“They basically opened it up for us on Tuesday nights,” Reynolds said. “We’re too big to go the nights they are open to the public. We take over the whole place.”

Reynolds, who is a 4-H team trap instructor, got the Baldwin school board’s blessing to start the club in February. Under the arrangement, the club uses the names Baldwin junior and senior high schools and the district’s Bulldog mascot, but receives no financial support.

“We were overwhelmed,” Reynolds said of the response to the club. “We thought if we had 10 or 12 kids, we’d be lucky, but the kids and their parents just kept coming.”

With the response, the club had to add two more coaches because of the league’s policy that there be one coach for every 10 students, Reynolds said.

With 35 members, the club will be one of the largest in the state when competition starts next month, Reynolds said. Because of the far-flung nature of the state’s 19 clubs, the Bulldog shooters will only travel to Wichita for the state finals in June. The club will shoot at Cedar Hill for all the other competitions with scores logged online, Reynolds said. All team members will compete with the scores of the top six performers used for scoring purposes.

“It gives young shooters a chance to shoot and progress,” he said. “We had a child hit only four of 50 targets her first time. Last night, she broke 20. With a little practice and breaking down the steps for them, they start breaking targets pretty fast.”

A big emphasis of the club is gun safety. Reynolds said all members were required to complete a hunter safety course and that no guns or ammunition are allowed on school property.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” he said. “If we’re not safe, the whole program goes away.”

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Those with free time Saturday, April 2, who want to help preserve the area’s history are invited to the annual workday at the Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park. Kerry Altenbernd, longtime Black Jack Battlefield Trust board member, said the local effort is part of the Civil War Trust’s annual Park Day at historical sites. Those who do show up for the Black Jack workday at the site 3 miles east of Baldwin City on East 2000 Road are encouraged to wear suitable work clothes.

Activity will start at 9 a.m., but organizers don’t put too much emphasis on a set schedule.

“Our motto is show up when you can and leave when you must,” Altenbernd said.

The work will mostly focus on brush removal. Altenbernd said trail areas will be cleared and attempts made to remove evasive plants that have taken root in native tall-grass prairie.

Although the work is being done to prepare the site for the start of visiting season, the battlefield is open to visitors year-round, Altenbernd said. In past years, the Black Jack board attempted to have volunteers at the site to greet visitors and lead tours on spring, summer and early fall weekends. That won’t be the case this year.

“We’re having trouble finding enough volunteers,” Altenbernd said. “That’s something we’re still trying to figure out. We won’t have someone there every weekend day. There will be brochures and maps available for people stopping by.”

Attempts will be made to provide tours to groups visiting the site, Altenbernd said. Those wanting to arrange such a tour should call 785-883-2106.

Planned activities include a tour on the June 2 anniversary of the battle. That will begin at the 5 a.m. time the 1856 armed showdown started between John Brown’s abolitionist forces and those of Henry Pate’s pro-slavery militia. More tours and activities are scheduled on Saturday, June 4, to further mark the 160th anniversary of the battle, Altenbernd said. Those tours will feature running commentary and debate between Altenbernd as John Brown and a re-enactor playing one of Pate’s men.

In other Black Jack news, the second phase of restoration has started on the Pearson farmhouse at the site thanks to a grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council. Altenbernd said work was being done now on the interior woodwork with the restoration of original wood flooring to follow.

“We’re doing it very carefully because we want to make sure it’s done right so that we honor the people who lived out there,” he said.

The current restoration effort follows extensive work to stabilize the house’s foundation, repair a chimney and address termite damage funded through a $163,000 grant the Heritage Conservation Council awarded in 2011.

The Ives Chapel United Methodist Church will have its free community meal from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.Thursday at the church, 1018 Miami St. in Baldwin City.

There will be a yoyo demonstration at 4 p.m. Thursday at Eudora Community Center gymnasium.

The Wild of Wellness 5K walk/run will be at 9 a.m. April 2 and the Eudora Community Center. For more information, call 785-542-3434.

Area Roundup