The "Grounds Crew" at the Menard County Sportsman's Club has been hard at work making preparations for the upcoming 2011 trap season. The most recent improvements include a new bridge at the club entrance, new elevated score keeper's chairs, and new seating benches behind the firing line.

Because MCSC is located in the infield of the Menard County Fair Grounds racetrack, vehicles must drive across the bare-dirt track surface to get to the club's trap range. When the weather turns wet, the track turns to a greasy muddy mess. I can tell you, from personal experience, that crossing the track with a rear-wheel-drive vehicle in a rain storm is not for the faint of heart. To make the club entrance more navigable (and less stressful), the club has added a wooden 'bridge' across the track surface. The bridge consists of series of heavy wood planks that allow access from the track entrance to the infield without the off-road mudding experience. When fair time comes around, the bridge can be rolled up and set aside to allow the track to be used for racing. A simple solution to a very messy problem.

This year, our scorers will have the best seat in the house for trap events. Each trap house now has an elevated scorer's chair to give the scorer a bird's eye view of the action. Each of the new scorer's chairs has a built-in writing surface to make score sheets easier to manage. I think our scorers will appreciate the unobstructed veiws that these perches provide, especially during busy ATA events.

Shooters will have a comfortable place to sit as well. The club has added new benches behind each of the firing lines to encourage shooters to "take a load off" between rounds. Each bench features a shelf built into the backrest to provide a safe place for shooting bags, ammunition, and other gear that shooters carry from house to house.

Anyone who hasn't been to the club since the conclusion of last summer's trap league is in for a treat this spring. During the fall league, the damaged concrete shooting lanes on houses 3 and 4 were broken up and shiny new lanes were poured. Decorative gravel was then spread between the lanes to dress things up and make weed control a little easier. The old crumbling lanes on houses 1 and 2 will be pulled up and replaced later this year.

All of these improvements, and many more planned for the future, are helping to make MCSC a more comfortable and enjoyable to place to shoot, compete, and just spend time.