA), and how the club will continue to benefit. He spoke of a new training program that the board approved in April, because the NRA was going to a different online program that would cost club members more money, and the board did not feel that online learning was the best way to approach firearms training. So he was now giving an update to club membership, and wanted their approval on this new direction to take so our members could have the best training possible, and how much money it would make the club. The VP asked for a membership vote, and there was a resounding “aye” in the audience, with only 1 “nay” from a “70’s club” member. I was once again optimistic about the clubs direction.

The club has its annual meeting in September, so of course I attended, and wow was I impressed. This is the meeting where members re-new their annual memberships, and the new board is elected. The board was unopposed and re-elected, so I guess they saw that this board was doing a great job. Then the VP gave the Boards vision for the New Year. More dynamic training, implementing their new Suarez training program alongside NRA training and in house developed courses. IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Assoc.) coordinators spoke for the upcoming year, and then there was a slide for the Trap team (Which most of the “70’s club” are members of) and there was no representation, so the VP spoke for them, and said they hoped they can schedule women only events, and other events than Wednesday mornings at 10AM (I mean really, people work, so why do this in the AM’s only during the week). I was really enthusiastic as this point and went home and told my family of everything, but in 30 days I was proven to be wrong.

October 2016 is when this club started to disgust me. The member meeting started off great, there were new people looking to join, but I noticed there were more of the “70’s club in attendance”. The meeting started, and the VP report started. The board had approved an initiative to rebuild the existing berms and restructure the rifle range so that it can be expanded giving the members more targets, and more of a range to shoot on. (They have a 50 yard berm, dissecting the rifle range, why? I still do not know) As soon as they VP was done, the mood changed, the “70’s club” started to question everything, the VP’s credentials, his knowledge, motives for the range repair and restoration. It quickly devolved into the “70’s club” calling the VP vile names. Now as a side bar, I don’t care if you oppose an idea or agenda, you should do it respectfully, especially for a person who served our Armed Forces. The “70’s club” had no regard for any of this, I was truly disgusted, I soon realized this was an organized bashing, by the “70’s club”. They then started asking for the bathrooms to be remodeled, the VP said “without a safe rifle range the bathrooms wouldn’t matter”. They then asked for a new kitchen, the VP said that there health regulations for a commercial kitchen and the costs would exceed the benefits, but the bashing continued. One of the “70’s club” stated, “they don’t want money in the bank at the end of the year”, the VP responded, well what about repairs or catastrophic events, they said “we will pass around a hat to membership”. I was astounded that they would want to run a club this way. The meeting was so divisive, that new applicants began to walk out. I was so embarrassed.

I then came back for the November meeting; this meeting ended my involvement and enthusiasm for the club. The VP and Treasurer were not present but the President started the meeting and it quickly devolved into a “vile bashing fest”. The “70’s club” wanted a vote to get the VP to payback any and all monies spent on the training that he and another person took to implement at the club for the new year. They wanted a vote immediately for him to pay back the money, after the board, and the club membership approved the money to be spent. I leaned over to one of the “70’s club” members and asked “How can you do that? It was approved by all, the board and membership” he said “He doesn’t care, he hates the VP”. My heart sank to see this free for all go on and how they believed their abusive destructive behavior should be acceptable. I immediately left, as did the new applicants again.

I didn’t go back till the April and May meetings of 2017, the VP was not present, and the only people you see in the group were the “70’s club”. During the April meeting it was packed with the “70’s club” and I didn’t realize why until the Trap team asked for over $2000 to purchase clay birds. Everything became clear to me at this point, the trap team only wants, what they want, they are the “70’s club”. They want to fund their own “Private Shooting Time” on Wednesday mornings. They don’t want to support anything they do not agree with, (specifically the training program, which has completely disappeared) they have “Hijacked” the club because others members do not show up for the monthly meetings, because they don’t want to be a part of their divisive behavior. In the May meeting, I overheard them saying they are now running for the Board of Governors, this sealed my decision. I WILL NEVER BE APART OF THIS CLUB AGAIN. I can no longer in good conscience give my money to this club, due to their views on the 2nd Amendment and how they believe a club should be run and its members should conduct themselves. (Broke, Disrespectful, Unsafe, Rude, Arrogant, Narrow minded with Disgusting mouths and attitudes) I can no longer allow my family to be a part of this club, and expose them to this behavior. STAY WAY FROM THIS CLUB at all costs.

[NathanB]

Say it ain't so. Old trap shooters can't seem to play nice. This is almost every club lol

[Rosco the Iroc]

They tried to get me to join. After I heard the electronic ear pro only because of some members has issues calling the line or hearing it. I Balked if they can call it, then they shouldn't. If I'm calling it and they don't hear it's not due to me.

Know I know where that stupid comes from.

