The 2020 “Wes Hartley Memorial Match” is in the books for over the log, or “chunk”, shooting enthusiasts of Vallonia, Indiana. Started 52 years ago by a group the line calls the “old-timers”, the match was kept alive in a year where many annual shoots were canceled. “Colton Fleetwood is who we have to thank for putting on this match.” says Don Neal, a veteran chunk shooter in the area, “It’s a lot for someone old like me to organize something like this, so it’s nice to see someone young pick it up and make sure it keeps going”.
Special thanks to Swiss Black Powder for their sponsorship of this event
In a normal year, the Wes Hartley match would be held in conjunction with “Fort Vallonia Days”, a celebration of the history of the town of Vallonia, and it’s start as a fort on the outskirts of the early frontier. Fort Vallonia days brings over 50,000 people into the area each year. Where you’ll find yard sales, vendors, and food trucks aplenty during the autumn festival. During 2020 however, like many town celebrations around the country, Fort Vallonia days were canceled due to concerns over the COVID 19 pandemic. Match director Fleetwood stepped in early after the cancellation of the festival to announce he was trying to see if the match could continue. The nature of chunk shooting lends itself quite well to social distancing, just about everyone loads out of a set up near the back of their personal vehicle, and it is common courtesy to give each other space on the line to focus. After checking with the church where the match is held, Colton got the go-ahead to continue with the match.
Read the full article here
https://www.nmlra.org/news/2020weshartley
