Shooting festival coming soon

Rimfire and centerfire rifle shooters will compete at the 123rd Gillespie County Bundes Schuetzenfest, set for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 4-5.

Hubertus Shooting Club will sponsor this year’s event hosted at Bear Creek Shooting Range, 2660 Center Point Road.

The registration fee to participate is $35, and the deadline closes Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. Participants are reminded to go by Stroeher and Olfers at 509 South Adams Street.

Five clubs are members of the Gillespie County Schuetzenbund, including Barons Creek Shooting Club, Bear Creek Shooting Club, Grapetown Shooting Club, Hubertus Shooting Club and Tivydale Shooting Club.

Johnny Duecker serves as this year’s president. Bruce Ward is vice president, Carol Schmidt is the secretary and Brenda Miiller, treasurer.

Schuetzenfest begins with a parade at 9 a.m. on Saturday, where members of the shooting teams will march in with flags to the tunes of Oompah music.

A “Bund meeting” takes place at 10 a.m., following the parade. In this meeting, participants will review the rules of the Schuetzenfest and resolve any problems about the fest as well as recognize the people who have died in the past year.

The shooting competition begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday and continues until around 6:30 p.m.

Shooting resumes on Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon and continues from 1 p.m. until the winners are decided.

After the competition, another parade is held to honor the “Schuetzenkoenige” (shooting kings), who are the top shooters in the centerfire and rimfire competitions. The other shooters march in the parade, as well.

The “Schuetzenkoenige” will be hoisted in the air as “Er Lebe Hoch” (“May He Live High”) is played in their honor.

The top shooters in centerfire and rimfire will receive a rotating trophy that is passed down to the next “Schuetzenkoenig”, a permanent trophy kept by the winner and a medal.

Fritztown Diesel sponsors the rotating trophy for the centerfire competition winner, Stroeher and Son/Stroeher and Olfers sponsors the permanent centerfire trophy and Arrowhead Bank provides the winner’s medal.

The rimfire awards are sponsored by Moellering Construction (rotating trophy), Security State Bank (permanent trophy) and Arrowhead Bank (medal).

The top shooting team will receive a trophy that rotates each year to the next winner and a medal to pin on their flag as well as medals for each team member. The trophy is sponsored by the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post and both medals are sponsored by Arrowhead Bank.

Awards will also be given for oldest shooter (sponsored by First United Bank), youngest shooter (also sponsored by First United Bank) and top female shooter (sponsored by the Atlee Lochte family).

One deceased member and one living member will be inducted into the Schuetzenfest Hall of Fame.

Bob Lee has been nominated for the posthumous member honoree.

Living hall of fame nominees include Tim Frantzen, Dean Marquardt and Bruce Ward.

The living and deceased nominees for the Schuetzenfest Hall of Fame are members of the hosting Hubertus Shooting Club.

The hosting club gets the honor of choosing the hall of fame nominees, who are voted upon in the Bund meeting.

The plaque for the posthumous inductee is sponsored by the Howard Worrell family and the plaque for the living inductee is sponsored by the Charles Feller family.

Entrance for spectators is free. Food and drink will be available for sale.

Facilities will also be available on location.

More information is available by calling 997-8006