Earlier this year we requested volunteers to serve on the Stage Design Committee. We also

encouraged any of our shooters to contribute stage designs. So far only two volunteers have

joined the committee and submitted stages.

As you know, we lost Joe Ocken early this year, and lost Bill McBroom, another prolific stage

designer in 2014. Joe was able to pick up much of the slack from Bill’s passing, and even

created several original stages for Wednesday practice. Over 90 percent of our pistol stages were

provided by his creativity and energy.

While it is difficult to replace someone like Joe, he left a number of tools for the next wave of

stage designers. Among the tools he left are his previous stages, SketchUp components, and

design templates. He encouraged new designers to use his stages as starting points and to

modify them with new props, layouts, or targets. He understood that it was less intimidating to

start with an existing stage than a blank piece of paper.

Our club really needs people to step up and help with stage designs. Please don’t feel like you

have to be a Master class shooter to serve on the Stage Design Committee or to submit stages.

While we would prefer that committee members be certified Range Officers (to help insure

legality and fairness of the stages), any experienced shooter can serve.

Have you seen those commercials that say “All credit applications will be accepted”? You

immediately note that it doesn’t say “All applications will be approved”. Well, the Stage Design

Committee will accept ALL designs. Designs can be submitted as SketchUp files (preferred),

scanned drawings, paper drawings, and even (clean) napkin notes. Unlike the credit application,

the committee will work with the stage designer to correct any issues and help turn the design

into a successful match stage.

Our club consistently tries to balance the stage difficulty to challenge all levels of competitors.

We cannot achieve that balance without new stage designs from a variety of shooters. While you

will never lose your right to grumble about a particular stage, please remember that the

Malfunction Gremlin is very fickle. If you complain about a stage, and haven’t contributed to

the design or review of our club stages, you may find your finely-tuned, multi-thousand-dollar

pistol has turned into a bolt action single shot (karma).

Please help us with our stage design efforts, even if you are only able to submit a single stage,

and keep the Malfunction Gremlin at bay.