[halfpenny]

What a sad story you painted here. Knowing there's always at least two sides of a story, I'm hoping there's more to it. If I were still in the area, I'd probably still be among the membership, and likely among those you described as the '70's Club'. All clubs go through some sort of shake up at one time or other. Before and during my time there in the eighties, we had two shake ups. The first involved a group of officers not especially dedicated to the club's 'financial well being' and the second only about year later when a 'new group' of shooters wished to make it more 'paper friendly' only. This new group, had brought in a quantity of new members, largely including seasonal residents from NYC. Before then, the majority of members were old time residents who mainly sighted in their rifles, worked individually on handgun practice. We had fathers & Grandfathers who introduced their little ones to shoot by plinking at cans. Trap shooting was there, but it was light. I know, I was trap chairman until I moved in 1993. I was also the club treasurer for a couple of years. Not by desire, but to avoid a coup by these new members and strictly bent to bullseye shooting. They in turn wished to remove trap shooting, 'plinking' and finally rifle sight ins. I guess what I'm wondering is that these '70's Club' members see something they lived through before and perhaps something, you being a relatively new member, not quite aware of. I also wonder if the Mr. K you speak of is one of the people who fought long & hard for to keep the club open to a variety of shooting activities and not just for the one or two. As for the off color talk, sometimes we old timers lose our sense of decorum. But if politely reminded, we can tuck our shirts back in, so to speak. My final tidbit here is, because of the area attracting so many 'weekender' home owners, the old time/lifetime residents have a hard time adjusting to viewpoints of 'big metro' ideas of guns and attitude. People flee the cities to escape the rat race, but eventually bring with them the very things they're fleeing. This 'culture clash' can be overcome, but as the newcomer, the responsibility is on you to assimilate with the area you now wish to call home. Time & patience polishes even the roughest of rocks. I may be wrong, but it's my viewpoint as one who has been there and took part in a coup to keep the club open to all legal shooting activities.

[spblademaker]

Dodger, I would like to know more about their AR-101 course.

[Kramer]

Ha ha, another satisfied member. I'll keep it short because you covered most of their issues.

I joined BRCV around 1995 because it was recommended by members that I knew. A number of cliques through out the membership. Back then they were fighting the neighbors across the street that were trying to close them down. The neighbors even went as far as to put fired bullets on their driveway and claimed that they were fired from the range.

For a few years they were on a constant crusade to do fund raisers like raffles to buy the neighbors land on the one side as a buffer zone. As a member you were forced to buy the tickets cuz they needed the money. At one point they gave the guy like 10k towards the land and then they found out that the township would not do any more sub divisions and the neighbor kept the money. Lots of money thrown away.

For most of the time the club was run by only a handful of members, the same group would participate in the yearly range clean up and a smaller group would cut the range grass. I used to cut the grass at least six times a year. They used to do three youth events through the year, which was beneficial towards keeping the shooting sports alive and I helped with all three. Then years after I left I heard that they reduced the youth events from lack of help from the members.

We even had members back then that tried to run rules changes through just because Palmerton range had those rules. One was a ban on 50 BMG rifles and when I asked; "why, did something happen to you on the range while a 50 was being fired?" All I got was: "no, Palmerton banned them". There were only two members with 50s at the time, me and one other guy that rarely brought his to the range.

We had issues with members that would come to shoot, usually the retired bunch, and complained about the range being used by the police or for some other function. But the morons refused to go into the club house to sign in and check over the large calender on the wall which listed all of the days that were taken. Most of the members were happy to support the local law enforcement community like SARP, ESU police, etc. Over time they cut the police from using the range.

Towards the end of the time that I was a member, a group of a-holes forced a new board in place, proposed new rules for members to vote on and got them in without the majority of votes. Yes, I counted the votes, and the new members grabbed the voting slips, destroyed them and got their way. One d-bag that came back to rule over the membership for a second time started doing stuff to the club without proper board approval. This included spending money that he did not have approval for. This was the last straws for my time being a member.

I left there at the end of the 2005 year.

[spblademaker]

They tried to get me to join. After I heard the electronic ear pro only because of some members has issues calling the line or hearing it. I Balked if they can call it, then they shouldn't. If I'm calling it and they don't hear it's not due to me.

Know I know where that stupid comes from.

Big shock that this rule applies to everyone but the shotgun shooters.

[Weknowwhoyouaredodger]

Wasn't hard to figure out who Dodger was. We have our opinion of you too and we will deal with you at a time of our choosing.

[streaker69]

Wasn't hard to figure out who Dodger was. We have our opinion of you too and we will deal with you at a time of our choosing.

Threatening people on the forum isn't exactly a way to deal with the issues at hand, is it?

[Weknowwhoyouaredodger]

Threatening people on the forum isn't exactly a way to deal with the issues at hand, is it?

Certainly not a threat; but honesty is a virtue wouldn't you say ? You are either a very observant 105 year old as it says on your profile or perhaps you are the threatening liar ?? Good luck.....I'm out.