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July 22. 2012 9:01PM

Shooting match in Enfield will benefit veterans


A young boy fires his first shot with National Rifle Association instructor Ryan Gallien of Grantham by his side during an Enfield Outing Club NRA basic rifle class. (COURTESY)
ENFIELD — The Enfield Outing Club will be raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project through an “Aiming to Give” pistol and rifle match on Sunday.

“We decided we needed to do something for our veterans who have come home and are coming home,” and “we decided the Wounded Warrior Project has given a lot of help for our men and women who have served overseas,” said club member Scott Thompson. “This is a way for us to give back to the community.”

The event will determine an overall champion from several divisions, including a law enforcement and military division, top junior division and top female, male, rifle and pistol divisions.

Several area businesses are donating items for the fundraiser and participants will travel from all over New England to attend, Thompson said.

“People are coming up just because they want to help the Wounded Warrior Project. … We are an itty-bitty club, so this is a total shock to us,” he said.

The event will be held in three locations in Enfield, including the Outing Club and two sand pits.

Police detective and club member Roy Holland said it's going to be a full day. He plans to register participants in the morning, compete as a shooter, grill hamburgers and hotdogs, as well as fill his role as a youth coach to a team of junior shooters, he said.

The Wound Warrior Project is especially significant to Holland, he said, after serving three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, first as a Marine, then as a Vermont National Guard Reservist.

“It's important for me to be part of this because I've personally seen the effect the Wounded Warrior Project has had with my Marine buddies and Army buddies,” Holland said. “It was like night and day, them being involved with the Wounded Warrior Project. It really helped them with healing.”

The Wounded Warrior Project has been in the forefront of those who recognize that not all injuries are physical, he said.

Holland has fully recovered from injuries he suffered in a suicide car bombing while serving in 2006, but he doesn't rule out that he might need help himself one day, adding that his “deployments were not the easiest.”

“I was lucky enough, so far,” he said. “I haven't suffered some of the mental injuries that some people have, but it's also comforting to know if they do surface, I have the Wounded Warrior Project to turn to, to cope with them,” he said.

Thompson said he hopes the shooting match becomes an annual fundraiser for various causes.

The competition will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The entry fee is $50, all of which will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Outing Club plans to offer a nine-stage course with multiple targets and stages. Targets will be a combination of reactive, steel and cardboard. Any safe handgun and rifle is allowed.

For more information or to register, visit enfieldnhoc.org.

mpierce@newstote.com

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