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| In Memoriam |
Older Pictures | 2004 Pictures | 2005 Pictures | 2006 Pictures | 2007 Pictures | 2008 Pictures |
Sweetwater had it's first rendezvous in 1982 on the north side of a small tree grove, across from the Bartell family farm. The rendezvous site snuggled right up to Sweetwater Lake. The event has relocated several times: once to the south side of the tree line, once out on a point south of the farm, back to the north side of the tree line, to the latest current location 1/2 mile northeast of the farm in a small wooded draw.
Over the years the rendezvous has had two of the locations overtaken by high water. The current location provides a wonderful mix of pine trees, high and low camp spots, beautiful sunsets, and a great 'little' 60 yard range.
| Day | Event | Time | Placing (1st to 3rd) |
| Friday | Turtle Shoot | 2:00pm | Vince Grant, Mark Hubsch, John Graves. |
| Blind Luck shoot | add-in | John, Vince, Mark | |
| 7 Card "No Peek" Shoot | 3:15pm | Mark, Joe Carda, Julene Kaiser. | |
| Dandelion Shoot | 4:30pm | Mark, John, Joe | |
| Saturday | Archery | 9:15am | John, Joe, Vince |
| "Surprise" (BTM) Shoot | 10:30am | Mark, Joe, Vince | |
| Shotgun Shoot | 12:30pm | Vince, John, Ralph Jescke | |
| Hawk & Knife | 1pm-4pm | Pete Mattson, Kirk Redmond, Zach Weisenburger | |
| Saddle Sore Shoot | 1:45pm | Mark, Mike Thelen, John | |
| Omelet Shoot | 3:00pm | Kirk, John, Mark. | |
| Pistol Shoot | 4:15pm | Kirk, Mike, Mark |
| Camp Draw prizes were donated by: Sodak Sport & Bait, Tractor Supply, Split Rails, Brettun's Village, Ralph Jescke, Alice Bartell, Beau's Rawhide, Kevin Ragels, Creek Dancer Winery, Hoot's Winery, Frank Zahn, Log Cabin Shop, Lodge Cast Iron, Cabela's and Powder Horn News (hope we didn't forget anyone) |
| Meat and jam for shoot prizes and breakfast were provided by Frohling's Meat Market. Karen Keimig provided homemade jam for the breakfast. Cheese for shoot prizes was furnished by Economy Meat Market. |
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Sweetwater Rendezvous, September 12-14, 2008
The 27th Sweetwater Rendezvous was typical of Sweetwater, rainy overnight and morning, sunny by mid-afternoon. The rendezvous started with shoots Friday afternoon and ended with hasty packing on Sunday morning. Time between was spent enjoying a camp-sponsored breakfast Saturday, lots of prizes given away at the camp meeting, and old fashioned Rendezvous spirit around the fire.
Friday’s first shoot was Yukon’s Turtle shoot. Shooting turtles (clay pigeons) at 15-20 yards is tougher than it looks.
The next shoot was a late edition due to the quick finish of the first shoot, titled the Blind Luck shoot. Each person took four shots at both a 20 yard and 40 yard target. However, there were also targets at 60 yards. Any shot from 20 yards that also hit paper at 60 scored points.
Pete played a little 7-card "no peek" poker with the shooters on the next round. Don't get fooled, there were enough wild cards to let anyone win. Only, some of the cards decided to "peek" when the breeze picked up.
Joe ran the dandelion shoot to end the day Friday, his repeat of the clay pigeons on the groun at intervals, only this time they were yellow birds in a sea of green and yellow grass. Oh, and he shortened the time from 5 minutes to 3
Saturday began with 3-Fangs Archery. Aside from dulled tips (don't miss the targets, the hill behind is full of rocks), Kirk "Klatch" Redmond had the most interesting shot, a ricochet off the deer's back up the hill. Vince proved the best tracker and found the arrow.
Following Archery was Mike's "Surprise" shoot. Shooters were given a target with "BTM" printed on it. BTM was short for "BOTTOM". If they figured that out and shot toward the bottom of the letters, they scored high.
Shooting was delayed briefly due to a sudden shower. Once it passed, Ralph ran the shotgun shoot.
Mike then hosted the Saddle Sore shoot. Each shooter had to shoot 5 shots at a prairie chicken target at 25 yards. The catch? They had to shoot straddling logs on the ground facing the target.
With weather clearing, Yukon ran the Omelet Shoot. What should have been a lot of broken eggs turned into a small 3 or 4 egg omelet. Apparently, no one was very hungry yet!
3 Fangs improvised and ran a pistol shoot, since the host of that shoot wasn't able to be in attendance. Even 15 yards can be a challenge with a single-shot muzzleloader and a 16" barrel.
While the shooters enjoyed bouts of sunshine and rain drops, Pete ran the hawk and knife throw during the afternoon. He gave 3+ hours so people could work around shooting schedules.
At the camp meeting, many prizes were given away thanks to generous donations. Alice Bartell once again provided a quilt for the Chinese auction and Frank Zahn presented George and Alice with the traditional "Sweetwater Arrow" for allowing us to use their land. Campers sat around one of two large fires and enjoyed each other's company Saturday night after the meeting.
Sweetwater continued to provide the camp-sponsored breakfast Saturday with sausage provided by Frohlings Meats, the breakfast was a hit although it started late due to rainy conditions. Campers enjoyed their fill of Sausage, eggs and pancakes with syrup and homemade jam (thanks to Jerry & Karen Keimig).
So ended the 2008 Sweetwater Rendezvous. It was wonderful having new camps, sad missing some regular camps, and nice to have around 20 paid camps to 'enjoy' the rainy, then sunny weather! Hope to see you all (and more!) in September 2009 for our 28th annual event. New pictures will be up soon
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